Hurricanes and Snow...oh My

Three months ago we were prepping for a hurricane, today we're all sharing snow stories. A freak and I mean freak snow storm hit Houston last night, 2-3 inches in fact, it was almost 80 the day before...is that crazy or what? When I picked up the kids from school it was starting, the boy and I caught snowflakes on our tongues. The weather report was the snow would not accumulate so we went home and stayed warm. Around 2.5 hours later I glance out the front door and this is what I saw!





The boy was snug in his bed and I ran upstairs and carried all 50 lbs of him down stairs and opened the door so he could see, I thought he would immediately wake up and want to play, I was hoping anyway. Well...said boy pulled his jammie shirt down and said he was cold and snuggled up under my chin. I asked him if he wanted to go play in the snow or go back to bed...he chose bed.

So...this morning when we were on our way to school he was running around in the backyard screeching. I plunked the baby down in the middle of the grass (yes in his car seat, all snug as a bug) and had the boy pose beside him to at least document there was snow.

At school he was hoping they would get to go outside and play, I gave him my gloves I keep in my jacket pocket just in case.

Something interesting...my first Christmas it snowed, I have a pic somewhere of my Dad and I standing next to a snowman he and my mom made. The boy's first Christmas in 2004 it snowed on Christmas Eve and the monkey's first Christmas is snowed...A BUNCH. Weird.

The boy was sad he missed the snow, he told me he really wanted to make a snow angel. I told him we would go to a place one day where there is snow as far as the eye can see. Hmmm...may have to ask Dad what we have planned next Christmas. Christmas in the Rockies sounds mighty fine.

Oh...it took me 2 hours to get to work this morning...I had to take the tunnel that I didn't know how to get to...yes, I've lived here all my life. I work on the other side of the ship channel and it was rather "challenging" to get to work. On the positive side...I now have an "ice route" to work.

I hope all of the Houston peeps had fun last night...don't blink it will be 80 soon enough.

Light Em Up!

All set for the shuttle launch tonight, weather looks great and my work is finally done for the flight. It seemed really painful this time around; probably because I’m trying to get used to the work thingy with two kids. Yeah…completely different with two versus the one; I’m sure you are like…well…yeah you idiot but understanding it and living it…completely different.

The last couple of weeks have been rather trying on the kid front, between the boy’s stitches, my being sick, an abrupt change in schools for the boy and the monkey getting sick, I’m hanging on to that bottom rung. Well…I was last week. I am doing better this week as it has turned out to be a nominal week (notice I didn’t say normal) and I didn’t have any ‘emergencies’ to tend to.

I finished up Viv’s challenge. Can I get a…hey yo! I finished 5th in the competition and I can’t thank her enough for organizing this motivational gem. The last couple of weeks were tough emotionally so I didn’t do as well as I could have, no excuses though, I’m happy with my result. By the next time I’m hoping to be deep…deep in an exercise routine.

Ahhh…an exercise routine, that is the one thing that I have not figured out how to happen as of yet. I get up at 5ish…ok 5:30 and get home at 6 after picking up the kids. Once home I feed the baby and get him to bed while the hubby tends to the boy and gets him to bed. I finish up around 8 only then do I eat dinner, talk with the hubby a bit and get ready for bed by 10. SOMEWHERE in there I absolutely have to get in exercise. I know it will happen, it may be at 9 pm but I just need to make a commitment to myself and DO IT! I totally miss getting my run on and reading all the blogs I stalk…I mean follow… is getting me more and more ancy to start.

One last nugget of info that I have to share…Non Fat PUMPKIN CHAI LATTE! That right there is a Venti bit of heaven in a cup. Jodie mentioned they had Pumpkin Latte’s at Starbucks so I thought I would cruise on over and try one in my Chai Latte.

First of all when I ordered the guy kept asking if I wanted to add a shot of expresso…uh…no. Coffee sucks. I was concerned what I was going to end up with, especially when I drove around to the window and I saw three faces staring at me in awe. I just look up at them like…what…am I dressed? Check. Then the worst thought ever…I’m a Starbuck’s nerd!! As in…a loser because I don’t go there enough to know how to order…great…more anxiety society is projecting on peeps.

The guy that took my order speaks and asks me where did I get the notion that I could put pumpkin flavoring in a chai latte? I freeze up…and quickly say…I’ve never had it…my friend told me about it…so I ordered it. (like I did something wrong…what the heck was wrong with me?)

He then told me that he was intrigued by my order and he would have to check that out and the two other minions shook their head in unison…yeah…man. Looky there…I’m cool again. Finally.

One more thing...mama went to the Flamingo party last weekend. Let's just say I sang karaoke for the first time...EVER...in my life...with a side of liquid nerves. Good times my friends...good times.

Have a great weekend everyone and enjoy the COLD weather…light em up! (Fireplaces people…fireplaces).

Halloween - 2008

I think the events over the past week have taken its toll on everyone, even the boy. Halloween ended up being low key. The costume he chose was Optimus Prime and for the Monkey’s first Halloween we was…a monkey. They were both too cute. We made it out the door about 6:45 and the mosquitoes almost carried the baby away. At one point I attempted to bribe a swarm of them with candy but they were having none of it. Most of our neighbors were not home, we went to two houses on our street before the Monkey and I called it a night, he was asleep before the first house. After I put the Monkey to bed I came downstairs to find the boy and the hubby were back. He really wasn’t interested in begging for candy but he was really excited about handing it out to the trick or treaters that rang the doorbell. Thankfully Halloween as uneventful and we were all snug in our beds at a decent hour without experiencing the candy overload.

To me Halloween marks the beginning of the holiday season and the stores didn’t disappoint. Christmas music was playing at Sam’s this weekend. Seriously! I am so not ready for this. But the hubby and I talked about a plan for presents for the boys. The last three years we have not been able to finish opening presents on Christmas day because there as been so many. The boy has a crapload of toys and I know there are some up there that he still hasn’t played with, almost a year later.

Here is the plan:

12 presents…one for each month of the year.
3 will be Toys
3 will be clothes
3 will be books
3 will be puzzle or something educational

Of course the boys will still get more presents from the grandparents and such but I am hoping this will reign in the over stimulation and underappreciation. Here’s hoping.

Consider yourself caught up!

Can This Really Be Happening???

What a difference a week, a day, an hour, a minute makes. This time last week I had spent a pleasant day at the air show with friends and ended that day with a few hours in the emergency room. Yep, I knew being the mother of boys I would have my share of trips to the emergency room but knowing and accepting that fact never prepares one for actually experiencing such an event.

Like I mentioned before we spent the morning at the air show with friends and thanks to RUNGE!! It was a beautiful day, on the warm side; to the point where every speck of shade found an occupant trying to escape the suns wrath. We were no different; there just never seems to be enough tanks sitting around when you need one to provide shade. We didn’t make it to the Thunderbirds and I was fine with that. The kids were hot, the boy was well…being his enjoyable self with complaints that the sun was shining, the wind was blowing, his baby brother was looking at him. It was time to go. We stopped for yummy ice cream on the way home and Jodie got the car unpacked in record time. I was gathering up the kids to head home, the boy and Landon were playing upstairs and I had to go drag him out of the train where he was hiding. We were walking down the stairs (do you see where this is going), the boy has a very bad habit of running to get in front of me, on his attempt get in front of me he tripped and tumbled down the stairs landing smack dab on the corner of the molding that was at the base of the stairs.

It was all slow motion for me. I saw the initial cut beneath his cheek, I was hoping it was superficial...then the blood started gushing out. Holy crap. Jodie came running over after hearing the ruckus and I told her to get a compress. By the time she got back I scooped up my 5o lbs son, she had the baby in the car and we were off to the emergency room lighening fast. Can this really happening? I held it together until we got to the emergency clinic then I lost it as I was giving my information to the lady at the window.

The doctor came in and cleaned the boy's wound and gave him a topical so they could deaden his cheek with the real stuff that included a needle. The boy was pleading his case the entire time to not have a shot. I so wanted to reassure him he wouldn’t get one, I tried to distract him with conversation to no avail. We waited for a long time and the boy and I talked and he even napped. He looked so sad and my heart just hurt for him. I so wished I was the one laying there or somehow the pain could transfer to me. I cried as I looked at him even though I kept telling myself I had to be strong. Yeah…I wasn’t.

Nic came to get the baby and Jodie came in to stay with us. We called the hubby and he was on his way. Fortunately for the boy as a pillar of strength but unfortunately for the hubby he walked in while they were giving the boy shots to deaden the area on his cheek they were fixin to sew up. It took four…count em…FOUR of us to hold down the FOUR year old. He is freakin strong. FOUR. He was wringing with sweat when it was all said and done. It broke my heart. Six stitches later and the hubby was carrying him out to the car to head on home, I had to go get the baby from Jodie’s house, I knew he would be starving…oh the glass bottle I had broke earlier when we were unloading the car. Yeah…this is happening.

I had some time to decompress at Jodie’s, feeding the baby and talking with Nic and Jod before I headed home. I am so greatful for my friends. I don't know what I would have done without them...EVER. As I began to come down from the adrenaline my body ached. I took a shower and the water from the shower hurt. My baby was hurt, I hurt.

I kept the boy home from school on Monday and we had a nice day together. Not as relaxed as I had hoped but we did meet Dad for lunch after we stopped by the pediatrician to make sure everything looked good. We go back on Monday to get the stitches out.

Tuesday I woke up feeling like crap…crappy crap crap. I either have a cold or a bad sinus infection. I decided to stay home to get well. I slept ALL DAY LONG.

Wednesday, I am at work and just before noon I get a phone call from the boy’s school and they ask me to come pick him up, he was out of control. The director asks me to come into her office and in walks the boy’s teacher. Can this really be happening? Did they just tell me to remove my son from their school? W-T-F!

I’m barely hanging on by a string over here and now this. I call the hubby and let him know what has transpired, I call our therapist for "what next" and I call work to let them know I won’t be in the rest of the week. I am spent.

Thursday we talk to KRK, the previous school the boy was attending and make arrangements for him to re-enroll and the hubby and I check out another private school in the area on Friday. The private school is awesome and it is something to consider for Kindergarten but they are full in the four year old class and bottom line, the boy is not ready.

The hubby and I decide the best thing the boy needs is a stable environment while we work on the therapy and the diet and focus on him in order to get him ready for kindergarten. I stop by KRK and talk to the owner to let him know of our plans and he is very supportive. Thank God.

