My So Called Life

PROMPTuesday #179: The Senses

2012-02-01T23:45:00.002-07:00

Wow - it has been SO long since I've blogged - and SO long since I've participated in a PROMPTuesday!

"Write a paragraph (or more if you’re a supahstah) describing where you are right now this very minute. Look out the window if there is one. Detail any sounds you hear, what you see, even what you feel. "

Right this very minute, I'm laying in bed, with my laptop on my lap (well on the really cool laptop lap desk thing-a-majigger that my grandparents got me for my birthday or Christmas one year - and it really has been a super useful gift!). An almost finished glass of Gewurtztraminer on my night stand.

One of my cats is laying next to my leg purring - she will most likely start her cleaning regimen at any second. Ew.

I have papers and folders all strewn about my bed because I was getting some work done, and trying to turn in before Midnight - well...it's 11:53 now...maybe if I hurry.

My husband is in New Mexico for work, so I get the whole king bed to myself tonight - but I'll most likely stay tucked on 'my side'.

I hear a hum of something, but not really sure what it is - and if I strain really hard I can hear the cars on the freeway buzzing along - unless it's a semi-truck - I can hear those pretty well.

I really want to meet my goal of getting to bed before Midnight, even if it is only a couple minutes - so I'm going to stack all my papers and folders and put them away. Shut the laptop lid. Shoo the cat out of my room. And hopefully fall asleep quickly.

Thanks Deb for continuing to do these PROMPTuesdays - especially for us wayfarers who get sucked into Facebook and entirely neglect our blogs - only to come back and find comfort in the familiar. <3

To Give...or Not to Give

2011-03-24T10:36:00.002-07:00

I've found over the years, that when it comes to the topic of giving money to a homeless person, people are on polar opposites. There are those that will give no matter what, and there are those that will avoid eye contact and think that all they are going to do is spend the money on alcohol/drugs anyway.

My husband and I are those opposites. I feel that it is my obligation as a Christian to give, without caring about what it is that person is actually going to do with the money. My husband, on the other hand, does not feel that way. Now, in his defense, he has said that he would rather give them food, which he has done in the past. I have as well, but I don't always drive around with extra food in my car. Know what I mean? So I will usually give whatever I have in my purse and be on my merry way.

Since the beginning of the year, I have been reading Proverbs 31:10-31, these verses are known as the "Proverbs 31 Woman" or the "Wife of Noble Character". I have been trying to utilize these scriptures to help me grow this year, as a wife, mother, entrepreneur, and overall better person. But to be honest, I had been completely ignoring verses 1 through 9. So, last night, I decided to read them, and came across these verses, starting with verse 6:

Let beer be for those that are perishing, wine for those who are in anguish!
Let them drink and forget their poverty and remember their misery no more.
Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves, for the rights of all who are destitute.
Speak up and judge fairly; defend the rights of the poor and needy.

Now, let me also say this, I do not encourage or endorse drinking - but it's just a reality that many of these men and women on the street are depressed, and drinking is the only thing that makes that hurt go away and get them through another day. They don't have health insurance or the money to go get counseling and work through their issues. These men and women may be war veterans, a victim of child abuse, someone who has experienced a horrible tragedy and just can't quite get it back together. And while it is my desire that they would be healed from their wounds, and that they would be able to find a job, and be able to live on their own again - the sad reality is that it will not happen for most. And it seemed that the writers that contributed to the Bible knew this, over 2000 years ago.

These men and women want people to see them, talk to them, and maybe even offer to help. I used to see a homeless man at the shops around my neighborhood, and one day he approached me in the Savers parking lot. I only had hundreds in my purse, because I was getting ready to go to the bank. He asked if I had any spare change, and I told him I didn't. It was raining, and he had an umbrella. I had all the kids with me, and he said "Here, take this, I won't use it." And he gave me his umbrella. We walked into the store, and I could just feel that God wanted me to give him $100. I did not want to. We were cutting it close that month anyway because it was just after my husband had gotten out of the hospital from his motorcycle accident and he hadn't been working. $100 meant a lot to us that month. So I said, "Okay Lord, if he's still in the parking lot when I get done in here, I will give it to him." We finished up in Savers, walked out to the parking lot and didn't see him. I loaded the kids up in the car, and was driving out of the parking lot. Just as I was almost to the end of the driveway, I saw him and a buddy sitting on the sidewalk in front of an empty storefront trying to stay dry as the rain had picked up. I stopped my car, in the middle of the parking lot, jumped out and ran over to him with the money in my hand. I handed it to him and said "God wanted me to give you this, He loves you." And I jumped back into my car and drove off. I wasn't going to tell Aaron about it, but the kids did. And boy was he upset. But you know what, within days, we received an anonymous $100 gift card to a grocery store from someone at our church. And days after that received another $300 gift card from his grandma in Colorado. We didn't ask anyone for help, but God knew our needs and met them, in fact EXCEEDED them. (Ephesians 3:20-21) Several months later, I saw the man again in a Safeway parking lot. Again he approached me, and this time I truly didn't have any money, but I said "I saw you a few months ago, and you gave me an umbrella." His face brightened, and he said "OH! You know what we did? We went and got a hotel room and slept in a bed." I was filled with so much happiness, I just hugged him. I think I took him a little by surprise. haha We talked for a few more minutes about how he was doing, and then we said goodbye. I haven't seen him now for several years, but his umbrella is still tucked under the passenger seat in my car for a rainy day.

So, we don't know what someone is going to do with the money that we give to them. But, I'm of the mind that it's not up to us, it's just up to us to give out of the love that Jesus has for us. Like the video that I linked to below says, "You could've been their saving grace."

WHAT IF SHE'S AN ANGEL Video - ARTISTdirect Music

And the Winner is.....

2011-02-07T12:02:00.002-07:00

Using Random.org, the Commenter that was chosen to win a signed copy of "I Dare You to Change" by Pastor Bil Cornelius is..........

Kathryn!!

Congratulations!!! We'll be getting in touch soon to mail out your copy of the book. Please let me know how you like it!

Check out the I Dare You to Change Facebook Page!

Thanks for everyone who commented - I really encourage you to pick up a copy of this book if you are ready to make some changes!

I Dare You To Change - Last Stop on the Blog Tour

2011-01-29T22:35:00.004-07:00

I am so excited and honored to be the Last Stop on the Blog Tour for the book, I Dare You To Change by Bil Cornelius, Pastor of Bay Area Fellowship in Corpus Christi, TX. I came across this blog tour through my friends, Alisa Wagner and Christina Ketchum (twin sisters), who are amazing women of God and who have been so inspirational to me. I have never met either of them in person - Christina redesigned my personal blog almost 2 years ago now, and then also designed my entire website for My Smart Hands - Phoenix, my baby sign language company. And then, I started reading her sister Alisa's work on FaithImagined.com. Several months ago, the blog tour for I Dare You To Change was announced, and I was able to be one of the participating blogs!

Our local church that my family attends, Paradise Valley Community Church, has been stirring up change for the past couple of years. Last year, their main theme was "Metamorphosis", which means transformation. This year, it is "Catalyst", which is an agent of change. So, a life change has been brewing just below the surface for me, and "I Dare You to Change" made me take the practical steps to finding answers to the questions like "What areas of my life are causing me pain?", "What will happen if those areas don't change?", and "What will happen if those areas DO change?". And those were questions from just the FIRST chapter!

I kept a journal, just like Pastor Bil recommends, and it was a very eye-opening experience, to go back chapter after chapter and see the progress I was making at discovering what my dreams are, and what the practical steps are to being able to see those dreams become a reality.

As I began defining those dreams, and sharing them with my husband, he was surprisingly on board! I mean, all of these plans involve taking risks - and my husband's job has been shaky over the past couple of years. So, for him to be on board, even in those circumstances, really confirmed to me that God is the author of these plans, and not just something I'm trying to push through on my own.

