Resolutions for 2009

• Loose 50 pounds.  This will not put me at my "ideal" weight.  However, it will put me at a weight that I've been happy at before that feels healthy to me. An added bonus is that I should be able to fit into all the clothes currently taking up all the space in Max's closet.  If I meet this goal and still want to loose more, I'll tackle that in 2010.
  
  
  
  • I am going to start posting PHM (Project Hot Mom) at a separate blog, and I plan to...gulp... post pictures and numbers.  REAL accountability is what I need, and I don't think anything could motivate me to loose weight more than to tell the entire internet how much I weigh. My HUSBAND doesn't even know how much I weigh. 
  
  
  
  
  
  
  •  My plan is to use the WW Flex point system.  I won't actually be JOINING WW, but will use their points to track my food intake.  (I know how to calculate points based on a previous WW stint)
    
  • My exercise program will consist of walking Fancy every morning (I already do this) around the 1.5 mile loop, doing Turbo Jam at least three days/week and 30DS three days/week.
    
  • I also want to do a couple 5K's this year.  NOT RUNNING, I hate running, but I would like to BRISKLY WALK at least 2 5K's.  Komen Race For The Cure in May for sure.
  
  
  
  
• Scrapbook the boys' first years.  I know, Alex is THREE AND A HALF! I have a half filled out baby book for him and a fully finished photobook sitting in my cart at Shutterfly, but what I really want to do is do a scrapbook by hand.  I've been keeping track of their lives here on my blog and I want to go through and print out a lot of the stories and milestones I've recorded here and put them in a physical book that they can have when they get older.  Scrap-booking isn't really my thing, so this will be hard for me.
  
• Learn more about photography.  Ideally I will have an opportunity to take a class at the community college or maybe an adult ed class.  If I can't do that, I want to at least try to learn more on my own by reading books and taking pictures everyday. 
  
• Find ways to teach my children altruistic values.  I think Alex is old enough now to start consciously doing things for others.  
  
  
  
  • He will be getting an allowance this year and I want to give him three piggy banks, one to put money in to save, one to put money in to spend, and one to put money in to give.  Once a month we will empty out the "Give" piggy and send it to a charity of his choice.
    
  • Once a month go through his toys and have him pick some to donate
    
  • Find some kind of volunteer activity he and I can do together.
  
  
  
  

2008 in review

1. What did you do in 2008 that you’d never done before?
 Gave birth to a baby with NO PAIN MEDICATION!!!

2. Did you keep your new year’s resolutions, and will you make more for next year?

Well, let's see, here's last year's resolutions:

• Only gain half as much weight (or less) during this pregnancy as I did with Alex. I gained 35 pounds with Max, vs 60 pounds with Alex. I'd say I did ok on this resolution
  
• Loose the pregnancy weight by the end of the year. All but 3 pounds of Max's pregnancy weight is gone. So again, did ok.
  
• Finally finish Alex's first year photo book Finished it at Shutterfly, but did not print it. I may end up doing a handmade scrapbook instead for both boys.
  
• Be more active as a family.  We spend way too much time downstairs in front of the TV watching Star Trek re-runs.  I want us to get OUT and do SOMETHING together as a family at least once a week.  Even if it's just a picnic at the park on a Sunday afternoon. We actually did do this, almost every week we go out and have a "Family day"
  
• Stick to our "total money makeover".  Be gazelle intense.  DO NOT ACCUMULATE MORE DEBT!  Hmmm, no such luck. We had some unexpected expenses that couldn't be avoided and then there were the new windows, which I like to look at as an investment. We have been better about sticking to our monthly cash budget however.

I will definitely be making 2009 resolutions

3. Did anyone close to you give birth?
Yes, ME!
4. Did anyone close to you die?
Yes. John's mother, John's grandmother, John's aunt and John's dog-brother
5. What countries did you visit?
Stayed in the good ole USofA this year
6. What would you like to have in 2009 that you lacked in 2008?
Better control of our finances
7. What dates from 2008 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?
four days:  The day Max was born June 18th, The day Max almost dies June 19th, the day we brought Max home from the hospital and both my boys fell asleep in my arms for the first time June 24th and the day Diane passed away September 13th
8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?
Having Max and potty training Alex
9. What was your biggest failure?
We did not stay on a budget this year, in fact, we managed to accumulate additional bills. We did pay off some debt, but got right back in shortly after... boo.
10. Did you suffer illness or injury?
I stayed healthy this year
11. What was the best thing you bought?
The Garmin
12. Whose behavior merited celebration?
Alex, who has settled down quite a bit AND is very nearly potty trained!
13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed?
  I'm looking at YOU California. |prop 8|
14. Where did most of your money go?
A big chunk to new windows, another chunk to taxes and some to funeral expenses.
15. What did you get really, really, really excited about?
Having Max
16. What song will always remind you of 2008?
I kissed a girl because it's one of Alex's favorite songs to dance to
17. Compared to this time last year, are you:
 a) happier or sadder? 
b) thinner or fatter? 
I'm thinner, only because I'm no longer pregnant c) richer or poorer?
18. What do you wish you’d done more of?
exercising
19. What do you wish you’d done less of?
eating
20. How did you spend Christmas? Building up the Santa myth for Alex and family get togethers

21. Did you fall in love in 2008?
Fell in love with my little family even more.
22. What was your favorite TV program?
Nova Science Now
23. Do you hate anyone now that you didn’t hate this time last year?
Not really
24. What was the best book you read?
I read some books, but none of them all that great.  Sadly, my diet books were probably the best books I've read this year
25. What was your greatest musical discovery? Didn't have one

26. What did you want and get?
New windows for our house
27. What did you want and not get?  A new furnace and humidifier  

28. What was your favorite film of this year?
I liked The Dark Knight, Hancock, Iron Man and Tropic Thunder
29. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?
I turned 31 this year. My grandma was in town so we celebrated a little with her and a little with John's family.
30. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying? Getting completely out of debt.  
31. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2008?
Fashion concept?  HA! HAHAHAHAHAHA!
32. What kept you sane?
My marriage, my mom's group, my family
33. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most? I couldn't help it, even though I was a Hillary supporter, after the primary I got on the Obama wagon, big time.  

34. What political issue stirred you the most? Um....THE ELECTION!  

35. Who did you miss?
Diane
36. Who was the best new person you met?
Max
37. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2008.
It is possible, though sometimes very difficult, to find something positive in every situation.  Though it doesn't necessarily make that situation ok, or happy or really any better, it is worth looking to the positive, it is worth trying to find something to learn from the situation, to make your sacrifice or loss not to have been in vain. 
38. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year.
As crazy a year as this was for us, it seems the only constant was our marriage.  Our relationship got us through some really tough times, and I feel like, right now, we are stronger together than ever.  So, it might be sappy, but I'm going with a love song:

JUST THE WAY YOU ARE (Billy Joel)

I wouldn't leave you in times of trouble
We never could have come this far
I took the good times, I'll take the bad times
I'll take you just the way you are

Quick holiday recap

On Christmas Eve, the Dillier Siblings w/ spouses, dogs and kids as well as Grandma Marie, Aunt Virginia and her girls came over for Diane's homemade chicken noodle soup as made (perfectly, in my opinion) by Little Jen. 

We also had the traditional gift exchange / white elephant during which I fought my sister-in-law for a PediPaws (she won), but I scored a fuzzy brown body pillow.  John insisted on being the first to open a present and immediately became stuck with a High School Musical DVD game until my sister-in-law, playing as her boyfriend, stole it from him and John got to open a nutcracker.

We played Ticket to Ride and then everyone went home, John and I stayed up arranging Santa presents in the living room for the boys, and trying to take bites out of the Santa cookies Alex made earlier in the evening (we got through all but one) then fell into bed exahusted.

Sleep, however, was not in the cards for me, as an overstimulated Max was up all night long.  Wouldn't have mattered anyway because I wasn't able to sleep.  Earlier in the day I'd noticed that the back of my head was sore, and feeling back there, it seemed like there was some kind of swollen lump on the back of my head, maybe a gland or something.  Anyhow, thoughout the night it hurt more and more, and when I finally gave up trying to sleep at 5:30, I felt as though someone had whacked me in the back of the head with a baseball bat.  I stayed up, expecting Alex to call for me any minute, but he didn't get up until after 7 in the morning with a groggy "Happy Christmas" squeak coming from his room.

Christmas morning was nice, all of Alex's presents were winners, in particular his igloo tent, which he opened and exclaimed "It's an IKEA thing! I LOVE IT!"  He loved everything.  He's so easy to please these days.