The hubby thinks we are being tested…if so I hope it is for something better and not worse.

On the WOE front…I haven’t been on my game but with all the stress and the NOT eating I still managed to lose. Check the number on the right. Can this really be happening? You betcha!

Zoo Boo

We just got back from Zoo Boo and it was a beautiful day. I had a minor hiccup on the way to meet the group, I rearended a truck. Seriously??? I hit them going a speedy 10mph as we were waiting for the light. I was doing something for the boy, saw the car next to me go and you guessed it...BAM! Ah...shit.

I got out and their black bumper left a few kisses on mine but nothing at all major. The kids were fine, one even slept through it. I'm just pissed I did something so stupid. They took my insurance info...just in case. Afterwards I called the hubby,he took the news better than I expected and was very glad we were okay.

The zoo was packed. All the kids were running around in their costumes. Holy cow I felt sorry for those that had the monkey, lion or bear costumes. Those lil guys looked miserable. We are home for naps now before we go to our community fall festival.

I must thank Miss Nicole for schlepping the stroller around and Miss Jodie and Mr. Bryan for helping with the boy.

Naps rock!!

Hoping for the best...Preparing for the worst...

I excercised my 19th Amendment right yesterday and I feel like a big o weight has been lifted off my shoulders. It’s going to get crazy up in here election day and I get to sit back and watch it all unfold and feel proud that I did what I could. At this point I am hoping for the best and preparing for the worst.

This weekend is going to be a jam packed weekend of enjoying the outdoors.

Saturday I plan on taking the kids to ZooBoo to meet up with the Rhodes’ and Nicole along with a few other friends. Saturday afternoon we have our community fall festival that always proves to be a good time. Sunday we will finish up the weekend with the airshow. We have primo VIP passes and I know the boy will LOVE IT! If he isn’t passed out from exhaustion by then. Gotta go find a pair of ear mufflers for the baby.

I received very sad news this morning on the way into work, one of my co-workers passed away during the night. He was near retirment and we had just had a conversation last week about his plans. I am sad he did not have a chance to live out his dreams. He was a good man. Not only was he an interesting bird and he was a fixture in our organization. As I drove by his empty assigned parking place I was saddened by the realization I will never see his blue little truck and him in his 80’s Tom Cruise sunglasses carrying his igloo cooler walking in or going home. Bill…you will be missed.

WOE is going ok. Haven't been perfect but the numbers are still going down. It is still working for me. I try not to get down on myself and think what the numbers would be if I actually stuck with the plan EVERYday. Gah...whatever...numbers are numbers and the less the better. Rock on!


Everyone have a safe weekend and get out and enjoy the weather.

Sum it up in three letters...C-R-A-Z-Y

Still here but way back when I said things were going to settle down when I went back to work must have been one of those nights I didn’t get much sleep. One I can sum it up in three letters C-R-A-Z-Y…go ask Biden. In order to ease the pain of posting a novel I’m going to bullet my update…to just get it over with.

o WOE update…yes I am still crack a lackin but I hit a wall Wednesday last week, celebrating a birthday on Wednesday that was actually on Tuesday, bosses day on Thursday threw in Friday for good measure and I never recovered. Weird though I ended up at a loss for the week. Whoo hoo!

o For much needed motivation I joined Viv’s challenge. A few months ago I sat on the sidelines and I am so glad she decided to do this again. She does a great job. I need a big push before the holidays.

o Work has been C-R-A-Z-Y. I actually came back at a good time, when things are hot and heavy with flight prep. Thankfully I kept up with things while I was on leave for almost four months or I would have sunk and fast.

o Being back at work I realized that I am at a point in my life that I could have stayed home with the baby. Unlike the first go around with the boy, this time around I was totally enjoying our days and our routines together. Yeah…I said that and it’s in print.

o I NEED TO START RUNNING. With the cooler temps I’m aching for it. I drive by the jogging trail twice a day and they finally cleared all the down trees and I think to myself…one day I’m going to be out there hating that biotch. Soon…

o We took family pictures for Christmas this past weekend and the hubby had to give me perspective to calm me down. LOL…usually it is the other way around in our house. LOL…JC Penny does not equal professional photographer. Yeah…whatever.

o Jodie tagged me oh I don’t know a week, a month or so ago so here is 6 random things about RedDaisy:

1. I am OCD about my food touching…IT CAN’T, must not even come close. I am a constantly searching for designer plates that have dividers. When I can find them…that will be a most excellent day.

2. When I am eating M&M’s, the peanut ones of course. I divide them up by color, eat the odd numbered colors to make them even and finally eat them in order from least favorite to favorite color, suck on them till I crack the hard shell then suck all the chocolate off until only the peanut is left then I eat the peanut. Every time…

3. I have to shower every night before I go to bed. Even if I stayed in the house all day…shower. You hear of new moms not being able to take a shower or shave their legs…I was not one of them. It is the difference of a pleasant night sleep being clean like a bean or a crappy night sleep being all “…stick-he…I hate it when it’s stick he…”

4. My name is RedDaisy and I am a blog stalker. It is not that I don’t want to leave comments but often times I catch up on most of my blogs while feeding the Monkey before putting him to bed on my iPhone. Reading the blogs on my iPhone not putting the baby to sleep on my iPhone. I feel like in order to leave a comment it should be really great and that adds value to the topic at hand. I’m weird.

5. I absolutely didn’t want to have kids…before I had them.

6. I try and find the good in most situations and some have labeled me as a Polly Anna.

o A blog that is finally getting updated more regularly had become one of my favorite Daddy blogs. It is a man writing words of wisdom for his two sons. He is an incredible writer and I think many will be able to identify with his wisdom, struggles and insight. Peruse on over and make sure you have tissue on hand. Ok...I am a little biased but I wouldn't suggest the effort if it wasn't worthy of your time.

Wow…it’s already over. FAST! Now I gotta go update the kids’ newsletters, which I am behind on thanks to Mr. Ike.

Glad to be back on the radar.

Diamond Stud!

NEIL gets his own section cause when you speak of NEIL you can’t speak in bulleted statements.

The hubby and I went on our first date in six months. Oh boy oh boy did we need it. Back in April the hubby purchased NEIL Diamond tickets for us for my birthday. I was something we connected with while watching American Idol.

Our neighbor babysat the boy and her mom took care of the monkey and of course he was the best baby ever. And I quote…”If I was guaranteed my baby would act like that I would have another one.” That’s right folks…we done good. For now anyway.

The concert was at the Toyota center and we had a romantic dinner preshow that consisted of Subway…in the car. Please…it was a school night and we work over here!

I posted earlier in the year that the hubby and I attended a concert where we were the oldest ones there…and I was pregnant to boot. This night we were one of the youngest ones there…if you don’t count the little girl in the row in front of us. We had a great time. Our seats were on the floor, in the second section from the stage, near a walkway, prime people watching seats folks.

NEIL and his machismo self had an exquisite performance. For a guy in his mid-sixties it was an honor to see an Icon of his proportion perform. He sang all the songs you know and love. Sweet Caroline raised the roof but when he started playing it again…right after we just finished it…I wasn’t feeling it. It was odd. But…it is NEIL. I was a little sad he didn’t wear a shiny shirt. I love me some shiny NEIL.

It was a great night and just what the hubby and I needed, I little escape. Now that we know the Monkey will do ok with a babysitter I think we will take advantage of a bit more outings. Sushi at Chi…here we come.

Back to it…

This week was my first week “officially” back at work and it actually feels good. I do miss the monkey and planning my days with him and having the house straightened and the laundry done but whatever…it will get done eventually. I have fell right back into pace and being out is just a tiny glint in my already crazy and hectic work “to do” list.

I could not have asked for a better week “trying out” our new schedule. I get as much done the night before as I can, wash and prep bottles, get my food for the next day ready, lay clothes out. I get up at 5 -5:30 to be at work by 8:30. How crazy is that? I must say though the boys have been great.

I figured out a way to get the boy to get himself dressed without constantly nagging…the TV doesn’t go on until he is dressed. Just like that…no arguments, no begging, and no frustrated mom walking out the door, it’s pleasant.

The monkey has been sleeping until I get him up in the AM, except for one morning he got up just as I got up therefore he had to stay up as I got ready for work. He was fine except for the last 15 minutes it took me to make breakfast for me and the boy and get everything…including the kitchen sink in the car. I kept telling him…which I’m sure he understood completey…if he just would have slept later he wouldn’t be so upset now. Two seconds after we were in the car he was out. Buckethead.

The monkey loves daycare…that I can tell anyway cause he hasn’t come out and said “I love daycare”. He hasn’t cried once when I have left him, except for the first day but mom was crying too. They tell me he loves to be talked to that he just smiles and smiles, I love his smile. It totally draws you in with his innocence and genuine nature. They say lately he has been finding his voice and telling stories. I’ve noticed this too and that story about the rabbi, the priest and the blonde…freakin hilarious.

The boy had a better week at school this week. I would even categorize it as a good week. He had one really bad day, an excellent day and good days the rest of the week. Keep your fingers crossed I didn’t jinx today by admitting he’s been doing well. I am hoping we have turned a corner since I am back to work and we are really trying to work with him and pay attention to his needs. Not the needs that are I need another car, another chocolate milk, another story, another five minutes…those are the annoying needs he thinks he ‘needs’. I mean the spending quality time, teaching him the right choices and not letting him get away with the wrong ones. I’m seeing progress, although there are setbacks sometimes which overshadow all the progress but more often than not I’m beginning to see the amazing brilliant boy fight through this…whatever…and shine brightly.

No rest for the weary…the hubby. Sigh…they lost a lot of time and momentum with the business after the hurricane. They are still not up and running at full capacity. I know there is perspective and yes, at least he has enough of a business to get back up and running and I feel deeply sad for those that don’t. With that said…the hubby…he’s been working hard…harder…the hardest. I am proud to see how hard he has worked and rallied around the biz to do what he has to do to get things up and running. No electricity…ha…bought a generator. Chocolate doesn’t do well in heat…ha…got a refrigerated truck. No internet for an internet based company…ha…work at Starbucks and process almost 100 orders in a day with artwork to boot; dyes ordered and customers satisfied. BAM! I have and continue to witness a man that will persevere through anything. Have I mentioned he never once forgot about making sure his wife and two kids were safe and comfortable? A man like none other I’ve known and I’m so very happy to call MY husband. Yep…he’s all mine. Take that chicken soup girl! I love you sweetie and I’m so very proud of you. I want to be just like you when I grow up…you cradle robber you.