I've been able to clearly define the things that I am passionate about, and in short, they are:

1. Being able to participate more in my children's everyday lives

2. Being a wife that demonstrates the qualities in Proverbs 31:10-31

3. Making a difference in the lives of abused and neglected children, as well as the lives of children with special needs

4. Maintaining a healthy lifestyle for myself and my family

5. Pursuing a business opportunity that benefits families and local communities

With those clearly defined goals, I will now be able to clear out a lot of the clutter that tries to take up the limited time that I have. When I was a Mary Kay consultant, I listened to the CD of National Sales Director, Pamela Shaw, and she made a simple statement, but it is so true, "Time spent in one area, is time away in another area." Pastor Bil encourages us in his book to filter out the things that do not align with our goals. It's much easier to say "No" to something good when you have a clear direction of where you are headed. There will be things in your life that seem like it would be good to do them, but if they aren't getting you closer to your goals, you may have to put them aside, even if just for a season.

I'll wrap this up by saying, Change is Hard...you really have to want it, and be ready for it, and pursue it with all you have. You're going to stumble - anything worth doing is going to be challenging. If you have been doing something a certain way for a long time - such as having the tendency to argue with your husband just so you can be "right" (who me?) - reading Proverbs 31 one time, isn't going to all of a sudden cure you from doing that. It's the continous effort made day in and day out that will achieve the final result.

If you've been feeling that there are areas of your life that you want to change, but you just aren't sure where to start, or what steps you should take, I encourage you to walk through Pastor Bil's I Dare You to Change. Keep the journal, please don't skip that part. Go back and re-read the book a second time (that's what I'll be doing). And if you fall, get back up.

This book has been tremendously helpful for me, and you have a chance to win a FREE copy! Just post a comment here on my blog to be entered, the deadline is Midnight on Sunday, 02/06/2011. The winner will be randomly selected, and multiple comments by the same person will count as one entry.

Here are some links to more information about "I Dare You to Change" by Bil Cornelius.

I Dare You To Change Website
Sample Chapter
Book Trailer Link

I learned to "Corner"

2011-01-19T15:15:00.003-07:00

So, if you've ever been a beginner on a dirtbike, you're like "OK, going straight is cool...I can do this...now wait...how do I turn around?" When I made my very first turn almost 2 years ago, I fell off the bike. I didn't know when to clutch, use the throttle, brake...anything. So, in making the turn, I gave it some gas...too much gas...got all squirrely and threw myself over the handlebars. Thud. Ouch.

What I started doing was making extremely WIDE turns, holding my clutch in the whole time, so as not to even consider applying power to the back wheel as I entered my turn - lest I be thrown off the bike again.

Well, this week I learned how to corner. I had been sick ALL weekend long, and stayed home from work on Monday. All 5 of the kids were also home, and so was hubby. At about 3pm, he was like "We can not keep these kids inside any longer" and loaded up the small dirtbike (mine) and the kids' quad. I popped some Dayquil and off we went.

At first I was just taking the kids around on the quad, and Aaron said "Get on your bike". So, reluctantly I did - but took it pretty slow riding in a really open area, where I could continue to make my previously described extra-wide turns. I started to feel a little more comfortable in the straights, so I picked up my speed, but then slowed it WAY down when it was time to turn around.

In the desert where we ride, a lot of people make their own 'mini' tracks - and in the area where we parked was one of those - a pretty simple loop, but with much narrower turns than I would ever want to attempt. Aaron said "Let's learn how to corner." Me: "I don't want to." Pout. "C'mon". "No, I'm going to fall." More pouting.

The corner closest to our car had a berm - meaning you are supposed to turn.on.a.hill. Ummm yeah. So, he started marking stuff on the berm with his foot - "You want to start slowing down here, stick your foot out here, then get on your gas here..." Riiiiiiight. But, I decided to give it a try. I looked like a little kid trying to ride a bike with no training wheels for the first time - with both of my legs sticking out all weird and my arms shaking on the handlebars. I didn't go anywhere near the top of the berm - I wanted to stay on flat ground. My first turn was bad.

But as I kept coming around, I started to feel more comfortable in the positioning of the bike. I was confident in the straights, picking up my speed - then slowing WAY down as the turn was approaching - but I found my "line" and each time made it a little bit further up the berm, and made it out of the corner a little bit faster each time. Dare I say...this is...fun??

I kept going round and round that little loop track - and pretty soon I was going 'fast' (for me) through the corners. I got a little too confident at one point though, came out of the corner too fast, hit a bump and there I went again...over the handlebars. But I laughed! Aaron was proud, I was proud, it was a fun day. But boy am I sore.

Conversations with a 2.5 Year Old

2010-11-30T17:13:00.002-07:00

So Baby Pants has been coming up with some doozies lately - her brain is just so creative, but it can be hilarious!

Baby Pants: "Mom, do you want a surprise?"

Me: "Yes!"

BP: (she leans in and whispers) "Do you like snakes?"

Me: "No"

BP: (more whispers) "Do you like presents?"

Me: "Yes!"

BP: (loud) YOU'RE GOING TO GET A PRESENT ON YOUR BIRTHDAY!

Me: "Really? What is it?"

BP: "A RACECAR!!"

Me: "Wow, that's cool."

BP: (now apparently done with that topic) "Fishsticks come out of AJ's nose."

Me: "Uhhh"

BP: "And sometimes I whack you on the head with this book." (WHACK!)

Me: "Ow! That hurts mommy!"

BP: "I'm sorry mommy, I didn't mean to."

Oy vey.

If you think I'm lost

2010-11-09T10:59:00.002-07:00

If you think I'm lost...I'm not...I've just been sucked into the vortex that is Facebook.

My Baby is THIRTEEN!

2010-10-28T09:42:00.001-07:00

So, I don't have time to write much, but my baby girl is thirteen years old today! I can't believe that much time has passed since she was born!

I'll try and write more later, but I just wanted to wish my SAM a happy birthday!

Daily Commute - Episode 1

2010-09-17T17:36:00.002-07:00

Okay, so seriously this is my very FIRST ever attempt at a 'vlog' - so don't be too harsh. ;) I'm sure my editing skillz will get ever so better, the more I do this. I just used what was available in YouTube itself, but I have a better thing called Camtasia - just didn't have time to mess around with it too much.

And yes, I was holding my phone up while driving - not texting, not even really talking on the phone - just had my right elbow rested on the arm rest, with my iPhone in hand - and talking...to myself...sorta. hehe So, don't get all gaspy about how I shouldn't vlog and drive, mmmmk? ;)

So, check it out - I know I have a HUGE right nostril - but I can't really hold my phone up above my head and drive - THAT would be distracting.

Social Media A.D.D.

2010-09-08T17:10:00.002-07:00

Okay, so as you have seen, I have not been around my Blog much lately. Why you ask? (This is me assuming you asked...ahem) It's because I have been sucked into the Facebook black hole. I always told myself I would not let that happen, but alas it has happened. And I can only juggle up to two forms of social media at a time, or something. And I've been doing a high concentration of stuff for my sign language business - so my Facebook has been getting updated frequently, as well as my business website. So, there you have it, I have reached my two forms. And here my poor, neglected, blog sits...with nary an update. :(

I have an iPhone and Facebook has an APP, and it's just so handy! I can post pictures, I can check my News Feeds, I can see what Events I have coming up. It really is pretty darn awesome! So I guess I have to find a blogging app so that I can do that from wherever I happen to be that's not in front of my laptop.

So, I apologize for not being more diligent in updating my blog more often.

And I have not taken to Tweeting...although I do have a Twitter account hanging out there somewhere. So maybe that will be my next area of exploration.

Until then, here's a link to my Facebook Album with some very recent pictures of the kiddos from Labor Day weekend!

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2081367&id=1482220555&l=d278ec99a2

It's been over a year...but I did it!

2010-08-02T11:29:00.002-07:00

My first time back on a bike since I found out I was pregnant with AJ.

2010-07-30T17:06:00.003-07:00

I truly can not believe it's been a month since I've posted. What.the.heck?

This month has gone by in a whirlwind. I've accomplished a lot in my career, spent a bunch of time with the kids, watched a lot of dirtbike races, and spent a lot of time in doors (July in AZ stinks for weather).