Soon after Alex opened his presents, my mom and Mark came over for breakfast and Alex opened gifts from them. The neighbor called to wish us a Merry Christmas and to inform us that our fence on their side has blown over. We all played Alex's new Chutes and Ladders game, which Alex got bored of after a few minutes (but has since asked to play many, MANY times).

I made a peach cobbler for later and discovered that my microwave mysteriously stopped working, which sent me into mild hysterics because I JUST GOT IT! I CAN'T LIVE WITHOUT A MICROWAVE AGAIN! NOOOOO! it is only a few months old and was functioning properly the night before, so who knows what's going on.  Thankfully we have a tiny microwave in the mancave downstairs that I can use.  Once the cobbler was finished (looking to me like peaches with snot and buiscuits.  Thankfully, it didn't taste like it) I took a nap with Max hoping my throbbing head would feel better, it didn't but the nap did give me some energy.

We went over to John's dad's for a lunch of Christmas goose and another gift exchange.  I scored a remote shutter control for my camera and John got a whole bag of stuff from Grandma Judy, including lots of sports related stuff, lots of Star Wars related stuff and a Best Buy gift card.  The kids were thouroughly spoiled by the entire family. (incedentally, the High Scool Musical game reappeared during this gift exchange and it looks to be going home with Nate, unless he was able to unload it later in the day at his family party)

Alex fell asleep on the way home at 5:30, and woke just as I was getting into bed with Max around 11.  I sent him downstairs with John and they stayed up until 2 in the morning playing with Alex's toys.  I was still feeling awful so John got up with Alex around 7 and I slept for an extra hour or so with Max.

I spent a good chunk of yesterday afternoon with a heating pad on my head reading Harry Potter, and this morning, I seem to be feeling better, still sore, but not nearly as bad.  John keeps bugging me to call the doctor, he actually referred to it as a matter of life and death.  I am not so dramatic about it, figuring it's either a swollen gland because I'm getting sick or simply stress from the holidays.  I did agree to call the doctor Monday if it's not significantly better.

So, other than my head, the microwave and the fence, it really was a nice Christmas.  John and I went to bed on Christmas eve talking about how lucky we were.  How happy we are to be a family.  Christmas is also the time when I consider us officially becoming a family, as this year it was the sixth anniversary of our engagement (though it was the seventh Christmas we've spent together).  It was our fourth Christmas with Alex and our first with Max.  It was my seventh without my dad and John's first without his mom. 

2008 will go down in our family history as the year of the rollercoaster.  We had wonderful, AMAZING things happen to us this year; John's promotion and completing our family with the birth of Max to name a few.  But we also had some scary things happen and unexpected losses this year that have hurt us deeply.  This year has changed us, and I hope, has made us stronger for things to come.  It is with some relief that I bid adeiu to 2008 and look forward to 2009 with optimism.  I want the coming year to bring us...less.  I don't want extremes for 2009.  Not even happy ones.  I want to just enjoy what we have right now.  Eachother, our home, our family, our health...

I hope everyone had a great holiday!

It's what the cool kids are wearing

John and I were out shopping yesterday and John mentioned that he needed some new jeans.  So we made our way to the mens section of the department store we were in and found the denim section. 

"These look good" John said, pointing to a display
"Oh, Honey, you're not hip enough to pull those off" I told him
"But look at the price, they're cheap!"
"Yea, because they're ripped!  Look"

I kept going on and on about these strange wide belts, and do men really wear boot cut?  And why are they ripped? And they look dirty.  If you want dirty pants, just wear the ones you've got for a few weeks, they'll look the same as these right here!

I pointed John to a pair of crisp dark blue jeans with a straight leg and a high waist.  I'm sure if he'd have tried them on, he could have pulled them up to his nipples, Urkle style if there ever were any.

John took a pair of the "dirty" pants and a pair of less hip, yet less dorky than the Urkle pants to the dressing room, and on the way there I babbled on about these shirts!  What is with these shirts?  Who wears this stuff?  This shirt here?  With the print on the chest?  It's a button down! I don't get it.   

I sounded like my dad anytime he took me shopping as a teenager.  Kids these days.  You call these clothes?  You call this a style?  That's too tight!  That's falling off!  Do people wear that color in public these days?

It's no secret that I have NO fashion sense at all.  None.  I don't even have out dated fashion sense.  I wear pants and shirts.  As plain and as style free as possible.  Part of it is because I'm fat, and wearing anything that calls attention to me, calls attention to my fat.  Part of it is also because, I suspect, I'm getting old.  I used to go shopping and wish I could buy all the cute clothes.  Now I go out and struggle to find something that doesn't cause me to laugh uncontrollably, because I'm supposed to WEAR that?  I'm incredibly practical.  That short sleeved sweater?  But what if my arms get cold?  will a scarf tied around my neck keep me warm if I'm just wearing a t-shirt? I truly don't understand wearing something simply for the look.

John came out of the dressing room and said he liked the "dirty" pants.  I looked at them again and thought they weren't so bad.  At least he can wear them a few times before I had to wash them, no one would know the difference.

A visit from Santa

Santa paid Alex and Max a visit to make sure they were being good boys this year.

(this is pretty long, about 5 minutes)

My Macho Pony

I generally let Alex play with any toys he happens to be interested in. I pay little to no attention to whether that toy is a "boy" toy or a "girl" toy.  The majority of the time, Alex does prefer typically boy toys like cars and blocks and sports stuff, but occasionally he'll  be interested in other things, such as his doll "Baby Po" and that one time he got a Polly Pocket in his happy meal (he LOVED that Polly Pocket).  Twice now he's gotten a My Little Pony in his happy meals, and let me tell you, the boy LOVES his My Little Pony (he only has one because the first one he left at McDonald's). 

I brought home a happy meal for him after taking Max to the doctor this afternoon, and when he saw that he got a new My Little Pony he exclaims  "Mommy!  My pony dreams have come true!"  He is now happily combing it's hair with the yellow sparkly brush and putting rainbow stickers all over it. 

I see absolutely nothing wrong with this.

In fact, I think the My Little Pony manufacturers are missing out on a HUGE opportunity here.  Alex isn't the only little boy who likes My Little Pony.  The last time we were at McDonald's his little friend demanded he get the pony toy.  Alex was so enamored of his friend's pony, I returned his Bionicle (what the hell are those things anyway?) and got the "girl" toy for him.  They had a ball playing, and I caught a couple other little boys trying to play with Alex and Caden's ponies.  What makes ponies specifically girly?  They could easily market My Little Pony's to boys just by making them in non-pastel colors, and maybe with spiky mowhawks instead of flowing curls.  They could put baseballs and race cars  on them instead of rainbows and butterflies.  Not that I wouldn't still buy the rainbow and butterfly version for my sons if they should so desire them, but it would make My Little Pony a bit more palatable for the macho dads like John.

Clearly he didn't learn the same wholesome holiday songs I did

So we're driving around to see the holiday lights at Thanksgiving Point tonight.  We've got the radio tuned in to the local 24 hour a day Christmas music station and Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer as sung by Gene Autry is playing and John and I are singing along.

...all of the other reindeer, used to laugh and call him names...

"Like shithead!"  John sings

I give him a look but we continue singing

...he'll go down in history...

"LIKE HITLER!" He bellows joyfully

"Ok, that's enough Christmas music for one night I think"  I say loudly, hoping Alex doesn't start singing his father's version of the Christmas carol with his friends.

Concert pianist in the making

The bowing, it's all about the bowing

L'chei-im

We were lucky enough to be invited to a Hanukkah dinner on Friday night.  We were to bring drinks, and though my Jewish friends aren't really all that devout, we wanted to get into the spirit of things and bring some sort of kosher alcoholic beverage. 

I sent John to the liquor store to pick up some kosher wine. So John goes and looks and looks and looks, then finally calls me for advice.  Apparently my advice "just get something that sounds Jewish" isn't all that helpful because he askes me "What about Sutter Home?"  I respond "Does Sutter Home sound Jewish to you?"  He gets all exasperated and says "I DON'T KNOW?!?!"  Finally I tell him just to ask someone.  He refuses.  Which I don't get (classic man-won't-ask-for-directions syndrome).  So I get off the phone with him, call the liquor store myself (he's still AT the liquor store at this point) and ask them if they have kosher wine.  They say they have two, I hang up and I call John back.  I tell him what to get, and he looks and he looks and he looks, still can't find it.  I get fed up and tell him to ASK SOMEONE ALREADY! and hang up.  He came home with the two wines I'd told him to get: Manischewitz red creme concord and Mogen David Blackberry.