We are taking our family pictures this weekend. Green jeans….lol meaning we will be wearing green (sage) shirts with jeans. We all have dark features and look exceptional in green, although it is going to be tough finding stuff for the baby. But here’s hoping. I have some really cute ideas for poses…I’m really excited.

A couple of other things on tap for the weekend…one that may involve a pecan pie…made by me! YUMOLICIOUS.

Mid WOE report!! Staying on track this week…I’ll give a full report on Monday.

Everyone have an outstanding weekend.

**Edit**How could I have forgotten to mention the monkey slept THROUGH the night last night! I turned over and looked at the clock and it said 4:30. I shut my eyes and processed what I just saw and they flew open...4:30! Oh my gosh...something is wrong. What if something is wrong. SIDS...oh many I can't go up there. I can't imagine what is waiting for me. I was almost in tears. I layed there for thirty minutes and contemplated when I was going to muster up enough courage to check on the monkey. I was halfway hoping he would cry out waking himself up. That never happened.

Around 5 I get up and make my way upstairs. Still wrestling with my feelings as to what I was going to find. I open the door, peer over the crib and there my beautiful son is peacefully sleeping. I touch his cheek to rouse him awake and pick him up and nuzzle his head under my chin and breathe in his scent. All was good in the world.

I did the same thing with my firstborn. I think as a mom you get in a routine with getting up during the night and unbeknownst to you at the time there is comfort in those midnight hours when it is just the two of you. The first time that isn't there most moms cannot help but think the worst.

My monkey is safe and beautiful and loving and amazing. Our family is so blessed!

Smiles!

Choices

When in a person’s life do greed and /or desperation turn them into a criminal? I received some very disturbing news last weekend about a person I knew in my past. Not just an acquaintance or a short lived relationship but someone I once called family. We were family and we were close. I was at his wedding, I was at the birth of his firstborn, and we graduated college together. When I had to leave the family it was him that I was going to miss the most because we were close and I knew we both had to choose. No, we were not a couple; he was my brother in law and very good friend…close to a best friend. It has been almost seven years since I have seen him and almost a year since I talked to him for the first time in six years. It was nice to catch up with he and his family and we fell into the same banter that I had come so accustomed to so many years before.

I was devastated when I found out the news that he had become someone that will now be known as a criminal, a cheat, a felon…allegedly. The choices that he made…allegedly 80 times have not only affected those with losses but will also affect his family, both immediate and extended. 80…80 times he made a choice…allegedly that will and have impacted so many people in a negative way and if convicted he will go to prison. I just want to throw up. Let’s just say he will not do well in prison…he is a good looking man and I’m not saying that jokingly. It really won’t be good.

Again…what drives a person that is successful, honest and upstanding to make such a life changing horrible decision? It just makes me sad.

WOE Week 4 part 3

Yes, I’m starting week four yet again. I started off ok but didn’t stay on track due to mostly the same reasons as the previous post. I am happy to report that I am officially at work and it has been great…WOE wise anyway. I am able to eat my 4 meals without interruption as opposed to being on the road commuting from Clear Lake to Humble to Clear Lake and back to Humble and ending up finally in Clear Lake…yes my life last week. Thankfully we got our power back on Saturday and I couldn’t pack my crap fast enough.

I have to again thank Jodie and Bryan for taking us in…it was a blessing to have a cool roof over our head and they took care of us as any BFF would. After over two weeks of being a nomad I was ready to get home and get things in order.

Now I have to get caught up on my blogging, for myself and the kiddos, I’m behind on their newsletters. Add that to my ever growing to do list.

The hubby’s business is coming along. They worked their asses off last week to get things back up and running. They moved to a new facility while theirs is under contraction; meanwhile, they are having attempting to try and process orders without power…they are an internet company…so not having power is not a good thing. You found them at any given Starbucks around the city trying to work. Crazy stuff man…crazy. Thankfully they too got power back late last week.

Funny story…Last week I was in the car with my oldest (4) and I was listening to talk radio. No, I’m not in my 60’s and I swear I hated it when my Dad used to listed to that crap but for whatever reason I’m drawn to it….yeah…just go with it, don’t try and analyze it.

We were listening to talk radio and whoever was talking about Barack Obama and the boy asked “Who is Barack Obama?” and I asked him who he thought he was and he said loud and proud…”A rock star”. I almost puked all over the windshield. I said you’ve been listening to the liberal media too much and hanging around your father. I then proceeded to explain…to my four year old…that Mr. Obama was the Democratic Nominee for President of the United States and made sure he repeated it over and over. I threw in McCain as well for good measure.

WOE Week 4 and 5 Results

I can sum these two weeks up in one word IKE! I am unhappily reporting these two weeks were a bust. I gave in to anxiety and convenience and stopped following the program. No excuses no pity I’m starting week 4 over again today. I weighed a couple of days ago and I was at 162.4. So that is my new week four starting weight. It's all good.

Crack it!

Monday, September 22, 2008

That would be today…whew…tiring aint it. I was supposed to start work today as my official day back from a three in a half stint on maternity leave. Well…thanks to Ike my plans had to change. Both of the boys’ schools are closed and we over course still have no power. I really want to acclimate the monkey so it won’t be so traumatizing to him to leave him there all day, my days are running out and I really need to get back to it.

Thankfully I spoke to my manager and she agreed to let me telework this week. Thank God.

Oh, I drove around Kemah and Seabrook this afternoon. Crazy…crazy stuff. A week and a half later and there are still boats in people’s yard and the debris of trees is truly amazing. I can’t believe how many trees were lost. I can’t imagine what Galveston looks like in person. They still aren’t letting people on the island…perhaps Wednesday.

I am so thankful I have great friends that have taken us in and have fed us and given us a nice cool, comfortable place to stay.

Sunday, September 21, 2008

After a good nights sleep we settled in. I watched the boys while Jodie and Bryan took the boards off their windows and mowed. Nic met us and we took the boys to McyD’s so the boys could burn off some of their energy. They really played well together all day and I was happy they could occupy each other.

Saturday, September 20, 2008

Holy hotness. The fam worked outside to cut down the banana palms that had lost a ton of limbs and just straighten up overall. I did laundry and hung it on a line to dry. The house got up to 85 and we were all miserable. I tried to put the monkey down at night and I couldn’t swaddle him because it was too hot and he would scream when I would put him down in the bassinet, in front of a fan. That’s it…I called Jodie and the boy, the monkey and myself were headed her way…she had power. We got to her house about 10 and it looked like we were moving in…I hadn’t unpacked from Dallas so I zipped up the suitcases and loaded them up.

A/C glorious A/C.

Friday, September 19, 2008

The first night without A/C was bearable. Thankfully the temps were still down and the house got down to 78 at night. We went out to Costco to pick up a generator for the hubby’s work and get a few fixins for din. Let’s just say it didn’t go well with the boy. He had a meltdown at Costco when we were leaving and the hubby and I had had enough. Let’s just say we talked and sorted a few things out…we will see.

Thursday, September 18, 2008

We left Dallas at 1 pm and made it to Houston by 5. The boys did great! I only had to stop twice for the baby and that was about right. I, however, don’t think I was prepared for what I saw. Of course I saw the wind damage starting at about Conroe and didn’t see much more until I got to our community. Holy smokes…we ended up losing about 50% of our trees and we live in a heavily wooded area. The hubby said it was much worse when he came in on Monday and they had cleaned up most of the mess. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing.

The neighbors were out barbequing which had become a nightly event. Everyone would bring over their food to cook so it wouldn’t go bad. I so love our neighbors. Do you want to know how amazing our neighbors are…well I’ll tell you but first a little insight to my previous experience with neighbors. Growing up there was a time when all the neighbors knew everyone, we even had a block party one forth of July holiday. That was about the peak of socialization, everyone started moving away shortly after. From then on we never really socialized with new neighbors and kept to ourselves. The same rang true when I moved out. The house the hubby and lived in before our current house I couldn’t tell you one of the neighbors name. It all changed when we moved into our current house and on our very special street.

I’ve mentioned before we have flamingo parties every few months but from the get go all of our neighbors have been truly special and always going above and beyond.

One of our neighbors owns a trucking company and offered a refrigerated truck to the hubby in order for him to store their chocolate and they wouldn’t lose their inventory. Another one of our neighbors gave the hubby gas to put in the generator when none was to be found.

Yet another neighbor showed the hubby how to hook the generator to the fuse box to have power for pretty much everything.

AND finally before we even got home a bunch of the neighbors went up and down the street standing up all the trees that had fallen over and specifically propped our fence back up with another two by four.

I get a warm fuzzy feeling knowing there are still good people in the world that are always willing to extend a helping hand without even being asked.

PCL has the best peeps ever. Oh…there is a house for sale on our street. If you are lookin you better jump on it cause it would be the best experience ever. Did I mention we have Flamingo parties!!

Wednesday, September 17, 2008

I decided to take the kids to a children’s museum….surely Dallas would have one…right? Right? Well the ‘attractions’ listing that the hotel provided claimed to have a children’s museum right by the Museum of Natural Science out at Fair park…ya know…where the Cotton Bowl is…whatever. It was the poorest excuse for a museum or park or whatever the hell it was. There was workers everywhere and they were setting up for something, which I later discovered was the state fair, and it was totally unuser friendly. I finally got fed up, not to mention frustrated and left. Went back to the hotel and took a nap.

Good news came from the hubby he was getting a generator and we could come home. I was so ready. So I packed up and got everything ready to head out by noon on Thursday.

Tuesday, September 16, 2008

The report from the hubby was the office was better than expected but still bad. They are all but shut down. This is huge blow as they are nominally ramping up to their busy season about now. I have ache in my stomach but I ignore it in order to keep a positive outlook on everything. We have our family…that is the important thing. I tell myself that over and over again.

In the evening I meet Mandy and her three kids for dinner, this was supposed to happen on Sunday but was postponed due to the news on the business. Mandy texted me the address to the restaurant we were to eat at and I was like coolio I’ll just put it in my trusty GPS. One drawback people is you need to make sure you update your GPS every year at least. Mine is a couple of years old and newly developed areas do not register on maps that are two years old. So…the address I was attempting to locate did not exist according to my GPS. FUN! What turned out to be a ten minute commute ended up being an hour. (I only found out it was ten minutes on my way home). Isn’t that special…

Needless to say it was great meeting Mandy’s kids and we had good conversation. I need to plan a girl’s trip one weekend to spend some quality one on one time, with zero distractions.