I seriously can't believe July is over after tomorrow. The kids only have 2 more weeks until school starts. Yes, I know, many kids are either back in school already...or we all reminisce about how we didn't go back to school until after Labor Day. But my kids' district starts somewhere in the middle. SAM will be in 8th grade, Cita in 3rd, and Monkey will be going to elementary for the first time, although I'm not sure if it will be as a Kindergartener or 1st grader. She technically finished a Kindergarten program at a private school, and the district said that they will place her in a 1st grade class for the first 3 weeks of school to see how they think she will do in that grade. If she appears to be on par with the other students, they will keep her in 1st, otherwise they will just put her in a Kindergarten class. The only reason this is even an issue is because her 5th birthday fell after the cut-off date, so she couldn't attend public school Kindergarten last year, so she just completed it at the preschool where I had her enrolled. So, we'll see how that goes.

Baby Pants is in a phase let me tell ya. She has taken to calling people 'stupid' and SCREAMING at the top of her lungs if she doesn't get her way. Oh the butt whoopings that child is going to get over the next few months until she gets her little attitude in check. Yeesh.

Cita is still in California with her dad for the summer, but she'll be coming home on the 8th. I've missed that little stinker! In a bad-but-sort-of-good turn of events, her dad had ruptured his achilles tendon a couple of months ago, and had to be on disability from work. So, he actually got to be off the whole time Morgan was visiting him. So, she got to spend lots of quality time with her dad, and I'm sure she really enjoyed that.

SAM has been coming to work with me a few days a week. It's been a really great bonding experience. We talk a lot on the way to and from work..I get insight on what's going on with her friends, what she's looking forward to this year, what things she's interested in, etc. She gets to bond with me and see what I do at work (the bosses don't mind because she's very well behaved and I am still very productive when she's here). I've gotten to see what a WONDERFUL artist she is...which she does not get from me by the way. We go to lunch together, and it's really nice.

AJ has been growing by leaps and bounds. He's 5 1/2 months now...and rolling over both ways, and inchworm crawling. He is eating rice cereal and making all kinds of fun 'talking' sounds. He's such a sweet little guy, always smiling and playing...only getting fussy when it's time to eat. He is sitting up somewhat on his own now, if he gets too excited he falls over though.

I've been trying to lose this baby weight. It is not going well. I'm not really gaining, but I'm not losing either. I've been working out about 3 days a week on average. And I've made improvements in my diet. But the office is a hard place to be...there are always goodies, snacks, candy, soda, etc. I've gotten a bit more disciplined for not grabbing everything I see, but not 100% eating right. I eat better at home because Aaron is very fit, and we don't keep any sodas, candy, chips, etc at home. But I'm only there for dinner and weekends. Most of my eating happens at work, and snacking and going out to lunch is not helping. I'm having a contest with a co-worker to see if we can get to our goal weights by October 2nd, because that is when he is going back home for a visit. But he's not married, and has no children, so he says he's working out 2x a day. Gee, I wonder who's going to win? Whoever said breastfeeding helps you lose the baby weight is LYING. It was an undercover La Leche League member to get more moms to breastfeed. hehe. Just kidding. It's been a rewarding experience for sure...just did not contribute to my weight loss at all. Oh well, I'll keep you posted on that.

Now, if you've made it this far, please enjoy a video of my cute little AJ playing with a toy. hehe

How Do You Eat an Elephant?

2010-06-29T10:34:00.002-07:00

One bite at a time, right? So, we've all heard that phrase in relation to dealing with things that seem too large to accomplish - whether it's a project at work, our to-do list at home, or things that we want to do for our personal growth.

So, it's supposed to be encouraging that you only bite off what you can chew at the time, complete that portion, and then move on to the next thing.

But I find that the problem is that my elephant keeps growing...while I'm eating him. So, I just finish a leg or whatever, and then I'll be darned if that elephant doesn't grow another leg!

Kinda feels like the elephant can't be eaten in its entirety. So, what do you do in that situation, where you know you'll be eating elephant for the rest of your life?

Spiritual Insight from my 2 year old

2010-06-22T13:28:00.003-07:00

So, you know what's cuter than a 2 year old screaming "Don't Cut The Cheese!!" :)

A 2 year old coming up to you, sitting in your lap, looking straight in your eyes and saying "Jesus loves you Mommy...and Jesus loves me too."

I often question my ability to lay a strong foundation for my children regarding our relationship with Christ - but I think she's got the most important principle down. As long as she can remember Jesus loves her, no matter what she goes through in life, I know she'll be alright. :)

Don't Cut It!

2010-06-16T13:28:00.002-07:00

So, yesterday morning, Baby Pants asked me if she could have some cheese.

I went to the refrigerator to get her some sliced cheese, but Aaron bought provolone this time around, so when Audra saw that, she said "No not THAT cheese...THAT one" - and pointed to the block of cheddar.

So, I say "Ok, let me slice some for you" and took it over to the counter.

Immediately she breaks down and starts screaming "NOOOOO...don't cut it!! Don't cut it!!!!"

I say, "Sweetie, I have to cut it, you can't eat the whole block of cheese."

And then she says....

"DON'T CUT THE CHEESE!!! DON'T CUT THE CHEESE!!"

And then...I lost it. She was truly upset because she didn't want me to cut the cheese, but I couldn't stop laughing because it's hilarious when a little 2 year old, in their 2 year old voice, screams at you to not cut the cheese.

Wordless Monday

2010-06-14T16:59:00.002-07:00

AJ & Daddy

Friday Fill-Ins 06/11/2010

2010-06-10T21:20:00.003-07:00

So this week was pretty busy. Aaron was working out of town in Tucson for the week - he came home on Tuesday night, but headed back out early Wednesday AM. Today(Friday) I have a 6:55am flight to San Diego for a client meeting. This is my first travel day since AJ was born. But it is a turn around trip, and I'll be home around my usual time in the evening. SAM went to a Teen Camp this week at a junior high near my office. She said it was OK, but I'm not sure if she'll go back in the coming weeks. It's hard because she would like to just go to my grandparents' during the week, but she has responsibilities at home, and she helps me out tremendously. For the first week of her summer break, she did go to my grandparents' and it felt like chaos at home. I mean, just having the extra hand in the morning while I'm trying to get everyone ready is such a relief. So, when she's not here, I can definitely feel the extra stress. So, this week I tried to give her something fun to do with the camp, but then she could still be at home in the mornings/evenings. I'm not sure what she'll do next week - the weekly camps are pretty expensive. Then there is a church youth group mission thing to go build a house for a week - but that costs $400! It's for food and lodging and stuff, but sheesh that's expensive! She's old enough to stay home, but I know it's boring for her, and even though she doesn't want to admit it, she would be a little scared. I was too when I was her age and started staying home alone for the first time. Anyway, I'm sure we'll figure something out. The other kids are doing great - Cita is at her dad's in California for the summer, Monkey is doing the summer program at her preschool, and Baby Pants and AJ go to their in-home daycare. I've just been working, and teaching my sign language classes on the weekends. And also enjoying the fact that we took the summer off from all sports teams - so no practices and no 3 games every Saturday. Phew! But it will all start back up again in the fall. Oh joy.

Now for the fill-ins! Have a great weekend everyone!

1. Salon styled hair feels great.

2. The solution is the problem.

3. The sound of the ocean outside my window is what I wish I heard when I fall asleep.

4. How about letting each person who plays the lottery win at least once?.

5. Doing the Bible Study called 'Balance at the Speed of Life - For Women' is something I highly recommend!

6. Imagine fulfilling your life's purpose - what would it be?.

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to getting home to my babies, tomorrow my plans include a welcome home party for my BFFs husband who just came back from Afghanistan and Sunday, I want to go to church and chill out at home!