The dinner was great, we had Matzoh Ball Chicken Soup, Potato Latkes, Carrot Tzimmis (aka candied carrots and apples), Challah bread, Tomato & Onion Braised Brisket and Noodle Kugel (aka noodle pudding) for dessert.

Our wines were good, though the Manischewitz was WAY too sweet for me.  I ended up having three or four glasses of the Mogen David, with no real buzz, so I'm thinking kosher = weak on the alcohol content.

It was fun to share someone else's holiday traditions for a change.  Though the Gentiles outnumbered the Jews at this particular dinner (out of the 10 of us, only 2 were Jewish), it didn't really matter.  Good food and good company make for a wonderful evening in my book. 

 

The Holiday Virus

I just looked at the calendar this morning and it's December 14th!  10 days until Christmas eve! 

I've been trying to just float on by this holiday doing as little as possible.  We haven't put up ANY decorations, Didn't even bother dusting off the crappy door wreath even.  Not the blow up snow man, and the tree?  The tree that's still got lights on it from last year and is waiting, menacingly in it's box in the garage?  HAHAHA!  John and I have had exactly one conversation about holiday decorating this year and we decided, yea, we'll do it later. It's looking like later, may be 2009.

It's not that I'm feeling grinchy, just...lazy.  But I'm starting to snap out of it.  Starting to get my holiday groove on.  Thanks to Alex who demands to know where Santa is several times a day.  Alex and Santa, that's a whole other story. For years I'd get up on my soapbox and announce to John that we weren't going to DO Santa with our kids.  I didn't want to raise snotty little "gimmie gimmie" kids who thought the holidays were just a reason for them to get presents.  I also was a little hippie about it and didn't want to lie to my children.  I'd tell them that some kids believed in Santa, but that he's not real, just a symbol of the holiday spirit, yadda, yadda... But then I told Alex there was a monster in our hall closet and if he gets in there one more time, he might get bitten.  So, apparently I'm just fine with lying to my kids after all, especially if it could cause lifelong phobias of hall closets. (For the record, Alex STILL gets into the hall closet, so I don't think he's been scarred at all)

Alex is LOVING the holiday season.  He loves the decorations in people's yards and in stores we go to.  He loves talking about Santa and where is he? And will he bring presents?  He loves wrapping up random things around the house and giving them to me and John saying "Happy Christmas Birthday Mommy!"  When I see his eyes light up at the sight of a Christmas tree, how can I deny him?  He wants to know where Santa lives, how his sleigh flies, why he brings presents... I find myself telling him, repeating the things I "learned" about Santa when I was a kid, and it's FUN.  Watching his eyes get all big when I tell him the reindeer eat magic hay and it makes them fly.  Telling him Santa lives at the North Pole with toy making elves, that his favorite food is pomegranates... I think I get it now.  I think I understand why parents make up Santa and try to keep up the ruse as long as they can.  It's fun to watch your kids believe in magic. 

So, now I have work to do.  I want to write a letter to Santa with Alex and take it to Macy's (This is Alex's idea, he saw a commercial about it and now asks every day to take his Santa letter to Macy's).  I'm going to find the best Santa I can and have Alex sit on his lap (Which I've done every year just for the photo op, but this year, it will be for Alex).  We're going to make cookies and hang our stockings, and watch Santa Tracker on the news on Christmas eve.  Maybe we'll put up decorations.  Maybe not.  Ok, probably not.  But this week we are going to go look at lights and I'm going to check out some holiday books at the library to read to Alex (I think it's important for Alex to know about the other holidays celebrated during this season.). And I need to wrap Alex's presents in paper he's never seen before and write a letter to him from Santa in different handwriting than my own.

There's nothing like having a child catch the holiday spirit.  This is one bug I don't mind spreading around my household.

Gardening

Alex told me today:

"I am a little boy seed. You plant me?  You plant me I will turn into a man flower!"

It'll take a lot longer than 30 days to shred me

So, I picked up a copy of 30 Day Shred yesterday.  I liked the idea of a 20 minute workout, because 20 minutes seems to be about the exact amount of time I get to myself these days.  I love my Turbo Jam DVD, but 45 minutes?  45 minutes may as well be a freaking ETERNITY in child-time because I can't even get through half the workout before someone has poked someone else in the eye or someone has poop running down their legs, or someone has a death grip on the dog's ear and I must intervene before Fancy's amazing patience goes straight out the window and she starts eating my children for lunch.

What I didn't count on was that 20 minutes of 30 Day Shred will make me collapse on the floor wimpering like a baby.  Alex was supposed to have friends come over this morning, but thank goodness they cancelled because I can barely lift my sore limbs under my own power.  Chasing three children around the house with a baby in my arms, may have actually killed me.

The workout itself seems easy.  Jumping jacks?  Sure!  Crunches?  Bring it on!  Push ups?  Ok, if you say so.  I'm not sure what made this work out so challenging, but by the end I was begging for mercy and calling Jillian Micheals horrible, horrible names.  And this was level 1!

I'm encouraged that I'm in this much pain today because that means that the workout is doing something, and if it really is doing something, I will gladly spend 20 minutes of my evenings doing this godawful workout.

I also like that Jillian isn't trying to be my friend.  Chalene (of Turbo Jam) is relentlessly perky.  She insists that I'm having a great time, that exercising is SO MUCH FUN! Jillian doesn't bother bullshitting me.  She tells me straight up that yea, this is awful, but I'd better SUCK IT UP and TAKE IT because if I want to only have to work out for 20 minutes, I'd better BE IN PAIN!  I can appreciate that kind of honesty.

Thankfully John and I are going out tonight and I have a decent excuse to not have to do the workout because I'm not sure I COULD do it tonight anyway even if I wanted to.  I'm going to try to do it at least every other night after the kids go to bed.  While I HIGHLY DOUBT I'll be shredded by 30 days, I am hoping for at least some visible improvements.

Child dresses himself. Hilarity ensues

Alex has been insisting on dressing himself lately.  While I'm getting the baby dressed, I'll send him in his room to get dressed, some outfits are more entertaining than others:

 
Now, I picked out the pants and t-shirt and laid it out for him.  The rest is what he did when I said "put your coat on to go outside".  He put on his snowsuit (arms only), and my hat.

 
This ensemble doesn't look too bad unless you know what all the components are.  We've got his Padres hat, which is fine, but then we've got his jammie shirt, plus a long sleeved t-shirt, plus his Mexican National Soccer Team jersey, plus a yellow and blue striped button down.  Then he's got his jammie bottoms with his grey striped sweat pants.  No socks, but you know, everybody needs two left shoes made out of rubber, in the winter.

Happy Christmas

Alex:  "It's Christmas out there!" (while driving John to work, there's snow on the ground)

Me: "Yep, it sure is!"

Alex: "Where Santa at?"

Me:  "Santa lives at the North Pole"

Alex:  "NO!  Santa lives at the mall!"

Me:  "Santa lives at the North Pole with his elves"

Alex: "No, Santa lives at the mall. You told me that"

Me:  "Well, I was wrong, I'm sorry."

Alex:  "That's ok.  HAPPY CHRISTMAS MOMMY!"

Me:  "Happy Chrsitmas Buddy."

Warts and all

DSC_5543, originally uploaded by mrsjwd9.

Grandma Jen attempted to take a family photo for us over Thanksgiving weekend. Little did she know capturing a good picture of the five of us is about as impossible as getting a clear video of Sasquatch and Nessie having tea and crumpets.

She tried valiently, and if you click the photo above, you will see the results. Here's the thing. I love all of them. Each and every one. You see, that there? That's my family. MY family. I love that my husband wears brown shoes and tube socks. I love that our dog is constantly on the lookout for attack leaves blowing by. I love that my baby only smiles when the lens cap is safely on the camera. I love that Alex absolutely refuses to smile for the camera (will grimace, stick out his tongue or yell), and I even love my crooked smile and chubby arms. Not a one of us (save the dog) has a good head of hair, and we're all more likely to be caught on film squinting or with a mouthful of food, than perfecly coiffed and posed, but that's us. And we're happy.

Heaven on Earth!

BOTH of my children are napping.  Hell, even the DOG is asleep!  I am so happy I want to cry.  Of course I don't have anything to do, so I'm watching all of the Momversation episodes.  Are you watching these? I love them. 