Monday, September 15, 2008

The hubby left in the wee hours of the morning and the boys and I were left to our own devices. It was a beautiful day as a cool front had moved through the area and it was necessary for us to enjoy the gift. We headed out to the Dallas Zoo. We had a good time. It was a lot of work for me corralling two kids well…one kid and trying to keep the baby happy but we did it and overall we had a good day. The hubby’s parents called me to check on me and I think they fell out of their chairs when I told them I was at the zoo. Oh well…gotta do what cha gotta do and sitting in a hotel room scared to manage things would have been ten times worse.

Sunday, September 14, 2008

This day we had to come up with a game plan. We had received word from our neighbors that our house was fine, we lost a gutter, the fence had blown over in a couple of places and our trees were sideways but could be righted with some effort and no electricity. Bad news, the hubby’s office had the roof torn off and their offices had standing water and the chocolate needed to be rescued. Thankfully they were on pallets and off the floor. So a game plan was formed and the hubby was headed out first thing Monday morning with his business partner leaving us in Dallas until things became more stable and hopefully electricity was restored.

Saturday, September 13, 2008

As soon as I woke up Saturday morning I turned on the news to see what had transpired during the night and needed to know about the storm surge. Thank God it didn’t happen as bad as they predicted. I called my Granny and they were fine and no water to be seen. I checked in with the rest of my friends and family and neighbors and all reports were good, minimal damage in the form of trees, fences, a few shingles and one lone trampoline. I could breathe again. Our neighbors did mention that the eye of the storm came right over our community. It was dead calm for 45 minutes before the Northeast wall came through. Crazy stuff and I’m glad we weren’t there for the experience.

We continued to watch the news to see how bad the storm really was. It is amazing being in another city, looking out the window at a beautiful day and seeing such devastation in your city, the city you grew up in, the city you live and work in, the beaches you grew up on…seeing that all go away in less than 24 hours. It is hard to believe.

Friday, September 12, 2008

We decided to make the best of the situation and do a little site seeing. The hubby had never seen the grassy knoll so we went a ‘ridin’ and saw it all. One thing I found out during this visit was there are x’s on the street near the grassy knoll that signify where JFK was shot. It was very creepy. I’ll post pix when we get them off the camera. We also drove around Deep Ellum. Too bad the hubby and I couldn’t go see a few bands that evening…that would have been amazing.

The remainder of the day we stayed glued to the news hoping against all hope the storm would turn or move or just fade away as I don’t wish this devastation on anyone. Of course the reports were getting worse and worse and for a city that was barely in the “cone of uncertainty” a few day prior the storm was barreling down straight away. The most disturbing thing I heard was meteorologist telling people to get out because the storm surge was going to be over 20 feet and those left behind were to face certain death. That hit home and hit home hard, my grandparents chose not to leave. They suffered during the Rita evacuation and eventually turned around and went home…this was when Rita was a CAT 5 and headed straight for us my friends. They didn’t want the same thing to happen so they chose to stay. I called many times and ask them to reconsider but my Papa would not. My Granny told me they had a sledgehammer, an axe and life jackets in the attic. I just cried and prayed they would be spared.

Present day, September 11, 2008

We are evacuating from a little ole hurricane known as Ike. The familia and I packed up and headed to Dallas to escape the storms wrath. You may ask if we live on the coast and the answer is no, no where near the coast but we are concerned about losing electricity for an indeterminate amount of time and in order to spare our four year old and three month old that hardship we packed em up and moved out.

We bypassed traffic by heading up 59 then cutting over to 45 around Cleveland…gotta love GPS. It still took us about 6 hours to get there with the three or four stops we made to console the three month old. I was glad to be out of harms way but worried about my family who had decided to stay in a mandatory evacuation area.

We ate at a crappy Italian place and turned in relatively early. We were all spent from the day’s activities.

September 11, 2008 – Seven years ago today…

…I was lying in a hospital bed recovering from back surgery I had had the day before

…I turned on the TV and watched the two towers fall on live TV

…I walked to the end of the hospital hall and looked out the window and saw my friends and co-workers evacuating

…I never felt so alone

…I decided it was the beginning of an end.

Family Vacation to Dallas Compliments of Ike

Looks like the family is heading to Dallas tomorrow in anticipation of Ike making his way pretty close to H-town. We live a decent ways inland unless of course it comes up the ship channel like Alicia did then we're screwed. Nevertheless our concern is tornadoes and especially losing power. With the baby being so new it doesn't sound the least bit fun riding out the storm with a three month old and potentially scaring the bejesus out of our four year old. I have a friend that lives in Dallas and we've already made plans to get together and OMG...the hubby hasn't been to the grassy knoll. WHAAAAA?

So...I'm packing us up and as soon as the hubby gets home tomorrow we're out. We gave two GPSs and we're planning on back roading it to Dallas which honestly I think could be fun. I've lived here my entire life and never took the back roads even though I LOVE going through and stopping in small towns so I look at it as and adventure which I believe it will prove to be spending several hours in a car with two kids under the age of five.

I've called a few of our neighbors on our street and they are all staying but I am concerned about my Granny. She lives about five miles from the coast and next door to the house where I grew up in and when Alicia came through it wasn't fun. Tornadoes hitting all around us. When I spoke with her this evening she did say my Dad had came over and boarded up the house and battened down the hatches. I hope and pray they stay safe.

If you pray say one for us in H-town and the surrounding cities that may be affected.

I'll be reporting in from Dallas. Everyone stay safe!

Did not meet Mr. Crabs

Over the weekend I made the family go crabbing. We live a minute from Lake Houston and the forecast was to be in the high 60's in the morning and I wanted to get out and enjoy it. Plus I had some extra chicken thighs from a "Crackin" recipe and what better way to get rid of them than to catch some crabs.

Well...there doesn't seem to be any crabs that live in Lake Houston or the water was too choppy...or we were too close to the shore or...we just suck at crabbing. We didn't catch a thing...not even the catfish were interested. Maybe they are boob crabs and prefer breast to thighs? Who knows...but the boy and the hubby seem to have good time exploring and climbing on the rocks along the bank of the lake. Evidently the boy got out on a rock that was slimy and took a quick dip in the water. He didn't seem to mind.

Next time we go to Armand Bayou where I know there are crabs a plenty. I can't wait for the boy to get his first crab and as a kid we always had crab races to see which one would make it back in the water first. FUN Stuff. We took pictures, I'll have to post them next week.

WOE - Week 3 Results

Still "Crack a Lackin"...lackin in weight that is! Down 1.8 lbs and I'm back in the 150's again...snoopy dance. I was in the lower 150's before I got pregnant and I am very happy with three months postpartum and I can already fit back in my prepregnancy clothes AND I have saggy butt syndrome! Bring it baby.

Funny story...when I weighed in the morning the scale read 160, I dropped my son off and came back and had to...um...go to the bathroom. I then undressed and weighed again and you guessed it...I was snoopy dancin naked when I saw I had lost and additional .6.

The end of week three was a bit tough, I had a gynormous craving for sweets and on Sunday since we stayed in all day and I was bored. I pretty much resisted all urges until the afternoon and I felt like I ate and ate and ate until I remembered there was a chocolate truffle stashed on top of the frig from like six months ago. I found it and it was the freakin best truffle I ever tasted and just what I wanted.

I feel guilty now if I deviate from the plan in any manner, which is good because it keeps me on track but goodness if I have a bowl of cereal...with milk I'm all scared I'm going to get caught and immediately gain 10 pounds. Oh the torture we put ourselves through. I then get on the scale and I still managed to loose. I was worried, the chronic weigher than I am, I thought I wasn't going to see any results but low and behold...I eeked by.

I did measure but there wasn't a change in the waist but I did loose an inch in my hips...so that's something.

Week 4 is so far so good. I'm getting this stuff down and even eating a bit more to stay on track while breastfeeding...it's workin for me...now I just need to get exercising in there somewhere. They may not happen until round two of "Crackin".

WOE - Week 2 Results

Quicky here...didn't want to get to the weekend without posting my WOE results. Lost 1.8 lbs and 1/2 an inch on the waistline. As you can see results slowed down considerably. I'm not worried adding carbs in this week makes since but I still lost and I am continuing to lose and that is what I am working toward. Whooo hooo!!

Yeppers it's going great and I've been more busy lately that I've having a hard time eating all the meals. So I'm thinking I'm going to start prepping food the day before and carry around a cooler packed with everything I need to eat for the day, cept for dinner of course...I never forget that one. I'm even starting this for the boy...instead of grabbing McDonald's for lunch cause we're out in about I'll have my one version of the burger that I made and know what is in it. I'm even trying my hand at apple fries that Burger King came up with to see how those go over. I'll let you know how it all works out.

Actually it's pretty fun shopping these days, it offers a challenge and just try finding things that don't have sugar, aren't sweented with an artifical sweetner and taste good and must be organic that a four year old will eat. Fun stuff.

Have a good weekend! Keep WOEing!

WOE - Week 1 Complete and the results are in…

Drum roll please…6 lbs!! Snoopy Dance! AND 2 inches off the waist. Snoopy dancing naked!! (Got a little over zealous there). Now I did have a challenge to overcome and that was breastfeeding. I believe my supply dipped a bit so in order to compensate I ate a tad bit bigger portion and ate two extra servings of cheese a day. I can already tell my supply is back up by making those mods. It should be smooth sailing for the duration since I get to eat me some carbs…in moderation of course but I’m so excited about my sugar free Jell-O with reddi whip tonight!! Oh…and I just made the Crispy Lettuce Wraps…YUM-O! Ok…enough with the exclamation points already.

I visited the dermatologist today and she froze a bunch of stuff that I can’t remember the name of but were brought on primarily by pregnancy and those hormones that come along for the ride. I had a spot on my face that looked like a gynormous sun spot and she took care of it. Only downside is that I get to walk around for about a week with an even darker mark on my face; worth it, totally.

I’m on the downside of week two of WOEing it; yeah…I’m a blogging slacker. Things just come up…and I’m choosing sleep over blogging. I know…and I call myself a blogger. Yeah…yeah…yeah. I bet most of you do your blogging at work and I just can’t seem to fit my updates in as frequently as I used to.