Friday Fill Ins

2010-06-04T11:01:00.003-07:00

OK - since I totally suck and can't seem to find time to blog, I'm committing to at least posting on Friday's with the fill-ins! And then maybe a little blurb or two on how things are going. :) Kids are good - AJ is big as a horse - I'll need to take an updated picture to share. The girls are out of school for the summer and doing their summer frolicky things like swimming, going to the park, and having visits with Nana and Papa. I can't believe my oldest will be in her last year of junior high in the fall - and then...dun dun dunnnnn...high school!!! eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeKKKK! I will have 3 kids in school this fall...and 2 more to go.

Ok on to the fill-ins...oh, and by the way Kierra's Courage (see my previous post) is over the 10K mark on their journey to a handicap-accessible van for little Kierra! YAY! And my company is matching all of our contributions - woot woot!

1. The ocean is my favorite place to travel to.

2. When I think about my childhood, I often remember riding my bike through the golf course and making troll movies (yes the ones with the hair) with my BFF.

3. Cuervo makes for a good friend.

4. The wind in the trees, the rain on my skin, where am I, this sure ain't Arizona??.

5. Being 30 is so exciting!

6. My best friend knows what my barf smells like (ew - sorry first thing that came to mind).

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to Friday Night Dinner, tomorrow my plans include Phoenix Mommies Bday Party and Aaron's motocross race and Sunday, I want to hang out at home!

Help for a Little Girl Named Kierra

2010-05-11T11:50:00.003-07:00

Readers...today's post is about a local AZ girl named Kierra. She's a 2 year old little girl, who developed a metabolic disorder as an infant and she is now handicapped. Her family is raising funds for a wheelchair accessible van. And I'm asking all of you if this story touches your heart, if you would to please contribute, and also write a post on your blogs and encourage your readers to contribute if they feel led to.

The family makes hair bows and bracelets that are for sale, and they also have a few different fundraisers on their website. Or you can simply make a donation.

My little girl is 2 years old, and I guess that's why this story affects me so deeply. It makes me think that anything can happen at any time, and if something were to happen to one of my children, I would need help. So, whenever I am in a position to help someone else, I try to do that.

One of the wonders of the internet is its ability to reach so many people in such a small amount of time. I would really appreciate as much help as I can get.

Let's get Kierra her van! :)

Here's some links:

http://kierrascourage.com

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Help-Kierra-buy-a-handicapped-van/113291925352885

Wordless Monday

2010-05-03T13:48:00.002-07:00

I know it's supposed to be Wordless Wednesday, but I just don't have time to post anything but a picture. :) hehe

Only 2 More Weeks

2010-04-26T13:15:00.003-07:00

Yes, it's sad, but true...only 2 more weeks until I have to return back to work full-time. :( I've come to terms with it over the last week or so, but it definitely still makes me sad. It makes we wish I were independently wealthy. It makes me wish that the economy didn't suck so hard that my husband has to take crappy side jobs because he can't find full-time work right now. But I'm also thankful that he even has those crappy side jobs to take. God has given me peace about returning back to work, maybe even hinted that it might be temporary, so I'm OK with it I suppose. I just put myself into my little son's head and wonder if he will be OK with it. All of my other children were, so I'm sure he will be. But it just makes me sad that he'll be wondering "Who's this strange lady, and where's my mommy?" But his big sister will be there too, and we've been using this in-home daycare for almost 4 years, so I know that he'll be in completely good hands, they just won't be mine. Waah.

You know when 'they' say that you are a servant to your debt...totally true. Shame on me for allowing myself to get into debt to where I don't have the freedom to not have to work full-time if I don't want to. And I'm not even in THAT bad of debt, a car and a few credit cards...but it's enough to tie me to a desk for at least the next few years. Not to mention medical bills. For the last 3 years, I have reached the out-of-pocket limit on my insurance plan. And it seems as soon as I get one year's bills paid off, here come the next round. I know there's light at the end of the tunnel, but sheesh, it's looking pretty faint right now.

Sorry, didn't mean for this post to be a complaining post. There are lots of things I'm grateful for and happy about. But I'm human, and things bother me sometimes, and it feels better to get them out. To hear encouragements from others that have felt the same way. To let others that are struggling know that they aren't alone.

These are some scriptures that came to mind for my current state of mind:

Romans 8:28 - "And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to His purpose."

Jeremiah 29:11 (my favorite of ALL time) - "For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future"

30...Flirty...and Thriving

2010-04-22T21:26:00.002-07:00

Did you ever see that movie, '13 going on 30'? With Jennifer Garner? And she's all in her akward teenage years, but then sees an article on the cover of her favorite magazine (Poise), and it says "30, Flirty and Thriving"...and she decides she wants to be 30, and , when she wakes up, she's 30?? Yeeeaahhh...I'm her. Except I look nothing like Jennifer Garner, nor do I feel Flirty and Thriving...but, I AM 30. Yes I am. Today, I am 30. Holy Poop Flakes, I'm 30.

OK, done obsessing about that now. I joked with my BFF today at lunch that I'm 30, Dirty, and Sagging. I'm dirty because I have 5 kids, and I'm lucky if I get to shower every OTHER day...but it's usually more like every other OTHER day. hehe. And I'm sagging because, well, because I have 5 kids. Need I say more?

But it's cool. I have gorgeous kiddos, a wonderful husband, and a Shark Steam Pocket Mop (my bday gift from hubby...which I ASKED for, by the way...that's how you know you're 30 and lame, when you want a MOP for your bday).

So...I'm saying 'So Long' to my 20's, and entering a new decade. I've grown and learned so much from 20 to 30, I'm looking forward to the lessons I'll learn over the next 10 years.

Hooray for Bullet Time

2010-04-06T16:20:00.003-07:00

OK, so I tried to post sometime last week, but Blogger was not letting me. It was giving me some sort of "You cant post right now, because Blogger sucks" kind of message. So, I gave up, and now here we are...and all I can do is bullet. Because that's what I do when I haven't blogged in awhile and need to catch up.

And away we go...

There is a Dollar Tree getting ready to go in by the Target!! Can you say, "YIPPEE!!!"??? I can...and I said it out loud to myself in the car when I was driving by Target and saw the sign that said "Dollar Tree coming soon". YIPPEE!!

My daughter, Cita, turned 8 on March 30th. WHAT? 8 years has NOT gone by since she was born. That is just ridiculous. She should be 3 or something.

I started to work part-time last Monday. I'm telecommuting for 4 hours per day...with my infant son at home since I'm still nursing. Yeah...it's going awesome. But seriously, I'm just sort of getting my feet wet again as I prepare to return back full time on May 10th. It's going pretty well.

My 2 year old's most commonly used phrase at this juncture is "I do it MYTHELF!"

The craziness of my kids' sports has begun, but it really hasn't been as bad as I initially thought. That's the beauty of building something up to be MUCH worse than it actually is. Then, when it actually comes around, and doesn't quite reach the level of bad that you thought it was going to be, you can pretend that it doesn't suck THAT much.

I started working out last week...to the program called "Insanity". I'm an infomercial, workout DVD junkie. Seriously. I have a bajillion workout programs on DVD...and am I ripped? Well, I just had a baby 7 weeks ago, so that's not fair to ask right this second. But have I EVER been ripped from using the DVD programs when I wasn't 7 weeks post-partum? Ummmm...nope. So why do I do it? I think it's all of the success stories that they put in the infomercials...I always find a bit of myself in some of those success stories. I just seriously lack the willpower. I've already missed 2 workouts, and this is only the beginning of Week 2. Argh. BUT, on the plus side, just from the workouts I DID do...I've lost 2 pounds and 1% body fat in one week. Maybe if I actually committed to these things, I could be ripped. :)

We had a nice Easter. I took the girls to the park in the morning, and then we went to my Mother-in-Laws for lunch. She made a YUMMY ham, and salad, mashed potatoes, some creamy cauliflower and broccoli thing and bread rolls. Mmmmmmm. Then we had a custard cake with fresh fruit on top, and mandarin orange sherbet for dessert. Double Mmmmmm.