Prop 8: The musical

This was too good to not post:

See more Jack Black videos at Funny or Die

If you can't view it, go here:  http://www.funnyordie.com/videos/c0cf508ff8/prop-8-the-musical-starring-jack-black-john-c-reilly-and-many-more-from-fod-team-jack-black-craig-robinson-john-c-reilly-and-rashida-jones

Baby Flashdance

Me: "This outfit I have on Max, it's really cute and all, but it's a little bit girly, what with the pink and purple dots and the writing here, it's in silver glitter.  He looks...fancy"

Friend: "Jamie, I don't think it's the outfit that makes him look girly.  It's the purple striped leg warmers you put on him."

Me:  "They're BabyLegs and it's cold outside!"

Friend:  "They're leg warmers."

Me:  "Ok, they're leg warmers.  BUT IT'S COLD!  I knew I should have put the other ones on him."

Other friend: "You have more masculine leg warmers?"

Me:  "They ARE masculine!  They've got flames on them!"

Friend: "Flames huh?"

Me: "Yes, flames.  They're cool ok!"

Friends: "uh huh"

Skip this post if you don't care about cloth diapers

Ok, so I've become a die hard cloth diapering mama!  When we were in St George for the weekend I used disposables and I actually worried that I'd remember how conveineint they were and stop using my cloth diapers once we got home.  In fact, I felt just the opposite, I was so excited to come home and put Max in his cozy soft cloth diapers again. (to be fair, I used the el cheapo diapers for the weekend, and they weren't all that great)

It helps that I think I found the perfect AIO diaper.  Thirsties.  It's actually a combo AIO and pocket diaper, so you can add an extra pad for more absorbancy if you need to (I haven't needed to).  Thirsties are better known for their diaper covers, but in my experience so far, their AIO diaper is fantastic!

 

 

 

I actually prefer this diaper over the BumGenius, who's stretchy tabs, I feel, are overrated.  They are also more generously cut in the, um, badonkadonk area, and I think Max will fit in these for much longer (he's in a medium and as you can see from the photo above, has PLENTY of room to grow, but still has a snug fit now).  I've heard people say the leg gussets leak because the absorbant pad is cut narrower between the legs. Maybe this is a bigger problem for girls because Max, being a boy, pees more in the front of the diaper and the leg gussets keep the slime poo from leaking out.  Also, my BumGenius (2.0 AIO) roll down in the front, and though it hasn't happened yet, I can forsee them wicking moisture onto his clothing.

I promise, I won't turn this blog into cloth diaper review central, but if you're thinking at all about switching to cloth, I thought I'd put in my two cents.  Overall, I prefer the cloth diapers to the disposables.  They're more comfy looking and most of the newer AIO's have stay dry lining so they don't feel wet against the baby's skin.  I have yet to have a leak or blowout using the cloth diapers, where I'd have a blowout with almost every disposable he pooped in.  AIO's are also just as easy to use as disposables.  The only downside is the laundry, you have to wash them twice, once cold, once hot or warm, and I'm still doing a load of diapers every night (but I have a potty training 3 year old who has soggy clothes I have to wash anyway, so for me, not such a big deal).  Also, there's an initial investment to get your supply of diapers, so it can seem pricey at first, but once you have them, that's it!  I'm still putting Max in a disposable at night because it does hold better against leaks overnight than any cloth diaper I have in my collection, but I may start using my pocket diapers (I have the Thirsties, Drybees and one BumGenius pocket) for that purpose.

Another benefit touted by cloth diaper enthusiasts is that cloth diapered babies potty train easier. This is a claim I am anxious to experience.

Ok, no more cloth diaper talk. I promise!

The baby, he totally knows Kung Fu

So it's been a month or so that I've been attempting to feed the baby rice cereal.  Unsuccessfully, I might add.  He doesn't want any part of it.  He doesn't want it runny, he doesn't want it thick, he doesn't want it made with water or formula or, SURPRISE!  Boob juice.  WTF kid?  You have to start eating real food sometime don't you?  He thinks not.

What is actually amusing about this is the fact that he appears to be using some kind of Kung Fu moves on me to prevent me from getting the vile sludge anywhere near his mouth.  He doesn't just take it in and spit it out like most babies do.  No, this baby channels Chuck Norris and roundhouse kicks the bowl from my hands.  He karate chops the spoon away from his lips.  KA POW!  It's very similar to that scene in Kung Fu Panda where Shifu and Po are battling it out for a dumpling, only messier because by the end of the fight, both Max and I are covered in rice cereal.  Max usually declares his victory with a hearty spitup of any specks of food that may have snuck into his mouth during the battle.

Mobility

I don't know why I was so excited for Max to start rolling.  Now, kid won't sit still!  I put him on the floor in the family room  while I poured Alex a glass of juice this morning, when I came back he'd worked himself almost under the couch.  Just his head and one arm sticking out from beneath the sofa.  Good thing I hadn't poured Alex a bowl of cereal because with that time, Max probably could have gotten all the way under the couch requiring me to fish him out with a broom stick. 

And, I'm spent

I did it! YAY!  I made it through NaBloPoMo! WOO HOO!

Look, indulge me ok? These days the only deadlines I have to meet are the ones involving getting someone to the potty before he soaks another set of clothes, or get that onesie off before the slime-poo seeps through the diaper.  It feels good to meet a different kind of goal.

NaBloPoMo this year made me think about why I blog in the first place.  I started my first blog three and a half years ago when I was pregnant with Alex.  I did it because I wanted a way for our family and friends who lived far away to experience my son's life.  I grew up away from my family, only seeing my relatives once a year, sometimes not even that often.  Whenever we went to California for a visit, I felt like I had to introduce myself to everyone.  Nobody knew me.  I was a stranger to my own family. 

I still live far away from my family, and probably always will, but I didn't want Alex to feel like a stranger, an outsider.  I figured if there was an easy way to share his life with them, a way for them to watch him grow up, even from afar, he would somehow feel more connected.  THEY would feel more connected to him.

Blogging has also given me some unexpected benefits.  We've connected with old friends and distant relatives who've used the Internet to look us up.  Many of John's family have started their own blogs and I've had a chance to get to know some of them better than I would have without their blogs.  John's sister has moved out of state, yet I can still go to her blog and see pictures of my beautiful little neice whenever I need a Lily fix.

Also, blogging gives me something to do.  Not that I'm not busy, but I love to write and my blog gives me an outlet for that. 

Just as important, I've created a record of my children's early years.  Written down silly little things I'm sure I'd have long forgotten otherwise.  I plan to have my posts printed out in a book, maybe I'll do one every year.  I think it will be fun to have a record of our family's exploits to pull out and read when the kids are grown, and share embarrassing stories of their early years with their future partners.  I know I could do this privately, keep baby books like a regular person, but for me, sharing these stories make it funner and I write things down more often knowing other people will read it and maybe get a chuckle or two from my sons' silly antics.

Over the river and through the woods...

...to Papa Joe's condo we go!

Thanksgiving in St George with John's family was wonderful.  We opted to leave early, coming home today instead of tomorrow, something everyone still at the condo will be thankful for when they're not woken up by my kids and dog again at 5:30 in the morning.

We're home now, safe and sound, and surprisingly, I'm able to stick with NaBloPoMo! Yay!

I'm out of town

...I wrote this yesterday.  Does this count for NaBloPoMo?

Thanksgiving

Well, right this minute (5:28 AM) I'm thankful for the coffee bean.  I'm thankful that someone thought to roast and grind that little bad boy to make the wonderful elixir of life: Coffee.

The most obvious thing I am thankful for are my children.  The fact that I have them, the fact that they are healthy and happy.  I try to never take them for granted.  They are miracles. I didn't think I'd ever even have Alex, what with infertility and miscarraige before he came along.  And the fates didn't want to let me just HAVE Max, that would be too easy.  We had to almost loose him, but not only did he live through it, he doesn't seem to have any long term affects.  Not a single day, not a single HOUR goes by that I don't look at him and feel absolute JOY that he is in my life.  My children are as important to me as sunlight, water and oxygen. I simply can not live without them.

Of course I wouldn't even have my beautiful sons if I didn't have John.  Our marraige isn't perfect, but it's good.  Great even.  We are crazy in love.  John loves me as I am, no changes necessary.  And he has this amazing ability to make me feel BETTER than I am.  After a long day with the kids, I can be exahusted, wearing sweats and a ratty t-shirt covered in various kid related yuck, and feeling downright disgusting, but with one look, one smile, one kiss, one touch...John is able to make me FEEL like a supermodel.  When I look at myself through John's eyes, I'm beautiful.  This is no small thing, I've never been beautiful, but John doesn't just tell me I'm pretty or sexy, he makes me believe it somehow.  I don't think I need to write much about the more obvious things that are great about John, he's smart, he's sexy, he works hard to provide for our family.  And while he may not be particularly helpful with the messy parts of parenthood, he is a good father who loves his boys. 