Back to downside to week two, initial thoughts not bad at all except I went a little crazy on Friday and had sushi for lunch, come on I haven’t had REAL sushi in ten months. At least it was for lunch and not dinner and I made it work by switching my carb up days from Saturday to Friday and I got my weight back down. Of course I’ve been weighing myself everyday, which I know you are not supposed to do but I had to see the damage I had done. It was very reassuring to me that I can make mid week adjustments if necessary because life happens and still stay on track. Another thing that helps is the hubby is only eating fish for the next few weeks so for dinner…my protein is pretty much always some sort of fish.

Whey Protein Story…I went to buy more vanilla whey protein powder at our local Mr. Nutrition. Two things, one…I could put the little muscle bound dude in my pocket, I think my newborn is only slightly smaller than he was; and two, the idiot knew nothing about protein powder. Well…let me give him some credit, he didn’t know ALL the things he should know about protein powder. He didn’t even know who Jay Robb was…WHAAA? Nor did he have a clue what the brands he did carry were sweetened with. Seriously. We did buy some crap and I hate it but I’m going to push through, I still have the chocolate flavor from Jay Robb that will be what I drink in my shakes and I will put this crap we bought in everything (oatmeal, crepes, pancakes) so I can hurry up and buy JR’s vanilla flavor again. Aftertaste in anything that isn’t a warm walnut and chocolate chip tollhouse cookie SUCKS. Blah! Pushing through.

Can’t close without mentioning hurricane Gustav. It looks like we in Houston will be spared however those to the east of us…not so much. The weather peeps are saying it is going to be nasty and I am hoping against all hope we don’t see a repeat of three years ago. A good friend of mine has family that lives in Houma, keep them in your prayers as well as all the others sticking around for their own reasons. Heaven help us with the media coverage. I think some of the reporters are actually disappointed it isn’t coming our way.

And finally, Labor Day, Why exactly do we have this holiday? Not that I am complaining it is just we were talking about it with the boy and we couldn’t really tell him why we have the day off; to celebrate Labor? I think we are off the hook this year but next year we really need to be better prepared.

Have a great celebration of Labor…Day!

I’m out.

Childrens Museum

Saturday the family visited the Houston Childrens Museum and who knew all the exceptionally fun stuff they had there. We decided as a family to plan family outings…other than errands for a change. First outing…the HCM and it was lovely. The boy had a blast. We got there as soon as the doors opened so we were able to enjoy about thirty minutes of a thin crowd then it began to fill up and fast. The boy had sensory overload and kept running from one thing to another.

I see a pattern developing with him and I must say I am guilty of it to and have to make a conscious effort to enjoy the present, I’m always looking for what is next and it is hard for me to stop and smell the roses per se. I see this in the boy and I hope I can find guidance to manage that trait because I don’t necessarily think it is healthy and could lead to an unfulfilling life. Like I said I know this about myself and have to make an effort to keep it under control.

Back to the museum…I had the monkey strapped to me in the Bjorn and we bounced around the place trying to keep up with the boy, I’m thinking it will get real interesting when two are going in all different directions. The hubby and I are working on our tag teaming skills so hopefully will have it figured out in a year or so before the monkey learns to walk.

The hubby and I just finished watching “Crank”, it’s one of those overly violent, indulging popcorn films and I like it. Jason Statham is my new favorite actor. You can see him in the new movie “Death Race” and he was also in “Snatch”. I can’t pinpoint exactly what it is I like so much about him but he definitely has presence as a leading man in all of the films I’ve seen. Check out “Bank Job”, the hubby and I saw that last weekend, that was a good one to watch and based on a true story.

I think the monkey is FINALLY on a schedule at night. For the past two nights he has only gotten up once and the first shift of sleep is now four hours I’m so not complaining. I hope to be back in my bed by the months end.

Finishing up the first week of WOE tomorrow is my last day of the deplete cycle thank goodness. Starting Tuesday my meals should be more “normal” of sort and I believe I should be back on track with breastfeeding meaning I can tell there has been a slight decrease in production and my energy level so I’m eating a bit more in portion size and drinking a ton, no…literally a ton of water every day to compensate. I have 500 calories at least I have to make up!

I’ve been weighing everyday and I know I shouldn’t…I’m fixin to throw the scale out the f’n window. Regardless of the numbers I can tell I’m shrinking and that so jazzes me. I’ve promised myself to stay off the scale and wait until Tuesday to weigh and measure…wish me luck.

Look at me posting on a Sunday!! Changes…they are a comin…stay tuned.

I’m out.

Lunch with the ladies today was wonderful. All of us are doing the WOE and it was great to talk about it and compare notes. I also got caught up on the work gossip as always. Nothing too exciting but I always look forward to the company and conversation…it’s getting me through my maternity leave time…love my girls.

I’m a buckethead and forget to check the diaper bag for diapers and low and behold I go to change the monkey who had a dirty diaper and guess what…no diapers…that’s a problem. Thankfully I use cloth diapers for burp rags and I slapped one of those on the monkey’s bottom and off we went. Of course it took him all of two minutes to wet through the diaper but it was a quick fix until I got home.

This weekend I am bound and determined to have a good weekend with the family. Saturday we’re going to go to the Children’s Museum downtown and I just know the boy will have a great time and it will do the family good.

I planned my menu for next week…OMG…if you don’t have an Iphone GET ONE!! There is an application called Shopper and it allows you to create a shopping list of whatever, even has categories and such. I checked the food I needed based on my menu and emailed it to the hubby in case he goes to the grocery store this weekend!! How awesome is that.

Now I’m attempting to plan the weekend so we can be productive and have quality family time. The boy starts his new school on Monday and he is soooo excited.

I get to exercise beginning Tuesday so I need to plan that too. I will have to stick to the elliptical for now cause the ‘girls’ (e.g. boobs) are not ready to run yet, talk about painful. So I’m planning elliptical and core training.

Have a great weekend everyone…look at me…posting two days in a row!

WOE is me!!

It's finally time to fess up...I've joined the "Crack The Fat Loss Code" [Way of Eating] bandwagon...My plan was to keep it a secret and surprise everyone with seeing less of me by the time I return to work in a month but that lasted all of one hour. LOL I had to tell somebody and honestly it will help to have the support of everyone during those hard days. Plus a few of the girls are two and three weeks ahead of me and they have been losing mad weight and INCHES. The good thing about this program seems to be it pretty much mimics what I’m doing now but gives more insight to how foods work together therefore I am able to tweak my food to work the best for me. Oh and cut out the sugary cereal before bedtime. Prior to starting this program I’ve felt snacks and lunch were the hardest and the after dinner sweet craving. I am hoping the recommendations in the program will provide me with my cravings but in a healthy way.

I took my measurements today which is what I'm more concerned about than the weight. If I weigh 150 but fit into a size six...who cares about the scale.

Here is my recap of the last few days.

Day 1 (Tuesday) – went well. I ate about every two hours and all six meals. It wasn’t too difficult and I didn’t get all that hungry. I looked forward to the next meal AND I even ate cottage cheese. Thanks to my little friends Splenda and Cinnamon. YAY ME!

Day 2 – struggled a bit. I think I am having feeling the decrease in energy the book talked about...waiting for that surge any minute now...waiting...waiting. All during my pregnancy and up until Tuesday I’ve been indulging in carbs galore. I’ve had a dull headache for the past two days. Also, I wanted bread…I went through the pantry looking for what I could find that was low in carbs. Thankfully I looked at all the labels and finally gave up and had cheese instead. I am experiencing hunger in between meals. The book says if that happens you aren’t eating enough but I am eating the portions they recommend so I’m wondering if it has anything to do with breastfeeding. I’ll experiment on day 3. Oh…I’ve limited myself to one Diet Dr. Pepper a day which is no big deal but while I was out running errands I was hungry and I wanted a DDP and oddly enough Target was sold out of the cold ones. Obviously I wasn’t meant to have one…which would have been two and a total of three servings. Staying on track!

Day 3 - getting there. I woke up a bit groggy...mostly from staying up to watch May/Walsh win gold and then I was up every three hours with the monkey. Around 3ish I think I finally felt the 'surge' she talks about. I read the suggested time in between eating is 3-4 hours...ha...ha...not so much but did go three hours today so perhaps I'm evening out. I made the Turkey Taco Salad...YUMO! Actually all the suggested recipes have been tasty. Oh and cottage cheese three days in a row...you don't even know how big that is for me. I didn't weigh just to see what was going on and down 3lbs...holy cow this may just work.

Go Professor/Beijing Beast (Rogers/Dalhausser) who go for GOLD tonight.

YAY to the USA Women's soccer team who won the GOLD against Brazil. We so rock!

Rock on!

DMB

Friday night Nic and I attended the Dave Mathews Band concert while the hubby watched the boys. This was the hubby’s first time to be alone with the baby for more than 20 minutes and it showed. The monkey was not happy and cried most of the time, I was afraid that would happen. I was anxious to get home and relieve the stress on both of them. When I walked through the door the hubby was in the recliner rocking the monkey and the monkey was out. I have a very supportive hubby and even under the amount of stress he has been under of late he didn’t hesitate to take on watching a 9 week old baby for six hours along with a four year old to boot. Gotta love a man like that.

The concert was great. Nic had great seats…it was hotter than hell but totally worth it. I’ve seen Dave 5 times since my first in 2001 and each experience has been unique. That is why I keep going back time and time again. This year Tim Reynolds made a guest appearance and Dave played two covers, “Burning Down the House” from Talking Heads and “Sledgehammer” by Peter Gabriel. Now I don’t particularly care for either of those songs but when Dave is playing them they are my most favorite song ever. It also amazed me that for not liking either of those songs I knew every word…thanks to the radio playing them over and over and over and over…back in the day before there were Ipods.

Oh and a super secret great way to get in and get out when attending a concert at the pavilion…valet park at Market Street. Shhhh…the best 5 bucks plus tip ever spent. Just make sure you pick your car up before midnight.

Saturday I took the boy to a birthday party, I can only imagine the hubby looked forward to that time alone, even if he was running around the city all day long. After the party all the young boys took a nap and you know what that means…Mama gets to take a nap too! It was heavenly.

Sunday we ran errands in the morning then napped and watched the Olympics and of course witnessed Michael Phelps get his eighth medal. Oh…I caught the women’s marathon and I was sad to hear Dana Castor had to bail shortly after the race started. Horrible luck after all that hard work to get there.