Every stray cat in our neighborhood finds our house. Seriously. A new one just showed up this past week. It's white, with a couple black spots on its forehead and it yowls ultra loud. We don't let him in the house, but he has managed to sneak in a couple times and chase our other cats around. They don't like it.

My knock off version of Spanx does a pretty good job of holding in the post-baby flabberoo. But when I take it off, my fat explodes out of it like it's relieved to have been released from its prison.

AJ is getting HUGE! He's going to be 7 weeks tomorrow. I can't believe it's been that long.
My husband's friend said that AJ has my cheeks. I was all "AJ's cheeks are FAT, what are you trying to say?"

Aaron was in a motocross race this past weekend. He did pretty well. He's up against a lot more experienced dudes because they have more time to practice during the week. (Read: 17 year old kids with no jobs)

My oldest, SAM, did great in her volleyball games on Saturday. On her last play, she tried to spike the ball, but hit the ball so hard that it flew over the net, and hit the wall behind the bleachers where all the parents were sitting. EEK!

Why do 2 year olds have to wake up at the sound of the first bird chirp? I can't wait until she learns the concept of sleeping in on weekends.

OK, I think that's about all I can muster up for today. AJ has his 2 month appointment in a couple weeks...so I'll post more pictures then. OH YEAH, I looked at Baby Pants' measurements from her 2 year checkup, and she is 3 feet tall right now. My grandma says that if you measure a child when they are 2, and then double it, that's how tall they will be as an adult. That would make Baby Pants 6 feet tall...hmmmm...not sure about that one. Maybe we should put a basketball in her hand now. ;)

1 Month Pictures

2010-03-22T12:04:00.002-07:00

Here's my little AJ at 1 month. :)

Getting Older...The Kids AND Me

2010-03-21T07:45:00.006-07:00

AJ had his one month appointment last Friday morning. He's 10 1/2 pounds now! Yikers. My little guy is SOLID. They didn't go over percentiles with me this visit, but I'm pretty sure he's still up there. His circumcision area looks good - when the doctor was poking around down there, he peed on her...and me. hehe It was funny. Then she checked his ears, and guess what, my little guy has an ear infection. I guess all the coughy hacky sneezy that's been going on around here got to him too. Waaah. He's been a good sport though and hasn't been acting fussy at all. But now I have to give him antibiotics twice a day. He doesn't like it, but he tolerates it because he wubs me.

Baby Pants had her 2 yr appointment in conjunction with AJ. She's right on track as well - 36 pounds, and darn, I forget how long she is. I think it was because she started freaking out about getting measured, and we just got through it quickly. I'm not sure why, but for her last couple of doctor's visits, she has been totally freaking out every time. She has never had a traumatic experience at the doctor (we postponed immunizations) - so it's kind of odd. She has an ear infection now too, that she got WHILE on Amoxicillin for her upper respiratory infection - so her pediatrician switched antibiotics to a cephalosporin (sp?) which is once a day for 10 days. Now I have to go BACK to the doctor in 2 weeks for a follow up - seriously I have spent over $200 in the last week on doctor's visits and antibiotics...and that's WITH insurance. argh.

Anywho...hopefully the kids will all be better soon.

So, not only are my kids getting older, but apparently I am too. There was a segment on this Christian radio station that I listen to where the DJs were talking about getting older, and what things make them know they are getting older. So, at first, I had a hard time coming up with some - but then they just started flowing this week. I'm going to be 30 next month, and I know that's not "OLD" per se, but it is 'older' than I was 10 years ago. And for sure some things have changed - and here's what I've come up with so far.

#1 - I can leave the house wearing glasses and no makeup. This would TOTALLY not have happened 10 years ago - I always put my contacts in before leaving the house, and always had a full face of makeup on before I set foot out the door. In fact I used to SLEEP in my makeup, just in case my house caught on fire and some hot firefighters needed to come rescue me. (that never happened by the way...hehe)

#2 - The things that I want for gifts are starting to become WAY practical. Is it sad that what I really want for my birthday this year is a Shark Steam Pocket Mop? It will make mopping my floors SO much easier, and supposedly it disinfects too, which is a good feature. What ever happened to wanting clothes and CDs?

#3 - I drive a freakin' beasty of an SUV. When I was a younger mom, of only one child, I drove a really cute Mitsubishi Eclipse sports car (the cute bubbly model - not the newer boring looking one). I had already graduated to a smaller SUV by the time baby #2 came around, which was a Ford Escape - and that one stuck with me through baby #3, and pregnancy of baby #4 - but, yeah - the Escape only fit 5 people total - so a hubby, wife, and 4 kiddos was NOT going to fit. I am STILL putting off the minivan...so I got an Expedition instead - BUT, I am really starting to see the benefits of the minivan, especially the ones that have the auto-sliding doors. Ugh...I'm destined to a be a minivan mom, I can tell.

#4 - I commented on a friend's blog this week (a younger friend), and mentioned the Vanilla Ice song "Ice, Ice Baby"...and...she had never heard of it. Waaaaaaah. (Sorry Michelle...had to blog about it - it's funny, but also makes me feel super old). Also - if you haven't checked out her blog yet, check it out here.

#5 - My date nights no longer consist of "clubbin" - and if they do, we feel totally dumb and out of place. We usually just hit up casual bars or coffee houses with acoustic music now.

#6 - My older kids think I'm a dork.

#7 - I've been friends with my BFFs for over half my life time...we're talkin like 20+ years yo. I met my BFF in 1988 - we didn't become BFFs till around 90 or 91 - but still....that's a long freakin time.

OK, that's all I can write about now - I'm getting somewhat depressed. hehe. No, it's really OK - in all honesty, I have been looking forward to my 30th birthday since my 20th birthday. When I turned 20, I had already been a mom for almost 3 years - and I was tired of having the 'teen mom' label. I was also working with women who were in their late 20's/early 30's, and they seemed to have life so much more together than I did. So I thought I would have life all figured out by 30, and that things would be awesome and great.

I don't have life figured out..but things are pretty awesome and great I'd have to say. So, I guess getting older isn't all THAT bad. :)

3 Things

2010-03-17T11:45:00.002-07:00

I love my mom for giving me blog fodder via email forwards...but don't blame me for the copy/paste format - it didn't turn out pretty.

Three Things About Me

A. Three names I go by:

1. Crystal
2. Chris
3. Mom/Mommy/Momma

B. Three places I’ve lived:

1 California
2 Nevada
3 Arizona

C. Three places I’ve worked:

1 Pomas Ristorante
2 Sierra Health Services
3 360 Vantage

D. Three things I love to watch:

1 Criminal Minds
2 Gilmore Girls
3 Celebrity Apprentice (new season just started!)

E. Three places I have been:

1 San Francisco, CA
2 Rocky Point, Mexico
3 Raleigh, NC

F. Three people that email me regularly: (not including co-workers)

1 Nana
2 Mom
3 Victoria's Secret (darn me for signing up for their emails, not like I can wear any of that crap now)

G. Three things I love to eat:

1 Cheese Enchiladas
2 Fried Ice Cream
3 Fruit

I. Three things I am looking forward to:

1 Getting back in shape
2 Riding my dirtbike again
3 Buying a house someday

Mastitis and Upper Respiratory Infections

2010-03-16T12:14:00.002-07:00

Yeah...you can tell right off the bat that this blog is going to be gross. Sorry.

So, Sunday afternoon/early evening, I started running a low grade fever, accompanied by chills. Uh oh...I thought I was getting the flu. I started taking ibuprofen to control the fever, and it helped make me feel better and get rid of the chills as well. It continued on into the next day, and I kept waiting to feel worse...much worse. But, I didn't really. So, what did I do? I googled "postpartum fever and chills" and it brought up some links about people really freaking out about having fever and chills during the post-partum period, but I did not get caught up in the hysteria. I just kept scrolling on down - and then I saw a little blip of 'breast soreness, fever and chills'...and I was like "Hey...now that you mention it, my left breast IS pretty sore"...so I clicked, and read on. The article led me to symptoms for Mastitis, which is pretty common for breastfeeding mamas like myself...and can cause flu-like symptoms...but needs to be treated with antibiotics pretty much ASAP, otherwise you can develop a nasty abscess. (ew...ewwwww). So, I got myself into the doctor yesterday and got started on my antibiotics. In a way, kinda glad it was mastitis and not the flu...the flu usually hangs on for awhile, and not really needing that right now.