I'm thankful for people outside my little family as well:

My mom, who has become an amazing grandmother to my boys, Alex in particular.  Our relationship is complicated, but good.  After thirty years, we've finally begun to really understand each other I think.  Our relationship has never been better.

Mark, who treats me as if I were his own daughter. My boys will never know he's not their biological grandfather.  He has to walk a fine line between loving us completely but acknowledging he isn't Dad.  He makes my mom happy and that is the most important thing of all.

My grandma Margie, who loves me unconditionally, even though we are different.  I am one of many grandchildren, yet she makes me feel special.  Important.  Loved.  She has always been a constant source of love in my life.

My dad, even though he's no longer with me, I am who I am because he was my dad.  I'm glad I had him while I did. I'm glad he was healthy as long as he was, and I'm glad when it got really bad, it didn't last too long.  I'm glad I knew him well enough, and had so many good times with him that I can miss him as much as I do.  No regrets there.  I had a great Dad.

My in laws, who are awesome.  Part of what makes my marraige to John so easy is that I love his family. 

I really could go on and on, but suffice it to say, I have an amazing life and I am thankful for everyone and everything in it.

 

Filler

Wasted the day away working on our holiday card.  Because it totally made sense to me to do THAT instead of, you know, getting ready to go out of town.  Who needs laundry done, desserts baked,  bags packed, carseat put back in the car...  Bah. 

Stop! Right there!

My kids are at the perfect ages: Three years and five months

Alex is fun to talk to, fun to play with and everything that comes out of his mouth is adorable  He plays pretend and talks about his day and sometimes, looks over at me and says "Mommy, you're awesome!  Awesome and cute!"

Max is so sweet you could get a cavity just by being in the same room with him.  He's smiley and does this cute thing with his tounge that I have to get a picture of.  He plays with toys, loves peek a boo and thinks his big brother is the funniest thing since the Three Stooges (admittedly, Alex acts like one of the Stooges).

I never wished for my kids to stop growing and to stay frozen in time at some perfect age because I always knew that an even better age was just around the corner, but now, I'm just not sure anything can beat having a three year old and a five month old.  Together.  Something about these ages in combo fills me with so much joy and happiness.  They're both cuddly and sweet, they still love their mother above all others and they're both small enough to fall asleep together on my lap at the end of the day when I'm sitting in John's old recliner watching TV.  Yea, I'm not sure it gets any better than this.

It probably will though, it always does :)

One on one

Yesterday I took Alex swimming at the local indoor pool, and it was just what we needed, Alex and I, some one on one time together.  Ever since Max (aka "My name is Max and I'm a boobaholic") came along I literally have had zero time for Alex without a baby in my arms.  I didn't realize how much I'd missed "me and my boy time" until it was just us playing in the pool together.

I know I'm much harder on him than I used to be. I don't let him get away with everything like I used to.  I probably yell more and we don't do as many fun things.  I hate to admit it, but I'd almost forgotten what a cool kid he is.  It seems like every day is spent trying to contain him.  Trying to keep him busy so I can take care of the baby or chores or whatever.  Sadly, it's not as often that I'm down on the floor playing WITH him.  The two hours we spent together at the pool was awesome.  Joking and splashing each other.  Playing games and floating around talking about rocket ships and dinosaurs and cars.  Man, I didn't even know I missed him, but I did.  I won't wait five months to have another Mommy and Alex day again that's for sure!

Updates

If you don't happen to live in Utah, or just don't watch college footbal. 

UTAH WON! 

SUCK IT BYU!

:::

PHM weekly challenge:

Last week's challenge was to drink 64 oz of water every day, which I did. YAY ME!  The second part of the challenge was to exercise every day, which I didn't.  Boo. 

I don't have a good excuse other than the kids were running me ragged all week long.  Which, they do every week, but most weeks I still manage to find time to exercise, so, yea, I'll admit it, I sucked this week. 

I won't do an official weekly challenge next week since it's Thanksgiving and we're going out of town, but unofficially, I'm going to try to re-do last week's challenge.  Drink water and exercise every day.

:::

Potty training is...well, I'm not sure.  Alex is going through about three pairs of underwear every day, almost always before noon.  After noon, no accidents.  So, I don't get it.  I guess it doesn't matter, he's doing SO MUCH BETTER than he's ever done and I think it's because I absolutely refuse to put him back into Pull Ups.  He's even sleeping in underpants at night, and only once last week did I have to change his sheets.

I'm nervous about Thanksgiving because we're spending next weekend with John's family at his dad's condo in St George and I'm pretty much, 100% sure no one wants Alex peeing all over the condo.  I don't want to put him in PullUps because I'm worried we'll have a setback, but on the other hand, my in-laws SEEM to like me right now, if I let my son pee and poop all over their vacation home, they might be none to happy with me.  I'm going to work extra hard with Alex until we leave to get him to get over his morning weirdness.  I'll probably pack PullUps just in case.

:::

Also, in Alex news, he's HUNGRY.

Yep, my eldest son is hungry.

Child hasn't been hungry, pretty much ever, in his life.  But the last couple of weeks he's following me around saying "I'm HUUUUUUUNGRY!  I need FOOOOOOD!"  And he's eating it!  All!  Three squares a day plus at least two to three snacks and still, he's hungry! 

Yesterday he was getting dressed and I noticed his belly is nice and round and sticking out a bit.  I can hardly see his ribs and spine like I used to.  Wow. 

:::

Cloth diapering is going great!  I recieved three BumGenius diapers this week, and I love them! They are the Caddy of cloth diapers for sure!  They put my Kushies to shame.  I also ordered some used/repairable BumGenius pocket diapers and got them yesterday.  One of them I can use without any immediate repairs, but the other two need the leg elastic changed out (Help Mom!?!).  My first feelings are, don't like.  I don't get pocket diapers.  Why would you use a pocket diaper if you have an AIO alternative? 

I have eight diapers (nine if you count the pocket diaper) and that gets me through a whole day if I use a disposable at night.  I want to double my stash so I only have to wash diapers every other day.  I found a place in Utah that I can buy cloth diapers (instead of ordering online like I have been), so I'm going to try to go tomorrow and see what other kinds I can try out. 

I'm a little confused as to how green I'm being by cloth diapering.  On one hand, I've only thrown away six disposable diapers all week, so that's good, but I've done 14 extra loads of laundry (have to wash diapers separate than regular clothes of course, and I have to wash twice, once cold, once hot, plus extra rinses to get them cleaned and sanitized.) So, not so green.  Once I have more diapers, I will be doing less laundry, so maybe that will take care of itself.

Right now I'm not really saving money by cloth diapering either because I'm trying to build up my diaper stash.  However, I'm hoping I'll have all the diapers I'll need in a couple of weeks and then we should start saving money.

The best, yet unexpected, thing I've noticed is that cloth diapers, at least the ones I'm using, don't leak and don't blow out.  The few times I've used disposables this week, each one had a blow out.  I only had one blow out with cloth diapers and it's because it was my first day using the Kushies and I didn't have it on tight enough. I haven't had a cloth diaper blow out since.

Overall, I'm liking cloth diapering and fully intend to keep it up.  Ask me again once Max is pooping "human poo" if I still like it.  I'm guessing not.  But you never know.

GO UTES!

Subtle huh?

When John bought season tickets to U of U football this year I told him to give my ticket to his brother because I didn't want to take the kids to the games, BUT, I wanted the ticket to tonight's game against BYU. 

The U of U has special significance for us.  Not only is it Johns alma mater, it also has a special place in our family.  In 2004, we watched Alex Smith lead the Utes toan undefeated season culminating in crushing the Cougars resulting in an invite to the Fiesta Bowl (BCS bullshit).  John and I went to the Fiesta bowl in Tempe and watched Alex Smith play and win his last college game (Also, if you remember, Alex Smith went on to be the #1 NFL draft pick of 2005).  We came home from Arizona pregnant with our first son.  Not coincidentally to be named Alex.

So I held my claim on that ticket until last week when I decided that John would have so much more fun at the game with his brother because they'd gone to all of the games this season together.  I'd rather spend a nice Saturday with my boys anyway, likely with the game on TV in the background.

GO UTES!!!!