The week for me will be busy with knocking stuff off my to do list. I’m taking a week off from the exercise; I’ll pick it back up with a vengeance next week.

2 week recap AND the Olympics

Gots a lot to write about and although old news at this point I absolutely have to bring up the media coverage for Tropical storm Edouard and I can capture the experience in one word…LAUGHABLE. I mean seriously…some yahoo in Baytown was standing in his rain slicker, in the gutter and actually reporting on the water running, make sure you are sitting down for this one, TO THE SEWER. Yes, he was standing in the gutter as the water trickled over his wellies. I hope there is some sort of broadcast journalism award he can be nominated for because although it was normal rain runoff making its way to the sewer he was reporting the shit of out of the experience.

The Wayne’s, yeah, we got water and I kept the boy home from school and that’s about it. We did move the patio furniture in the garage to be safe, I blame that on living on the Gulf coast for most of my living years and being used prepping for hurricanes like no ones business. Thankfully it turned and we received some much needed rain. Let’s hope that will be the worst we get this year.

This weekend we had a family outing and attended Maddox’s third birthday. The theme was Scooby Doo and the cake…YUM-O! It was like a mini wedding cake…one of the good ones. The boys did well, including the hubby, after running to Target to get the formula that I forgot to pack that is… The boy played and the monkey stuck with me in the Bjorn, absolutely a must have with this one. It was nice to socialize with adults and see my friends. We stayed a few hours then headed home. So much more work than it used to be. We were wiped out.

This week as been a flurry of business; Monday and Tuesday were chores and errands. Wednesday was the monkey’s two month doctor’s appointment. Yes, it’s been two months, can you believe it…I can’t. The monkey got a rave review, 10lbs 10oz, 22 inches long and healthy. He got four shots and I think it was harder on me than it was on him. Although he did wake up after his nap and he was hurting. He ate a bit and I just held him as he whimpered. I put a cold pack on his little legs and that seems to help a lot. I thought it was going to be a long night but it turned out to be a decent one.

One thing I absolutely have to talk about is something the hubby and I witnessed at lunch yesterday. We ate at Sweet Tomatoes and for those not in the know it is a soup, salad and some various sides and dessert buffet restaurant. The hubby, myself and the monkey were sitting in the corner eating our salads and we preceeded to watched a kid sitting next to us go back for more food at least six to seven times. Now it wasn’t one or two items he would come back with it was six or seven things with his plates runneth over. In your mind you may be picturing an overweight person participating in such an event. NOPE. The man boy looked like he was anorexic, seriously. The hubby and I think he may be on drugs and he might have been his allocated one time a week prior to going on a bender. There is no possible way a normal human being could consume the amount of food he was eating in one sitting without something abnormal going on, made for good conversation though.

This morning the family went to our local Montessori school so the boy could take a look around and we wanted to gauge his reaction to the new school, looks like we have a winner. We sat in on the class for about 45 minutes and the boy participated in a few class activities and did well. He didn’t have to be instructed more than once and he did what he was told once. I would like to think it wasn’t just because we were there. One thing the hubby noticed was there was not a single toy in the classroom. I think this is the program for us and the boy is going to thrive. The hubby and I did talk to the boy’s current school owner and told him of our plans, he was great and solidified he does what he does for the kids and not to make a buck. He gave us a lot of advice and some things to think about before the boy goes to Kindergarten or first grade.

After our visit it was off to meet the girls for lunch. We had yummy bbq. I look forward to meeting with my girls every week. Tomorrow Nic and I are going to see the Dave Matthews Band. Whoo hoo. I’m so looking forward to getting to be me for a night but it will be the first time I will be without the monkey (expect for 15 minutes once when I went to pick the boy up from school). We will have fun and I hope he does well for the hubby. It will be challenging, not going to sugar coat but I hope that all get through it unscathed.

And finally the Olympics. I love me some Olys! I get the pleasure of watching the games during the day and I love every minute of it. Even the badminton, fencing and archery are fun to have in the background as I’m doing chores. It is getting bad though, I had a dream about Michael Phelps last night, he was levitating and I was walking underneath him. Not saying I’m a Phan but the media is gaga over him so I’m thinking the amount of hours I watch the Olys is starting to take their toll. And those Chinese gymnasts…so not 16! Go for 8 MP!

I’ll try not to wait so long next time in between posts I know it makes for a hard read.

I’m out.

Catching Up and a Tropical Storm to boot...

Wednesday lunch with the girls was great, I didn't want it to end, good conversation. The hubby asked me later that night what we talked about and I had to think about it and it occur ed to me that I did most of the talking. Oh well, lots to catch up on, thankfully I have IM and I still get to stay dialed in.

I didn't waste any time packing up all the maternity clothes on Tuesday afternoon, I was bound and determined to get them out of my house and back to Jodie. Two boxes of maternity clothes and a additional box of the preemie clothes are officially out of the house. The hubby will be so happy.

I borrowed Jodie's jogging stroller and I was so excited about trying it out on Thursday. First of all the Monkey looked like a spot in that thing, he is still so little. Second, he hated it!! I resigned to the fact that he is still too little for the jogger but it was so nice, even heavenly with it's smoothness and being able to shield the sun with the cover stead of burp cloths. Oh well, back to the carrier and snap n go, temporarily.

I am happy to report I've been walking regularly and doing core exercises all week that is everyday except Wednesday and that's because I met the girls for lunch and it takes like five hours to get anywhere with the monkey it tow. I'm feeling really good about it all, this first week anyway. One week closer to getting my body back.

After lunch I stopped by Granny's work to surprise her, she was so happy to see the monkey and loved him up.

Friday I finally received an email from a blast from my past...Mandy. She and I were best friends growing up, she moved to Dallas my Freshman year in high school and we managed to stay friends until I graduated then we grew more distant.

Mandy still lives in Dallas and coincidentally enough she was coming to Houston on Saturday to pick up her kids from the airport. Turns out her hotel was about 15 minutes from my house and we were able to arrange seeing each other for dinner at mi casa. I was excited to see her, a bit nervous, it's been almost ten years since I saw her last and that didn't go too well. Bottom line I hated her husband and she was the shell of the girl I knew. She got here around 6ish and after about ten minutes it was like we were 16 again, it felt like old times. Turns out we still have so much in common, I've decided I'm going to make an effort to keep up correspondence, she's good people and one should always keep good people in their circle.

Sunday I went to Granny's for a scheduled visit. It didn't go too well, the Monkey was fussy and it wasn't a relaxing visit by any means but I was glad Granny and PaPa and that other boy Donald got the see the boys, especially meeting the monkey for the first time.

Now it seems we are prepping for Tropical Storm Edouard. Fun stuff, I'm keeping the boy at home no matter what, that way I know he is safe. Tornadoes are the big concern and I want as much of my family as possible to be at home and safe.

One more note, the Monkey is going to sleep around 8ish...what a glorious feeling. The hubby and I actually get a hour or so for each other. Now we need to figure out what to do with all that time.

Reporting In

Still here but I’ve been hella busy! The hubby had knee surgery a couple of weeks ago and we got through it. It was challenging holding down the fort but the hubby was a model patient and I was determined to get through the short term development with my sanity in tact. Here to report…done and done. AND I made my first ever Kasha Varnishkas for the hubby…that’s a Jewish staple for those not in the know. Look at this Chicksa go!

The boys are doing fine. The monkey is growing like a weed, filling out and he started smiling regularly in the last couple of days. It is amazing to see his face light up. Bugamug is having a bit of difficulty of late with school and overall authority. We’re not sure if it is the new baby but I think he is spoiled, strong willed and generally a non-conformist; we rocked his world yesterday and we will so how that goes. I’m keeping my fingers crossed we get a good report from school today.

On the workout front I officially started this week. I walk in the morning, this week about 2 miles; I plan on stepping it up every week and eventually getting my run on. I also weight train and mix in core workouts daily. The monkey has been very cooperative, as long as I meet his demand of food between the walk and weights. We’re figuring it out.

I’m headed to Clear Lake tomorrow for lunch with the girls. I’m looking forward to catching up with everyone. I’m kinda getting used to this staying at home routine, I’m able to get ‘to do’s’ marked off my list left and right. Yeah…no chance this stay at home mom temporary situation becomes permanent.

Short and sweet…but that’s about all I can muster lately, the Monkey is already showing signs of boredom, very loud I may add.

iPhone Snob

I am now the proud owner of a new, old (gently used) iPhone!! The hubby, a loyal everything Apple consumer, purchased a new iPhone this weekend and I was the recipient of this old (gently used) one. This is quite an event because I’m one of those peeps that only requires her phone to make and receive calls, send and receive text messages, access the Internet and have an alarm, that’s it…nothing fancy. UNTIL Apple came out with the new and improved iPhone and I became next in line for the original. I have been inducted into the Apple club and the hubby can now share his wealth of Apple application knowledge in his quest to convert me to the MAC way of thinking. It’s not that I refuse to go to the other side, I’m slowly getting there. I work with PC’s and before the hubby I didn’t know anyone that publicly admitted to owning a MAC, he’s introduced me to a whole way of thinking…in more ways than one.

For now, I have the pleasure of being an iPhone snob, even if it is the iPhone 1.o and when asked how many states are bordered with four states and to name them, I can whip out my fancy schmancy iPhone and have the answer for you with in minutes. Oh…and I can find out where I parked my car.

Veggin Out

I’ve become ubermom! I’m pureeing veggies to ‘hide’ them in foods so my son will eat them…without his knowledge of course. We bought Jessica Seinfeld’s book “Deceptively Delicious” last year and I told myself and the hubby I was going to do this but I never made the time and made myself think it was an overwhelming task. Well…I bit the bullet today and took a look at the recipes and discovered I could freakin rock this. Most of the ingredients in the recipes I had and I just happened to be going to the grocery store today and I picked up extra veggies for the purees. I was a veggie buying ubermom, I also threw in Tofu for good measure. I strutted around the grocery store with confidence that’s right…look in my cart, veggies and lots of em, don’t adjust your glasses that’s two heads of cauliflower you are looking at, eat your heart out.

My name is Seth and I approve this message…

The hubby and I were sitting in the living room and the talking about the veggies I was going to puree and the boy piped up and told me I have to put the veggies in green bags. I ask him how he knows about green bags and he told me in a matter of fact tone that you put the veggies in the green bags so they won’t go bad and you don’t throw your money away. The hubby and I shook our heads and I laughed so hard I was in tears. That’s it…you watch way too much TV. For those that aren’t in the know the boy watches Nickelodeon pretty much every Saturday and Sunday morning and they play that commercial I would say about twenty times each day.