Then...today, I had to take 3 of my kiddos to the doctor for their runny nose hacky sneezy thing that has been carrying on in our household for seriously over a month. No fevers...just sniffle sniffle cough hack sneeze hack sniffle...all..day...long. I'd been 'controlling' it with Zyrtec, but honestly it didn't really seem like it was helping all that much. And today I had finally had enough of it - so I took everyone to the doctor's office. I knew what they would say - "Upper Respiratory Infections - Here's some amoxicillin"...and that's what they said. So, now they are on antibiotics too. Gosh I hate pumping my kids full of drugs...but I was seriously at my wits end with dealing with the neverending congestion. So here's to hoping that the antibiotics will do the trick. I'm also sure that the house that we're renting, which is a bajillion years old, has so much caked up dirt and grime in the air ducts that I am thisclose to paying the $55 to get the air ducts cleaned. Hubby thinks that air duct cleaning is a scam - that they come in and then try and upsell you a new A/C unit...maybe they do...but I know how to say "No thank you, just the ducts please." I think I'm gonna do it anyway.

Also, I'm pretty sure I'm insane for signing all 3 of my older kids up for an extracurricular sport. Did I not realize that having 3 children in sports means - 3 different practice days & times and 3 games on Saturdays for the next month and a half??? Plus they have a midweek church event that they participate in. So, pretty much 3 of my weeknights and all day Saturday are spoken for until May. What in the HECK was I thinking? Oh that's right...I was thinking that since my oldest daughter got to play a couple seasons ago, that it was only FAIR that if the other girls wanted to play something that they should get the opportunity to, and that guilted me into signing all of them up. BUT, I also have no qualms about saying "Sorry kids, it's just too much" if it does indeed turn out to be too much - and they'll just have to get over it, because I'm not going to lose my mind over volleyball and tball for little kids.

2 Weeks Updated with Pics

2010-03-04T11:16:00.005-07:00

So my little AJ is 2 weeks old, as of yesterday. We had his newborn follow-up yesterday afternoon. It should have been the week before, but my little Cita was home sick for 3 days that week, so I didn't take him in.

He has gained 7 oz, so he's now 9 1/2 pounds...and they measured him at 21.5 inches - which is half an inch longer than at birth - but the nurse said that sometimes the hospital measurements are different - and she said most babies appear to "shrink" when they have their first doctor's appointments due to the measurements being 'off'. So, he's above the 90th percentile in both height and weight for now - which I totally believe, cuz the dude eats like he's not going to get fed again. hehe (kinda like his daddy)

And GUESS WHAT? So, I've been a mom for almost 13 years - I've had 5 children now...and I learned something NEW about babies yesterday at the appointment. A little background...for my first few children (1997, 2002, and 2004), the instructions given about umbilical cord treatment was to put alcohol on it every day until it falls off. Fast forward to 2008 when my 4th daughter was born, and the instructions are to not put ANYTHING on it, and just let it fall off on its own. Little AJ's umbilical cord stump has still not fallen off - and it was starting to emit a foul odor...so I'll be darned what "the instructions" say, I put alcohol on the darn thing. So, when I took him to his appt, my pediatrician asked if I had any concerns - and I mentioned that his cord hadn't fallen off and that it was getting stinky. And I told her that I put a bit of alcohol around it, even though technically I wasn't "supposed to". She said that it was OK to put a little alcohol around the edges for odor control. And then she proceeds to tell me what causes the odor..."The way that the umbilical cord falls off, is that bacteria EAT away at the cord causing it to fall off - and the bacteria is what causes the odor." Internal dialogue to myself..."WHAT????!!!! Are you freaking kidding me? That is REALLY gross!". What I actually said out loud, "Wow...I did not know that."

So, the phrase "You learn something new every day" really applied yesterday. Can I just say...ewww.

Sorry For Leaving Everybody Hanging

2010-02-22T10:11:00.003-07:00

So, I can tell by some of the comments on my very last post that I've been leaving everybody hanging about this baby! :)

But, right now is actually the first time the kiddo is not attached to my boob, so I'm getting a free moment!

I had a "feeling" on the morning of the Tuesday, the 16th, that something might be happening either that day or the next day. The contractions I was having were stronger than the previous few days, but they were still sporadic throughout the morning. By the afternoon, I was having some bleeding (TMI, I know...but it usually indicates something's going on...hehe). I called my mother-in-law to let her know to be "on alert" just in case. My mom was also on her way here from Texas because my step-dad had an interview on Wednesday, the 17th. They are thinking of moving back to Phoenix, and it just happened to work out that they would be here and the baby still hadn't been born. So, I was excited that my mom might make it here for the baby's birth.

After dinner on Tuesday night, my contractions were definitely coming in a more regular pattern, but still about 20 minutes or so apart. By 8pm they were getting closer to 10-15 minutes apart, so I called my mother-in-law again to let her know she might not want to go to sleep because we might be going to the hospital that night. She decided to come over just in case we had to leave in the middle of the night. The girls had already been put to bed, and we sat around and watched the Olympics and timed my contractions. By 10pm they were still about 8-12 minutes apart, so I decided I should go lay down to get some rest. As soon as I laid down to rest, the contractions started coming about every 4 minutes. I thought "Darn! Just as I get settled down to rest, here they come!" So, I waited until about 10:45 when I was sure they were consistently coming, and told Aaron that we should probably go to the hospital.

We packed up my stuff, and drove to the hospital and got checked in. I think by the time they were able to check my progress it was about 11:15pm or so, and I was dilated to 7 cm. They asked me if I wanted an epidural, and I declined. I had my last two girls completely natural, and I wanted to have this baby natural as well - but I have to admit that the contractions were pretty uncomfortable so I asked if I could have something via IV to "take the edge off"...and you know what they said? "No". I was like "What?" And they said "You are so close to delivering, that if we give you something in an IV, it will make the baby sleepy." OK...so much for that idea. So, I declined the IV altogether, because those things HURT, especially if the nurse isn't skilled enough to get the vein the first time.

At about 11:45pm they checked me again and I was 8 cm, so they called my doctor. She arrived at around midnight and they broke my water. My water NEVER breaks on its own for some reason. Weird. Anywho, I continued my labor standing up - it just felt better than lying in the bed, and I figured using gravity to help the baby make his or her way out would be good. They told me to tell them when I began to feel "pressure". That happened at about 12:10am, they checked me and said I was 9cm. My doctor said to try laying on my left side to see if that would help bring the baby down so I could push - but baby did not like that, and the heartrate went down. So, I had to roll over on to my back. The next contraction I had came with such force that I told the doctor I needed to push...like NOW. She told me to wait...umm...yeah, to wait. She hadn't got on her little paper gown thingie yet, and they hadn't dropped the end off of the bed to prepare for all the messy stuff that comes with babies. So, I "shhhhhhhed" through that one, but the next one came right away, and I pushed.

I didn't care if they were ready or not, I was pushing because this baby wanted out. And you know what happened? That baby's head came right out on my first push, and the doctor said "Well, I guess we are delivering this baby IN the bed". Ya think? On my next push, the baby was out!

And guess what, we had a BOY!! At 12:39am on Wednesday, February 17th, our first son was born. He weighed 9lbs, 1oz, and measured 21 inches long. I couldn't believe we had a boy. My husband cried...I just kept asking him "We made a boy?". hehe

It took us a whole day to name him because we hadn't really discussed names a whole lot since we didn't know if we were having a boy or a girl. We named him Aaron James Edward - and we're calling him "AJ". Aaron is after his daddy, James is my dad's middle name, and it's my husband's dad's first name, and Edward is my grandpa's name.