Rollo

So, you've all seen my baby do the belly to back roll. Well, this morning I put him in his crib, on his back, then took Alex to the potty, when I returned he was on his belly.  This was not a fluke.  All morning long he's basically been rolling all over the living room. 

He's mobile.

It's all over for me now.

NaBloPoMo day 21 brought to you by my grandma!

Thankfully my grandma has a sense of humor, so I think I can post this and she'll laugh, knowing I'm not making fun of her, I just couldn't resist.

My grandma and I email every single day.  It's gotten to the point where I can hardly start my day until I get my "Good Morning" email from her.  She had cataract surgery this week, but that hasn't stopped her from trying to email me.  This morning I got this:

Gum dear Hanue ,,, tiyr nin sebt ne a ciot if wgat /akex gad ib gus tggabjs keaf,,, reakkt tucjked ne Linda  probably sgoing home this am.
enjoy day hugs grandma

I think maybe her eyes just took longer to adjust to the screen because as you can see, it's readable toward the end.

I love you Grandma! Thanks for helping me laugh this morning!

NaBloPoMo Day 20 - PICTURES!

 

Hand me ups?  Alex isn't wearing shorts, he's wearing a pair of 0-3 month long pants. They are pants Alex himself wore at two months old.  When I tried to put them on Max the other day and found they were too short for him, I tossed them in the corner of his room, as I do with all of the clothes he outgrows, Alex found them, declared "These are GREEN!  Green is my favoite color!"  And ran off with them.  The next thing I know he's walking around the house wearing them.  He still is in fact, he wore them to bed.

 

I took this picture of Max, and when I looked at it after downloading it from my camera, it reminded me of someone:

 

Alex - 4 months

 

And, just, Awwwwwww :)

 

Caught on tape

PROOF!!!

Body Worlds

I finally got a chance to go see Body Worlds yesterday.  I went with my fellow "Dillier wives" Jen and Steph.  It's always fun to do stuff with them because we're pretty much married to the same man.  Jen is married to "Dillier - the original".  I am married to "Dillier 2.0 - the geek version" and Stephani is married to "Dillier 2.5 - New! With long flowing hair!"  It's nice to be able to complain about some weird quirk my husband has and have them know EXACTLY what I'm talking about because their husbands have the exact same quirk.

Anyhow, despite their merciless teasing about my bad driving and lack of a sense of direction, we got to The Leonardo safe and sound (thanks to Ms. Garmin), scrounged up change for a two hour parking meter and went to see the exhibit.

Which was awesome.

I don't really have words to describe it. "Fascinating" would probably be a good one.  Also, "Rawhide dog bone" would be another descriptive phrase I could use.  I was moved by the thought that some of these people were probably elderly, sick or even disabled, yet, in death, they were immortalized into these beautiful acrobatic poses, smiling and proud of their bodies.  I very nearly signed up then and there to have my body donated to the exhibit, but I thought I'd better check with John first.  Then I realized, I wouldn't neccesarily become one of the full body artistic displays.  I could become just a slice. A cross section, which doesn't sound nearly as sexy to me. 

The area with the fetuses was interesting as well.  I looked for a long time at the 9 week fetus, as that is when the doctors estimated John and my first pregnancy stopped developing, though I didn't miscarry until I was three months along.  I'd seen photos of a 9 week fetus in books, but to see it, to see how HUMAN it really looked, I was actually a little shocked.  The older fetuses were harder for me to look at.  I did though, I held Max tight to my chest and looked at the tiny little babies, most of them boys, remembering what it felt like when my own boys were healthy inside of me at that age, kicking and wiggling.  I think I played it cool while I was there, but it was the most emotional part of the exhibit for me.

At the end of the exhibit, there was a place where you could pick up and hold some plasticised organs.  Both Jen and I jumped a little at our first touch of a kidney, it wasn't really gross, you just don't expect it to feel like that.  Kind of waxy, like soap.  There was also a place where you write down a secret about your body and they tape it to a wall.  I left my secret.  And there was a little bakery with overly inflated prices.  As Jen said, if I pay that much for a cupcake, it had better give me an orgasm. 

While I was off seeing dead people, Alex was spending the afternoon with Grandma Babs.  They had all kinds of fun going to the farm and to the Build a Bear shop at the mall where he made a dog dressed in a U of U t-shirt, red hat, blue jeans, black sketchers and a silver sequined purse. 

Cloth diapering - day 3

So, it's not that bad really.  The only problem I'm having is the fact that I don't have nearly enough diapers.  The g-diaper covers are way too big and either fall off or leak, so I'm depending on my five Kushie's, which are great, but I go through five diapers by noon.

I thought I had a problem with stains on the diapers because the second time I washed the soiled diapers, I decided to wash them on the delicate setting (worried that all the laundering will wear them out faster), they all came out looking pretty much the way they went in.  Yuck.  But I washed them again, this time on the normal setting and they're bright white and perfect again. So, no problems there.

John doesn't want me to buy more diapers until I prove to him that I'll stick with cloth diapering, which makes sense, except that I'm more likely to keep it up if I have enough diapers to at least last me a whole day without having to deal with the ill fitting diaper covers I have now.  So I talked him into letting me order three Bumgenius AIO's. They should arrive next week.  If I like them, I'll probably buy a bunch more.  I'm also considering getting some diaper covers in a smaller size because really, using prefolds at home isn't that big a deal, if I have AIO's for when I go out, I'll be in business. 

What I've learned so far is that cloth diapering? Not that big a deal.  If you have AIO's that is.  AIO's are as easy to use as disposables.  I have a trash can with a locking lid that I'm tossing the soiled diapers into, so the smell isn't bad (at least now while he's still breastfed), and I do laundry every day anyway, so what's an extra load or two? (when I get more diapers, I'll be doing less loads)  I do have to make sure I change him often or else he gets diaper rash, and the Kushies actually work so well (so far anyway) that they don't leak and I have to make sure to check them to see if they're wet (with disposables, they swell up so you can feel from the outside that they're wet, this isn't as obvious in the already bulky cloth diapers.) Also, for this reason I've decided to put Max in a disposable with Desitin at night, because the first night I let him sleep in a cloth diaper, and though it didn't leak, he woke up with Monkey Butt, this morning, after sleeping in the disposable w/ Desitin, he was Monkey Butt Free.

All is also well on the Alex front, who acts like he's pretty much potty trained suddenly.  We went through three pairs of underwear Sunday, two pairs yesterday and are on our second pair today, which is actually really, REALLY good for him. 

Peace and love

 I don't have a job. I recycle. I have a large dog. I buy organic food products. My favorie song of all time is Imagine by John Lennon.  I am politically left leaning.  I breastfeed. I wear my  baby in a sling. Alex usually runs around without pants.  Now I'm using cloth diapers.

OH MY GOD! I'm a just a pair of Birkinstocks and a bong away from being a hippie!

 

Groovy.

Cloth diapering lingo

My mother brought to my attention that she didn't have a clue what I was staying when I described the "dipering systems" I was using.

g diapers are a hybrid disposable/cloth.  You have a cloth cover with a snap in plastic liner that you stuff a disposable pad into.  The disposable pad is, in theory, flushable, but I just toss them because they are biodegradable, and I feel much less guilty tossing the pad in the trash than a regular diaper.  I'm not really crazy about the velcro closing in the back though, and the disposable pad can't really hold in the breastmilk poo very well.  I've had better luck today stuffing the liner with prefold which is more absorbant, not to mention softer on Max's bits. 

I'm using the g diapers I used when Alex was about a year old or so, so they're WAY too big for Max.  If I decide to keep using cloth on Max, I'm going to have to buy some diaper covers that fit him better.

Prefolds are just regular cloth diapers.  The kind my mom used to put me into and pin shut and put plastic pants over.

AIO's are "All in one" diapers.  Where it's all in one piece, but all cloth, you don't have to stuff a pocket, or pin a cloth diaper on...  I have Kushie's brand which have velcro closing.  THe jury is still out on whether or not I like these yet.  This is the first time I've used them, and my first impression is they don't look very comfortable, the outer layer is plastic and isn't very soft, but may get softer as I wash it.

We are a couple of hours in on this experiment and it's going great, mostly because Alex is using the potty like a champ.  Will report tomorrow on whether or not I plan to do it again tomorrow.

Going green to save green

I woke up this morning, looked at the mountain of dirty diapers and pullups in the bathroom trash and decided that I'm sick and tired of buying disposables.  I do this every few months or so, decide that I want to save the environment or save some money and put the kids in cloth diapers or cloth training pants, then, oh, about 45 minutes later, I'm covered in pee and poop and now have a mountain of cloth diapers and training pants to wash, and I put them back in disposables.