New Mom…Again…Not for the faint of heart

Someone told me having another child was hard and in the back of my mind I’m like how hard could it be, I’ve done this before, I know what to expect, I got this. Well…not so much. IT IS HARD!

There is a reason you forget about the HARD stuff of bringing up children or people wouldn’t do this child rearing thing over and over again. We forget about labor, forget how it feels to go without sleep for weeks or months at a time, forget about the feeling of inadequacy, of feeling totally alone or we remember but think we can overcome all those feelings this time around.

Me, I didn’t have that much labor the first time around but I sure as heck felt it this time and I would still opt for the drugs. (Attagirl for those women who don’t). Luckily my lack of sleep hasn’t gone more than a couple of days and after a month I’m getting acclimated to getting up two to three times a night, luckily the monkey goes back to sleep fairly easy now. The feeling of inadequacy, yes, there are times when I still feel that way, mostly around three or four in the morning when the monkey won’t stop crying and I’ve nursed for 45 minutes and he still wants more and I’m changing diapers left and right and stuff is still coming out of both ends…all at one time. This is when I feel the most alone and frustrated, in the dark in the middle of the night. I have my entire family in the house with me and sometimes I feel more alone than I do when I’m actually alone during the days.

I AM AN IDIOT

I have a super supportive husband I know I can walk downstairs and give the monkey to the hubby and tell him I need a few and he would gladly take over. I have friends that I could call at any hour and they would talk me through it and tell me I’m awesome but I wait it out because in my mind doing so would admitting my inadequacy. Really…would it, no but I do it to myself over and over again. Thankfully the morning comes, I’ve gotten through it and I actually I feel stronger for getting through the ordeal by myself.

Anyone who reads this would think to themselves, or tell me for that matter, that I need to be on meds. Do I? Probably but not for this reason alone. This is part of the new mom stuff is hard and an adjustment to be reckoned with…I’m adjusting and I'm doing ok, pushing through. The hubby reminded me over the weekend this is as hard as it will be and he is right and I think about that repeatedly during those times when I’m feeling overwhelmed, in the dark.

The reason for the most recent rough night was a standoff between myself and the monkey and our sleeping arrangements. Score one for mom…for now, the monkey has successfully moved to the bassinet and is no longer sleeping on my chest. Last night we both were able to get quality sleep and he seems to be on a 2.5 to 3 hour schedule. What a beautiful thing. Right now it is 1:30 in the am and he's been asleep for 3. hours...of course I didn't go to sleep because I thought he would be up soon. Score one for the monkey.

Sunday, I embarked on my first solo journey with the boy and the monkey and headed down to Clear Lake to have dinner at Jodie’s house. So not the same as it was two months ago. Jodie made a fantastic southern home style meal, recipes from her family’s regular Sunday dinners. Chicken and rice, squash casserole, fried okra and baked apples. It was YUM-O. She even sent me home with left overs and I proceeded to eat the crap out of those for lunch on Monday. The meal was wonderful and the company much needed. I’m glad I went but dang…it’s work but we will keep at it and is is bound to get easier. It really helps to get back to a routine and do the things I did without a thought before the baby. I push myself to prove that I can do this and do it well.

The boy has made things more difficult this past week and weekend. I believe he is acting out, needing…check that…requiring more attention because of his brother is my guess. School isn’t going great but I believe there are more factors than him acting out. A new teacher is closing in the afternoon and she doesn’t know how to handle the boy and the boy senses her weakness and he’s all over it…he even made her cry (wuss). Don’t think he is a terror because he’s not, he’s smart, manipulative and he will freakin negotiate with you for anything and he’s wearing her down. Not to mention neither myself or the hubby got a good first impression of her. Very abrasive; good grief I can see why the boy is giving her a hard time, I would too!

Off to wake the boy and get some much needed z's.

Twins

Seth in 2004
Sage in 2008

This is my 100th post! I should bake a cake in celebration like they do on TV for the 100th episode.

Remembering...

4th of July

Today was the Monkey’s first 4th of July. I documented his blog with the event and I couldn’t help but think about my past 4th of July and the ones I have fond memories of.

I am not sure of the year but I had to be in 4th or 5th grade because my sister was still a toddler. A friend of my parents (The St. John’s) had family that had a house in Morgan’s Point right across the street from Sylvan Beach, they launch fire works off a barge in the bay. We were so close ash from the firecrackers rained down on us and my sister was so scared she screamed the entire time.

When I was in high school my Dad worked for the City of LaPorte and he we responsible for lighting the fireworks display. It was so cool seeing the fireworks and knowing my Dad was responsible for them. At the same time I was scared to death one would ignite on the barge, I think I spent more time watching those fireworks being lit than exploding in the sky.

Lake Texhoma 2002 – We had five boxes of fireworks and went to light them on the shore of the lake and a crowd of cars gathered on the opposite side of the shore and when a really good firework would go off they would honk their horns and flash their lights. It was quite a scene.

Russia 2003 – Celebrating the 4th in Star City, Russia was quite memorable, not to mention some other things that went on (everything happens for a reason babe). Being on lockdown due to a sucide bomber at a festival outside the city is something you don’t get in the good ole US of A!

This forth we kept it low key primarily due to the Monkey being so new. The hubby did pick up fireworks for the boys and we invited a few of our neighbors along for the ride as well. The boy had a great time and the monkey slept through most of them. The rest of the day we ran a few errands and the hubby and I watched Kung Fu Hussle in Blu Ray. As weird as it sounds…it is acutally a pretty good watch. Mindless.

Saturday Jod and Nic came over for a visit which was much needed. I missed ‘my girls’. We got caught up on everything and they brought the boy birthday gifts, which he loved and Jod sat with the baby the entire three hours they were here…which the monkey slept the entire time and continued to sleep until about 1:30 in the morning. Minor setback.

The rest of the weekend was pretty uneventful…thankfully not much to report.

The upcoming week will be a series of choreographed events, the boy goes the doc on Monday. I’m taking both boys…by myself, it’s a bit more work than it used to be.

On Wednesday I’m heading down to Clear Lake for a going away ‘happy hour’ party. All the babies will be there and adult socializing…YAY.

Thursday I’m planning on taking both boys to Taekwondo. Should be exciting.

Fun stuff huh. LOL…the life of a temp SAHM.

I’m not mentally ready for the Jodieversary challenge yet, officially. I’m working on the eating habits but I REALLY want to exercise and my body is so not there yet. The doc should release me in a few weeks. Plus the hubby is fixin to have surgery on his knee on the 17th and I want to focus on parenting this two kid thingy right now and that mental challenge is all I can handle today. One day at a time.

Looks like I missed the Houston Half, no worries…it on for Austin!

Settling In

Time flies when you are having fun or have a newborn. Things have been going ok, Friday was my roughest day; I had my two week doc appmt to check on my incision. I was prepared and got to the doctor's office in plenty of time. I was sitting in the waiting room and all these women were commenting on my baby and how tiny he was then the hormones overcame my will power not to cry and I lost it. Not really sure why I couldn’t compose myself but the factors add up to hormones and being a bit overwhelmed as a new mom…again.

Friday was the first day I was on my own, in the outside world with the baby, late nights, early mornings and being on demand came to a head right there in the doctor’s office. The doc asked if I needed any anti depressants, yes one of the few out there that do not currently take AD meds. I stress currently, just kidding…or not. We made it home but the monkey cried the last twenty minutes of the ride home. Good times.

Saturday I felt much better and got my confidence back, so much so in the evening I went for a car ride and took both of the boys while the hubby made an appearance at the flamingo party. We didn’t ‘go’ anywhere just drove, which I love to do to clear my head every now and again. I gave the boy a bath and put him to bed, I needed to prove to myself that I can adjust to this new way of life and I did a damn good job. The monkey is still up a lot during the night and boy it is taking its toll.

Monday I was the model wife and mom. I had the house straightened up, dinner on the table and the young boys and I went for a walk around the neighborhood. Then I was pooped. I was happy I started walking but I could tell that my incision still hasn’t healed 100% because I felt it after all the activity from the day.

Tuesday the monkey had his two week checkup and great news. He weighs 6 lbs 9 ouches and has grown to 19 ¼ inches long. He is in the 10-25% for his weight and 50% for his height. Everything else is perfect and other than the heel stick and more tears from me it was a good day. The hubby and I had lunch at Katz’s before the doc appmt. It was nice to get back to normal, even if the new normal is a lil guy accompanying us for awhile.

Last night the monkey and I had a stand off with sleeping arrangements. Since he has been born he has slept on me (count 18 days), just doing what I had to do to get some sleep. Well…Mom has had enough and last night we went to the spare bedroom and we started sleeping in the co-sleeper. It was a bit tough, he wasn’t happy that 1. He was in a swaddle and 2. He was not on mommy. He hadn’t been comfortable on me for the last few days anyway.

So…it is Wednesday and the monkey is napping in the bassinet, trying to get him on a scheduled as fast as possible, I need this in a big way.

Our plans for the fourth…looks like we’re going keep it low key and meet up with the neighbors in the evening for fireworks for the kids. FUN!!

Now for the Jodieversary Challenge.

The challenge officially started yesterday…I was bad but I’m not dwelling on it…moving on to today, I did weigh and I’m following P.O.M.'s lead and posting my starting weight stats and goal. It was inspirational for me to see that info and know my goal is achievable with hard work.

I am not able to exercise yet…so my plan is to get my eating under control until the doc releases me, prolly won’t make this challenge but I gots to start somewhere.

And finally…there is someone special in my life that I can’t say enough about how special he is to me and the boys…my hubby. He has been spending a lot of time with the boy and keeping him occupied while I get the monkey acclimated to his new life with us. He cooks dinner, makes sure the boy is clean and ready for bed, reads stories and stays with him as long as it takes to get the boy to sleep all the while coping with his business and doing all he was doing before…in a nutshell he is no couch potato and I just want to put it on paper (or web) how important he is to me and I couldn’t even think about doing this without him.

Everything is stressful and a bit chaotic right now but I know one day…it will just be.