So, there you have it. Our son finally arrived on his 10th day of being overdue. He's officially one week old today, and we're just trying to adjust to family life with a newborn again. It's been wonderful and challenging all at the same time. Just about every one of my daughters is sick - so NOT what I needed right now, but we're chugging through.

Here's a picture of AJ from the hospital - I'm sure I'll be posting more later. :)

Dude...Seriously??

2010-02-13T13:00:00.002-07:00

OK...we are now 6 days past my "due date" - or the estimated, they-really-have-no-idea-what-the-heck-they're-talking-about, due date...aka EDD.

Thursday night I was having contractions about every 15 minutes for 4 hours, but they never got closer and they never got any stronger - and finally when I went to bed at around 11pm, they went away completely.

Friday morning, I had to go in to the hospital for my first monitoring appointment - which consists of a fetal non-stress test, and an amniotic fluid index - NST and AFI for the hospital staff. They listen to the babies heartbeat for 15 minutes, and then they do an ultrasound for the AFI. For the AFI, they are checking to make sure the baby still has enough fluid to swim around in. hehe. The results were that the baby's heartrate sounded great, and my fluid levels were within normal range. The baby is pretty much comfy, cozy, fat and sassy in there. They showed me the baby's face on the ultrasound, and the cheeks were really chubby and the lips were really full. I got a little teary I have to admit - so I told him or her "It's time for you to be out here now...come out of there!" hehe.

I went to lunch Friday afternoon with my mother-in-law, and during the day yesterday, every time I stood up I would have a contraction, and they were pretty decent intensity. But again, no consistency. I was also having some good ones in my sleep last night.

But...this morning, Saturday...not a whole lot going on. I got up with the girls, we ate breakfast - Aaron had to do some work today so he left around 8am. The girls played outside, we had a snack of sliced apples and then my oldest daughter came home from spending the night at a friend's house. She had a school dance last night. Aaron had called and said my mother-in-law was going to come over around noon to give Baby Pants her birthday present. This whole "not knowing when the baby is coming" thing royally screwed up my ability to schedule an actual birthday get-together for her. We usually only do family anyway, instead of trying to have a big production with a bajillion friends - but I still wanted to be able to give her a 'party' of sorts. All she really cared about was cake and ice cream. :) So - after my oldest got home, she babysat while I went to the grocery store to pick up ice cream and a small cake.

After we ate lunch, my mother-in-law got here, and we sang "Happy Birthday" and let Baby Pants blow out her candle and eat her cake and ice cream. Then, she opened her presents - which were two new Signing Time videos! YAY! Baby Pants was VERY excited - she yelled "Signing Time wif Alex an' Leah!" (Alex and Leah are the two main character children on the videos). So that's what we're doing right now - watching the new videos. :)

I also called my Dad, because today is his birthday. We never thought I would make it so far past my due date that it would be a possibility that the baby would be born on his birthday - but we still have 11 hours of today left. Tomorrow is Valentine's Day - and both my grandpa and my best friend were born on Valentine's day. :) Maybe baby would like to be a Valentine's Day baby. I just wish it would be a 'sometime soon, like right now' baby. hehe

Alright, well Baby Pants and I are going to go take a nap now - YAY for naps!! :)

Happy Birthday!

2010-02-09T20:51:00.003-07:00

To my Baby Pants. She turned TWO today.

Ha! You thought this was going to be a post on the new baby didn't you? No...that little booger is still in there.

My little Baby Pants is Two...I can't believe it. Two years have gone by already? Really?

This morning after Baby Pants played with her sisters for a few minutes, she came busting into our bedroom and was singing as loud as she possibly could..."Happy BURTDAY to MEEEEEEE!"

Then she kept telling me " 'Ahna burtday cake" (where 'ahna' equals 'I wanna')

I told her I had cookies to take to her babysitter's house. She was excited, but even after she saw them, she kept calling them a 'burtday' cake. I bought a package for the babysitter's house and a package for our house, so that we could celebrate tonight after dinner. We're not going to have her birthday party until after this baby comes, because I knew as soon as I would plan a birthday party, THAT would be the day I would go into labor. So, we didn't schedule it for this past weekend, and I only 'tentatively' scheduled it for this coming weekend - so we'll see when we actually have it.

My Baby Pants is SO much like her daddy, it's not even funny. She comes at life with full force, full of energy, and ready to take on whatever challenges come her way. As soon as she is dressed in the morning, she is ready to be outside doing something - her daddy is definitely an outside dog. It's been an adjustment for me, because I'm not really an outside person - but I'm getting better at it. :) She loves dirtbikes, quads and monster trucks - she watches UFC with her daddy and yells at the fighters - "No BITING boys!" (but her 'biting' means 'fighting'). She's rough and tumble and doesn't mind getting extremely dirty.

But don't get me wrong, she definitely has a girly side too. She likes to dress up like a princess, and if she gets TOO dirty, she tells me she needs to wash her hands.

She's a goldfish addict (the snack, not the actual fish)...she has taken to sleeping with her 7 yr old sister...she goes potty on the toilet...she loves to read...she still pulls on my ears when she needs comforting...she turns everything into a song (kinda like me)...she likes to wear my lipgloss (and when it gets returned it's REALLY gross and slobbery)...her favorite movie at the moment is 'Lilo and Stitch'...she still loves to use the sign language that she knows, and to learn more signs...she thinks its funny to tell me that she "fahted", but then she says "excoos me"...she's obsessed with Sponge Bob Square Pants...when she pretends she is leaving to go somewhere with my keys, she says "I going to church" or "I going to ride da bus"...she has extremely long hair that she tolerates me putting into two ponytails every morning...she loves her sisters...and she calls the new baby her 'baby butter' (butter=brother, even though we don't yet know what we're having).

I'm thoroughly enjoying watching Baby Pants grow up...she does have her moments, as all toddlers do...because she has discovered the use of the word "No", and when I start my warning counting, she just counts along with me and thinks it's hilarious. But every day she does something that makes me smile or laugh - tonight's laughing thing was "teeth kisses". She wanted to see my teeth while she was in the bathtub - so I showed her. Then she showed me her teeth. Then she came in for a kiss with her teeth showing, so I copied her...and we both giggled and gave each other a bunch of teeth kisses.

Seeing her get this big reminds me that my older girls are getting even bigger - I'm trying to focus more on their individual stages as well. It can be easy to let what they are going through get lost in the shuffle because they are "older". And now with the new baby coming, I'm kind of afraid of losing the experiences I'm having with Baby Pants. But all of this is exactly the reason I started my own business last year, and fully intend to make it my full-time work so that I can be with my children more often because it's a business they can be involved in too...and will hopefully require much less working hours away from them. It's time for life to be about them, and making whatever sacrifices are necessary to make that happen. It's just where I am right now, and where I think God wants me to be. Sorry, didn't mean to go off on a tangent. :)

So, Happy Birthday to my Baby Pants - I love you with all my heart. And lucky you, it looks like your brother or sister won't be sharing a birthday with you after all. :)

4 Things (aka 'The Cop Out Post')

2010-02-05T09:55:00.002-07:00

So - I don't really have anything cool or noteworthy to post about today, other than complaining that the baby isn't here yet...so instead, I'm totally just using an email that I got from my mom today and posting my answers here. It was one of those "getting to know you" type emails, except it's just 6 questions, where you enter 4 things for each question. Feel free to participate if you wish. :) You can post your four things in my comments, or create your own post. Happy Friday!