So, here we go again.  Alex is wearing his cloth training pants and Max is currently wearing g diaper with a disposable liner while I wash a load of prefolds and the five Kushies AIO's I'd bought last time I went through this phase. 

I have 18 pairs of little boy underpants, 5 AIO's, 2 g diaper covers, 4 g-diaper plastic liners, 6 disposable g diaper pads and about 10 cloth prefolds (which I plan to use with the g-diapers rather than the disposable liners).  I'm hoping I can get through one whole day using these without using my stash of disposables.  If I do, both boys will still go to bed wearing disposables.

I know exactly how this will, go, but I'm willing to try. Again.

PHM update and new challenege

Sun:  I did 20 min of Turbo Jam and then both kids needed me so I had to turn it off.

Mon:  Walked at the mall for 30 min

Tues:  Did 30 min of Turbo Jam and then was interrupted by children BUT later in the afternoon I turned it on again and did the last 15 minutes.

Wed:  Did the entire 45 min Turbo Jam DVD uninterupted!

Thurs:  Walked at the mall for 40 min!

Fri:  It was nice outside so I walked for 30 min around the neighborhood

Sat:  Walked outside again for 30 minutes.

So, I'd call it a successful week.  Challenge met! 

I did not weigh myself this week though, because even though I made a point to get some kind of exercise every day, I also ate like a pig, so I'm sure I didn't lose anything, in fact, I fear that I actually gained. 

The new challenge for next week will be water.  I had John bring home a pack of caffine free diet Pepsi on Wed night and by Friday afternoon they were all gone and I was the only one drinking them!  I think it's clear that I need to focus this week on drinking water instead of soda.  So I will allow myself to have my cup of coffee in the morning and my glass of milk with dinner, but any other drinks I have will be water.  My goal will be to drink 64 oz of water each day.

I will also continue my exercise goal from last week, three days I want to do 45 min of Turbo Jam  and four days I will go walking for a minimum of 30 minutes.

*interestingly I found myself acutally going out to walk or putting in the Turbo Jam DVD just because I didn't want to have to report that I was a lazy bum and didn't exercise one day.  So YAY for accountability!

Max's new trick

Max has officially mastered rolling from his belly to his back.  He still can't roll from back to belly, but we've got at least 180 degrees down pat, we'll just keep working on the other 180.  Basically, this just means that tummy time is officially over because he just flips over. Or so I thought.

He actually started doing this on Wednesday, so at Thursday morning's playgroup I was so excited to show everyone his new trick.  Everyone gathered around Max's blanket and I put him on his belly and he just flopped around like a trout.  At one point he pulled his knees up under him and scooched around on his face.  "Seriously!"  I told everyone "He was flipping over like a champ yesterday!".  Sadly, he continued to refuse to perform for my friends.  Little bum.

I tried again in the evening, I told John all about his rolling abilities and put him on a blanket on the floor, where again, he just flopped around and did the face scooching thing.  John got bored of watching the baby give his face a rug burn, so he went back to watching Jeopardy.  No sooner had he looked away, than Max got with the program and flipped over onto his back.  I started clapping and telling Max how awesome he did. I think John thought I cheated and flipped him myself.

So, I still have no witnesses to this new trick.  Maybe I'll hide the camcorder somewhere to try to get it on video.  THEN people will believe me.  I suppose unless they think I'd used some kind of special effects.  Nah, they'll never see the wires :)

Eight Things

Thanks to Sara for tagging me and providing today's NaBloPoMo blog fodder!

Eight TV shows I like to watch:

1. Nova Science Now
   
2. Eyes of Nye
   
3. Dirty Jobs
   
4. The Office
   
5. 30 Rock
   
6. Battlestar Gallactica
   
7. Family Guy
   
8. 
   

   Scrubs

Eight resturaunts I like to eat at:

1. Wingers
   
2. Cafe Rio
   
3. Mad Greek
   
4. The Garden (in Fallbrook)
   
5. Famous Daves
   
6. In N Out Burger
   
7. Oyster Bar / Market Street
   
8. 
   

   Hard Rock Cafe - but only once in any given city, I don't really like the food, we just like collecting the glasses

Eight things that happened today (well, I'm writing this at 7 in the morning so nothing's happened, I'll list what happened yesterday):

1. Made artwork out of bowtie pasta, stale mini marshmellows, q-tips, old holiday ribbon and sliced almonds with Alex
   
2. Changed sixty billion dirty diapers
   
3. Nursed the baby, I don't know, maybe 15 times?  I don't keep track
   
4. Watched my son fully dress himself, from pull ups to shoes and top his ensemble with a fuzzy green pimp hat
   
5. Packed a suitcase with Alex and sent him off with Grandma Babs for a sleepover
   
6. Was able to do the entire 45 minute Turbo Jam DVD uninterupted
   
7. Watched a show about comedy on the History Channel hotsted by Lewis Black
   
8. Cooked (breakfast for John, Alex and me.  Lunch for me and rice cereal for the baby. Dinner - Jambalya - for John and me)

Eight things I'm looking forward to:

1. Battlestar Gallactica's final few episodes
   
2. Going to see Body Worlds
   
3. Alex being fully potty trained 
   
4. The day I wake up, hop on the scale and see a number that I'm not embarassed to say aloud
   
5. Peace on Earth and goodwill toward men (and women)
   
6. John finally selling all that crap he bought a year and half ago at Comic Con
   
7. Picking Alex up at my mom's this morning. I MISSED HIM!
   
8. 
   

   The first time Max says "I love you Mommy"

I tag Grandma Jen! (Sara already tagged Steph, Lauri and Jen, but consider yourselves double tagged ladies!)

Six unspectacular quirks

So Steph was tagged for this meme and posted it on her blog. I was not tagged, but I'm desperately seeking NaBloPoMo material and I'm valiently trying to not write about potty training, so I'm going to go ahead and do this one.  I have many quirks, none of which are spectacular, so this should be easy for me:

1. 
   

   I can't sleep naked.  And this has nothing to do with having small children. The real reason is because I am terrified that the one time I fall asleep in the nude will be the very night we have a housefire and I'll get up and be so busy getting my kids and pets out of the house I'll forget to get dressed or even wrap a blanket around myself and I'll be standing in the street watching my house burn to the ground in the buff.

   
   
2. 
   

   I am terrified of aliens.  To my knowledge, I have never been abducted nor have I been anally probed by an extraterrestrial visitor, but that doesn't change the fact that I always watch alien movies with my hands covering my eyes, only peeking at the screen through my fingers.  John keeps asking why I didn't like the new Indiana Jones movie, I had been SO excited for it and I'm a HUGE fan of the first three, but I wouldn't even sit through the enitre movie when he recently bought it on BluRay.  It's because THEY'RE ALIENS (ok, dimentional shifters...whatever)!  Signs?  That leg in the cornfield?  FREAKY!

   
   
3. 
   

   I love Canada.  Though I've never been there.  I've never met a Canadian I didn't like, and back before we had Alex I lobbyed pretty hard to get John to transfer to his company's Vancouver office.  It's not that I hate the US, not at all, I just, for reasons unknown, feel that I am deep down in my soul, a Canadian.  John thinks it's funny but supports my love of Candadians by making a point to introduce me to his Canadian co-workers when they're in town.  I love them all. 

   
   
4. 
   

   I still have a weird crush on Micheal Flatley. Lord of the Dance, C'mon!  It was cool in the 90's!  Wasn't it?

   
   
5. 
   

   I LOVE motorcycles. It is hard for me to drive in the summer because I have a hard time keeping my eyes on the road when a Harley passes me on the freeway.  I don't know how to ride a motorcycle, though my ex tried to teach me once on a Honda Magna. I couldn't keep the thing upright.  John "won't allow" me to get a bike, saying that they're too dangerous, so I'm likely not going to ever learn to ride (though I tell John that if I'm ever widowed, the first thing I'm doing is going out and getting myself a hog and joining the Hell's Angels chapter for the elderly).

   
   
6. 
   

   You know that question "If you could meet any celebrity who would it be?"  I would have a hard time making the choice between Tina Fey and Queen Latifah.  A few weeks ago when they were in the same SNL skit (where Fey played Palin and The Queen played Gwen Ifill) was one of my favorite TV moments of all time.