Holy cow...just read Steve's comment about the Houston Marathon and Half reaching capacity this weekend. CRAZY!! I am still planning on training and perhaps may look to do Austin or one in the vacinity just can't commit to spending the cashiola and not be able to get there. It will work out as it should.

The monkey is 11 days old. He is growing AND eating like a wild man. Usually during the night he nurses for 45 minutes and still wants more. We purchased a finger feeder with the boy the first time around and finally broke it out last night. I tried using a bottle but the monkey was having a hard time. I think we are slowly getting into a routine. The monkey only got up officially once last night but stayed up for over an hour cause he was hungry.

One problem...He sleeps on me at night, we are transitioning to the bassinet during the day which helps and starting today I am going to keep him in the bassinet at night, I may move to the bedroom upstairs to give hubby a bit of reprieve before he goes back to work on Thursday.

All in all the monkey is doing well, he doesn’t go to the doc until next Tuesday for his two week checkup but I can tell he’s already gained weight. I should hope so…if his eating pattern is any indication...The monkey will be on solids within two weeks at his current rate of consumption.

Here is a pic of ‘My boys’…LOVE THEM!



Back on the ‘working out’ front...I’m starting a challenge among friends next week that will go from July 1st through July 31st. I’ve already lost 17 lbs of the prego weight. I’m going for getting back in running shape and soon, I miss it so. Walking starts in the AM tomorrow, I think it will be good for me and the monkey.

I am toying with the idea of running the Houston half in January but I’m not signing up until October, if I can’t get in…I’ll figure it out but I do want to start training in September, if not sooner!!

Also, since the pregnancies are over I’m challenging myself to really get serious about my body and change the look of it with hard work. I’ve never really committed to doing this fully, half-ass yes but not fully. This blog is no longer a ‘mommy blog’; I have a blog for each of my sons for that. That’s not to say I won’t mention the boys here but I’m not going to document day in and day out the poop, sleeping patterns and boob stories here. Well…perhaps the poop and boob stories cause they sometimes make for interesting reading.

Watched the Olympic Trails this weekend, I get jazzed for the Olympics. I was home for the 2004 Olympics with the boy. The trials was a good introduction to those that will be in Bejing representing the US. I was watching the diving trials and the boy was captivated. I enjoyed watching him more take it all in for the first time more than I did watching the actual event.

Wimbeldon started...Whooo hoo!! That is another Summer staple for me that dates back to my childhood. Something I would share with my Dad, it got me through the Summer in Russia and it will get me through this Summer as well.

Speed Racer...literally

Here comes speed racer…speed racer…here comes speed racer. Yes that is the song that served as background noise while I was being driven the hospital (45 minutes away) at 110 mph while during with contractions 2 minutes apart and my four year old in the backseat watching ‘Speed Racer’ and telling mommy everything was going to be ok.

Let’s start at the beginning.

Wednesday, June 11th, 2oo8

My plan for today was to begin wrapping up the odds and ends prior to taking Friday off and beginning my maternity leave on Monday. I went in to work early to stay out of the way of our housekeeper and I planned on finishing up Father’s Day prep and knocking some things off my to do list in the afternoon. I am having contractions but since they are irregular I figure they are Braxton hicks. I didn’t have these with the boy but I did some research on the internet and I felt sure those were they. Plus I was going to see the doc Thursday and she would clue me in as to what I was feeling. Thursday’s doc appmt would never come.

During lunch the girls had a diaper shower for me. It was just what the family needed. There wasn’t much we still need because we kept everything from the boy…I mean everything, nauseatingly so. What we didn’t have were diapers…wha la…we gots diapers. There was a ton of food. Kim made her heath cake and Kim J made peach cobbler from peaches she picked in an orchard we found out was nearby. It was a very nice surprise and each and every diaper will be put to good use covering my son’s hiney hoo.

As the night went on I kept having contractions but again they were not regular. While I was sleeping (yeah right) they started coming more frequently but still not with any sort of pattern. Until…4:15 ish, 20 minutes apart and at 4:30 the mother load hit. We were hoping to make it until 6, when the boy’s school opened but his brother had other ideas. After the whopper at 4:30 they started coming fast and furious. Thankfully all of our stuff was pretty much together and the hubby got the boy up and dressed and off to the hospital we raced…literally.

Not even halfway to the hospital the contractions began coming two minutes apart. HELLO…THIS WAS NOT THE PLAN. Do you know what I do for a living…I plan. Thankfully big brother was occupied by ‘Speed Racer’ and the hubby was focused on NOT delivering this baby in the car and I was doing anything and everything I possibly could to get through the pain.

We finally arrived at the hospital and a barrage of nurses swarmed in to get me in the OR for my C-section ASAP. Could they ask any more questions? In labor over here…Actually the nurses were stellar and things were happening so fast. The hubby and I called the doc on the way to the hospital because we both knew there wouldn’t be much time. My doc is out of town so Dr. Westmoreland, one of her partners took over.

When I got settled and they discovered I was more than 7 cm dilated. I did hear they bumped someone out of the OR for me since I was to have a C-section and the monkey wasn’t waiting. They gave me meds to slow the contractions. THANK GOD. Holy cow, those are not fun. I have the up most respect for woman that go through the birthing experience without drugs but I am not one of them. I am sure if I wasn’t having surgery it would have been to late for drugs.

The anesthesiologist asked if I wanted a spinal or to be put out all together and thankfully I knew what to expect and opted for the spinal. That anesthesiologist is now my best friend in the entire world. All was right in the world about two minutes after he gave me the meds.

I was sad the hubby couldn’t be in the OR with me (he was on boy duty). We did call Jodie to come get the boy and take him to school. Jod and Nic are my BFF…and I knew they would come through for me. But they were woken up and with traffic they were easily two hours away. So hubby sat with the boy. A nurse did grab hubby shortly after the monkey was born and brought Dad in so he could see the baby. It was a far different experience then the first time with the boy. I was aware, looking around and listening to the doc’s talk and intently listening for that first sign of the baby entering into this world with a cry. “I see an ear” the doc said and shortly after I heard the cry. Then my beautiful son appeared over the curtain for a quick peep.

Sage Logan Wayne made his appearance at 7:13 am June 12, 2008, weighing in at 5lbs 11ounces, 18 ¾ inches. 20 days before his official due date and 6 days before scheduled surgery.



The monkey is very healthy and handsome. Hubby got to bring the monkey into the recovery room where the boy got to meet his little brother for the first time. I wish I could have seen the look on this face. The hubby said he had a look of awe on his face.

Jod and Nic made it to the hospital while I was in recovery and took the boy to school. They were a blessing and took an entire day off work to help us out and visit with me. THE BESTEST FRIENDS EVER. Oh…I called my boss and told her I wouldn’t be at work, LOL…she about fell out of her chair that I was calling. When Jod and Nic came back to the hospital they were baring gifts, preemie clothes and diapers, LOL…we so needed those; didn’t plan on the monkey being that small.

The hubby called his mom, who lives in California, to let him know her grandson couldn’t wait until next week and if should could come in sooner. She was able to get on a plane that day and be in Houston by 11:00 Pm. So the hubby picked the boy up from school and took him to dinner to spend some time with him so he wouldn’t feel lost in the shuffle. I stayed at the hospital by myself the first night but didn’t have any problems and everything went smoothly.

The hubby and Mema stopped by Friday morning after dropping the boy off at school. The monkey and I survived the night and thankfully the nurses left us alone. No coming in every 3 hours to take vitals, we actually got to sleep. Very NICE!

Dr. Richter, the other partner came in and mentioned I could prolly go home on Saturday instead of Sunday since I was a model patient and had no issues. YAY…that would be awesome.

The monkey and I hung out, watched a lot of crappy daytime TV and took naps. The hubby came back after the boy was taken care of and settled in with me and the monkey for the night.

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Death by Mayo

Saturday Dr. W stopped by early and said I could go home that afternoon. The hubby was still sleeping on the couch and didn’t even stir when the doc came in. She let us know she was prepping for the circumcision and would be back in ten minutes. Hubby wanted to be there so I attempted to wake him to let him know to get dressed. “Babe…Babe…SCOTT…BABE...” This went on for what seemed like five minutes and the man was not moving. I looked around to see what I had to hurl his way to get his attention and all I could find that ‘wouldn’t leave a mark’ was a package of mayonnaise. I should mention the hubby absolutely HATES mayonnaise anything that has or may resemble mayo. So…I launch the package of mayo and it hits the mark, on his chest. He immediately wakes up and is like what the heck and digs out the package of mayo impaled on his chest and looks at me in horror. I then find out the reason he couldn’t hear me, he had gotten up earlier that morning and put his earphones on. We laughed and I laughed so hard it hurt…which wasn’t hard to do since I had been cut open 48 hours before.

The hubby left again to get the family together to trek back up to the hospital and get me and the monkey to go home.

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The Elevator Disaster

We finally were able to leave the hospital, with me and the monkey in the wheel chair, the hubby filming, the boy directing and Mema bringing up the rear. We get to the elevators and the boy slides in just as the doors were closing WITHOUT US! The nurse makes a half ass attempt to stop the door from closing and fails miserably. At this point I loose it!! My four year old son is in an elevator by himself and I just picture him getting off on one of the 6 floors in the hospital because the doors open. The hubby takes off downstairs to the first floor to intercept him and we’re waiting on the second floor just in case he comes back to us all the while pushing buttons hoping. We actually hear him at one point going up, past our floor crying. I’m tearing up just typing it all out. Finally, the boy shows up on the first floor with a man standing at the back of the elevator pissing his pants knowing what to do with this crying child. Dad was there to rescue him and they make it back upstairs and I try to gather my composure.

We get into the two cars and caravan home. The monkey did great on the way home, slept all the way. It was great to be home and start our routines.

The first night home was a bit challenging. The monkey ended up sleeping on my chest so we could all get a bit of sleep, instead of 15-20 minute increments. It’s working so far but I may be experimenting with some other methods, like perhaps the car seat in the bassinet. He doesn’t like his hands to be down at his side so I will be doing some creative swaddling.

The days since have been one of getting to know each other. Hubby and Mema have been a HUGE help, running errands and taking care of big brother which takes a lot off my mind.

So…that’s our story. Plan…plan and deviate from the plan…in a big way. I should have expected as much. The boy didn’t go with the plan either. That’s ok. All my boys are with me and I love it.

I just want to thank everyone for the love and support during this life changing endeavor. Especially Jodie, Nicole, Tim and Karen and Mema. We couldn't have done this without you!