Learning not to assume

At my mom's club breakfast this morning there were several new prospective members.  I was having a conversation with one woman who had an amazingly beautiful little boy.  I mean, this kid was bordering on angelic he was so damned cute, but that's not really the point.  So I was trying to make small talk and I ask her if he is her only child, she tells me that he is.  "Any plans for another?" I ask her.  She tells me they're not sure. "Well accidents can happen"  I joke. And then she tells me that since she and her partner (who was sitting right beside her) are lesbians, an accident isn't liable to happen any time soon.  "Probably not" I agree. 

I hope I didn't make too much of an ass out of myself, because these women were really cool and I hope they join the group.

Did Hell freeze over? Pigs flying?

Alex and Max are both, right at this very moment, napping. NAPPING! AT THE SAME TIME!  OH MY GOD!  This has never happened, ever. I don't really know what to do with myself.  Maybe I'll take a shower and go to the bathroom, like alone and stuff.

Alex has basically given up his nap, but today, he spent the afternoon rubbing his face all over the dog resulting in a full body rash, so I gave him a squirt of Benedryl and waited awhile to see if it would make him sleepy.  Sometimes it does, sometimes it doesn't.  We waited an hour and he wasn't showing any signs of being drowsy, so I packed the kids up and headed off to the dinosaur museum. 

About five minutes into our drive I unwrapped a granola bar and handed it to him.  He was still awake. I switched on NPR, looked in the rear view mirror and he was zonked with the granola bar hanging out of his mouth.  Max was also asleep (not surprising).  So, I turned around and came home, put the kids in bed and now I've got the whole house to myself for an undetermined amount of time. YAY!

The case of the missing bangs - SOLVED!

So, I was so confused about having "lost" my bangs, but I figured out what happened to them.  When the stylist cut my bangs, she really just took a lock of hair and cut it about an inch shorter than the shortest layer of the rest of my hair, which is really just about long enough for me to tuck behind my ear, which is what I've been doing with it.  Apparently, I am supposed to blow dry this lock of hair and I guess spackle it to my forhead in a swoopy manner to make it look like bangs.

What I wanted were bangs like Sara's, which, upon closer inspection last night, I found hers are actually cut in a swoopy manner.  She actually has cute swoopy bangs, not just a shorter lock of hair that is supposed to pretend to be bangs like I've got. 

So, I guess I'm still bang-less until I go and get my bangs actually cut. Swoopily. 

PHM - Weekly goal

I had an epiphany the other day.  Maybe I was unsuccessful on my monthly PHM challenges because a month is a LOOOONG time.  Maybe I could be more successful if I had a shorter challenge, like a week long.  AND, maybe, if I focused on meeting a goal I could really control, rather than a weight loss goal, putting myself at the mercy of my metabolism, I would be more successful.

So, here's my new idea:  The WEEKLY PHM CHALLENGE!  Every week I will focus on making a change.  I will not focus on loosing pounds, rather, I will focus on lifestyle changes that I hope to become new healthier habits.  I'll try this for the next few weeks and see if it makes a difference.

Week 1 challenge: Exercise

Goals
   - Do the entire 45 min. Turbo Jam DVD three days this week
   - Walk at the mall for 30 min four days this week

New do

Well, actually, it appears to be the same 'do as I always have, only maybe a teensy bit shorter. You might conclude from this photo that I wimped out on getting bangs, well, you'd be wrong.  I walzed into the local walk-in salon, and, feeling that anything would be an improvement over what I was currently sporting, I grabbed the first magazine I could reach off the table and without really looking, handed it to the woman with the cobalt blue hair and said "Give me that" vaguely pointing at the cover model.

It turns out I was to recieve the closest approximation the blue haired woman could give me of Reese Witherspoon's current hairdo.  When she was almost done cutting my hair I added "oh, and I'd like some 'swoopy bangs'"  I saw her cut them.  I saw her blow dry them, but when I got out of the shower this morning and started doing my hair, I couldn't for the life of me find them!

Oh well, it is better than before anyway.

To bang or not to bang

Only seven days into NaBloPoMo and I'm already talking about my hair.  At least it's not potty training right?

Anyhow, I'm getting my hair cut tomorrow.  Does anybody out there have strong feelings about bangs?  I'm thinking of getting my normal cut (chin length w/ layers) but adding some swoopy bangs.  When I asked John what he thought of swoopy bangs, he didn't seem to even know what bangs were...so, no help.

Here's the thing, whenever I get bangs, I immediately regret it and go through that awful "growing out bangs" trauma.  I think it's because I always wimp out and get thin whispy bangs which just makes me look stupid. I'm thinking if I get chunkier, heavier bangs, I mean, REALLY commit to the bangs, I might like them more.

Thoughts?

Forcing you to watch my home movies

First up is Alex making Max laugh.  Kid likes it rough!

Next up is Alex talking about puss filled eyeballs.  A treat I made for a Halloween party he went to. 

Here we have Max attempting to roll over. He never quite makes it, but I think it's so cute how VOCAL he is about it.

And lastly, here is Max laughing hysterically at his brother

A good day to be a Democrat

Suffice it to say, I was one very happy voter last night.  I couldn't be more proud to have been a part of last night's historic election.  It also helps that my guy won :) 

McCain is a hero, a great American, and probably, in another time, would have made a great president.  But it's a new time in America now.  We put aside our fears and our biases and elected a man named Barack Hussein Obama to be our leader because he gave us hope that we can be better.  Yes we can.

If you live under a rock and didn't see President-elect Obama (!!!!) make his speech last night.  Watch it.  WATCH. IT.  http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/11/04/video.transcript/index.html

Gender confusion

Alex was playing with one of my magazines.  He turned the page and said "That's Barack Obama!"  When I asked to see the picture of Barack Obama, he showed it to me.  It was not in fact Barack Obama.  It wasn't even a man.  I'll give him one thing though, she was black.  So much for raising kids who are color blind.  Though I seem to be doing a great job raising a child who is gender blind...

Vote, vote, vote!

If you haven't already, please, please, PLEASE go out and vote today. 

If you're sick of hearing about my potty training woes, just go ahead and skip this post

So, from Friday to Saturday Alex went 24 hours with no accidents.  Saturday morning I went out and bought him a reward, a playdough kit, and five minutes later he pooped his pants.  BUT, he then went the whole rest of the day with no accidents.  Sunday he was with his Daddy watching football most of the day, and there were a few accidents, but I think we only went through three or four PullUps the entire day.  He woke up dry this morning, but then pooped in his pants before we left to take John to work.  We've had one pee pee accident since then, but otherwise, everything else seems to be going into the potty.  Is this progress?  I'm not sure.  I think he's screwing with me.

PHM - October challenge update (*sarcastic HAHA snort*)

Well, October is over and so is my October Challenge, and also over is my attempt at doing a monthly weight loss challenge because the last two months, while I did loose weight, I didn't come anywhere near my 10 pound weight loss goal, and instead of just being happy about the weight I did loose, I felt frustrated that I didn't loose more.  So, I'll give you the results (like you care), and tell you what I am going to do moving forward with PHM (I realize the PHM posts are for my own accountability, and aren't particularly interesting to other readers, I suppose unless I start giving you the ACTUAL NUMBERS on the scale - yea, dream on, or post bikini pics - Really I am protecting your eyes people.  Maybe some day, when Hell freezes over).

In October I lost four pounds, then I gained one back and couldn't loose the damn thing again.  So my total weight loss for October is three pounds. My total weight loss for PHM as a whole is 17 pounds.  I have three stubborn little pounds to loose to get to my pre-Max weight, I have 33 pounds to loose to get to my pre-Alex weight and I want to loose 53 pounds to get to my goal weight. 

So, moving forward?  I still need to set a goal for myself.  Even though I haven't met my monthly PHM goals, I had something to strive towards and I felt a sense of accountability in having to report either my failings or successes at this website.  I'm going to set a more reasonable goal for myself for the rest of the year:  Loose the three pounds of Max pregnancy weight and don't gain it back over the holidays. 

I want to stick with my low GI diet, because it feels like a real healthy way of eating in general.  I bought Turbo Jam last week and am planning to do that a few times a week instead of going to the gym, because trying to get a spare hour out of my day to go to the gym is so frustrating, I end up not going at all.  This week I've been able to fenagle 45 minutes in my living room to do the Turbo Jam DVD while Max takes nap and Alex jumps around with me thinking we're dancing.  I'm also planning to continue mall walking in the mornings after we drop John at work.

I think that's a good solid plan, and I do hope to be much, MUCH more successful than just loosing three pounds over the course of two months, but I'm not going to set an aggressive goal for this holiday season.  I'm not that optimistic.