1. Four places I shop: Target, Costco, Safeway, Frys

2. Four people who e-mail me: Mom, Nana, Sandie, Gina

3. Four things I like to smell: Ocean, Babies, Cinnamon, Citrus

4. Four places I would rather be: California, Mexico, Getting a massage, Having a baby (hehe)

5. Four people I think will respond: I don't like these questions..hehe

6. Four TV shows I watch most: NCIS, Gilmore Girls, Sponge Bob (not by choice), Ghost Whisperer (just started watching this again)

Update

2010-01-31T07:43:00.003-07:00

So, remember a couple weeks ago when I was all shocked and surprised because my OB/GYN bumped my due date up to Feb 1? Yeah, well, when I went in for my appointment this past Tuesday, Dr. S goes "Well, you're measuring about a week behind, but that's OK". So, I casually mention the confusion there had been surrounding my due date. So, she scrutinizes my chart a little bit more in-depth, and finds, that "Oh yes, after the ultrasounds..." (I had to have a couple cuz I had some issues early on) "...it appears that we should have your date at the 7th or the 8th, so I think we're going to go with that." I calmly say "That's kind of what I thought"...and she says "Wow, I don't think I've ever moved a date back this late in the game without the woman crying." But, in all honesty, for about 8 1/2 months, I was thinking it was later in February anyway, and was more in shock when they started saying Feb 1st again than I was when she put me back to the later date. BUT - it was kind of nice to think I would be having a baby closer to now, versus closer to next Sunday - but we shall see what happens. I rarely have early babies -I've only had one come early. Cita (daughter #2) was born 2 days early - she was due on April Fool's Day - but at my last doctor appointment prior to Cita's birth, I had them do a procedure called 'stripping the membranes' - tooooooootally gross sounding, I know - but it's supposed to kick-start labor. My doctor was on call that weekend, and I really wanted her to deliver Cita, so I had her do it, and I delivered her that weekend - two days early on 03/30/02. SAM (#1) was 8 days late, they induced...Monkey (#3) was RIGHT on her due date, and Baby Pants (#4) was 4 days late. So my babies really like to cook until they're completely done. :)

Yesterday, I taught my last baby signing class to my group of 4 families. They did GREAT! It was so funny how all the toddlers that I had in class were pretty shy on the first 3 classes, but then by the last class on Saturday, they were best buddies. Really cute. And one of the little boys kept running around the classroom signing "Grumpy" because we were singing a 'How are you?' song - and one of the lyrics asks "Are you feeling 'Grumpy'?". I made graduation certificates for all of them, and I bought these really cute animal hand puppets when I was at Ikea last weekend as their graduation gift. All the kiddos love the animal signs unit, so I thought it would be fun for them to have an animal to play with while they practice their animal signs.

Then after class, we had lunch at home - and then it was time to do Saturday cleaning. I'm really hoping that the baby comes in the next couple of days while the house is still somewhat clean, because I don't really want to have to do the whole cleaning routine again before the baby comes. hehe. I do have the carpet cleaner guy coming tomorrow at 9am to do the whole house, and my two sofas. So, once that's done, THEN, I'll be ready to have a baby. As far as house preparation goes anyway.

I have a few more things at work that I need to wrap up. The latter end of this week was swallowed up with conference calls, so I didn't get much actual 'work' done. So, hopefully this Monday and Tuesday will be all I need to get everything closed off. Then I can feel comfortable walking away from that for a couple months.

Oh...and how can I forget to mention the Mexican Food I got to have with my BFF last week? I had a cheese enchilada with rice and beans - I think I was "this close" to licking my plate. We followed lunch with the MOST yummy fried ice cream ever made on the planet. OK, if you ever visit the Phoenix Metro area of Arizona - you HAVE to go to Ajo Al's (ajoals.com) - their fried ice cream is SOOOOO good. Most places just roll the ice cream in the oats and put some whip cream on it and call it good. But Ajo Al's rolls the ice cream in the oats, soaks the whole thing in honey, pours strawberries and strawberry sauce over the entire thing, then puts the whip cream on and sprinkles that with cinnamon. It's the B-O-M-B. And now I totally just made myself want some Ajo Al's fried ice cream dang it - and it's 8am on a Sunday morning.

Today consists of going to church in a couple of hours, having lunch, and then probably some laundry. I also have to get some work done today because I have a PowerPoint due tomorrow - but I'm not sure if I'm going to do it during Baby Pants' nap time, or if I'm going to nap with her. I napped with her yesterday from 3:30p to 6:30p - it was lovely...have I mentioned I love naps? Especially with a little toddler that snuggles up all close to you and holds your face while she sleeps? It's way cute and cuddly. I think I'll probably also set up the little bassinet that we have and wash the sheets and stuff for that. We have the Arm's Reach Co-Sleeper, it's a bassinet that you can drop one of the sides down and put it right up against your bed - so it's like your baby is sleeping with you, but they still have their own little space. :)

OK - that's about all - I can hear my two middle children fighting (but trying not to get caught because they shut their door) - so I better go break that up.

Hope everyone has a great week!

O' Labor Where Art Thou?

2010-01-26T00:04:00.002-07:00

Sorry for the title, but my brain couldn't really come up with a clever title, and I was just thinking that my hubby was watching O' Brother Where Art Thou? last night, so just a switchy switchy of one word, and there you have it - my title.

I've been working my booty off for the last few days, both at home and work. We got a lot done this weekend as far as the home organization I wanted to do before baby comes. I'm really excited about the furniture we got rid of, moved around, or purchased (just one little cube storage shelf unit thingie - but it hides so many toys in its cute little neutral-colored canvas box thingies). I actually have a desk I can sit at that my laptop will fit on because we got rid of all the junk the other one was storing on top of it. There's still more to do - but I'm content with where we are and wouldn't be upset if the baby came now, like today. hehe

For work I put in a few hours last night, and 10+ hours today. It will probably be the same tomorrow as I'm in the "tie up all the loose ends" mode, since this should be my last week. Hopefully everything will be pretty well wrapped up by Tuesday or Wednesday - but it's not like I'm going to a faraway land, you know? My bosses and co-workers are like all freaked out about the stuff that I cover and I'm like "You can always call me" - and shoot, I might even do a little work whilst on my maternity leave if need be. I'm having a baby, not turning into an invalid. Maybe if it was my first go-round at this thing, it might be a little tougher to juggle newborn baby and work duties - but I think I'm a pretty good multi-tasker now...and I've been sleep deprived for the past 12 years, so nothing new there. hehe

Tomorrow my day is pretty well booked with doctor's appointments, meetings, data analysis, and a fun lunch with my BFF. yay! Mexican food - oh yeah! AND fried ice cream. woo hoo!

I really wanted to get a pedicure some time before the baby comes - my toenails haven't been painted since ummm...May? June? Somewhere in there. I've just never really been the type that keeps my toes up, except for clipping them - because I totally can not STAND long toenails. But for whatever reason, whenever I'm getting ready to go into the hospital to have a baby, I always want my toes painted - you know, for the nursing staff or whatever. But who knows if that will get fit into this week.

Parent-Teacher conferences are this week. I went to SAM's tonight - she's my 7th grader. The teachers were talking to me about how she's shaping up well to have a great start in 8th grade next year. I'm like "What?? 8th Grade? Can you please let me deal with 7th grade, before you start throwing 8th grade in my face for cryin out loud???!!!" Because guess what THAT makes me think? OMG...come this time NEXT year, SAM's 8th grade teachers are going to be talking to me about 9th grade - HIGH SCHOOL - and that is SO not cool. SO not ready to be the mommy of a high schooler - holy cow!

Cita's conference will be on Wednesday - she's in 2nd grade. This conference is "student-led", so Cita will be with me taking me through her schedule and her packet of schoolwork they've collected throughout the year. It should be pretty fun.

Then, Thursday & Friday both SAM & Cita have half-days at school, so they get to come home around lunch time and be with me while I'm telecommuting this week. Should be good times, as long as they don't beat each other up when I'm not looking...but I can HEAR it...I have ears like a rabbit...or whatever other kind of animal has really good hearing. Even if you know I can't SEE you, if you are under 18 yrs old, I can totally HEAR what you're doing from across the house. hehe

OK - I was up until after 2am last night, and it's going on 1230am now - so I better skee-daddle off to bed because I'm sleepy.

Little baby - if you'd like to come out of there soon - that would be just fine by me. ;)

Good Thing

2010-01-19T14:09:00.003-07:00

Well...I'm glad I had such a rockin Thursday because from Sunday through today has been kinda "bleh". Friday was OK, I just worked and we had family dinner night out, which did contain a bit of drama but nothing too big. Saturday was extremely busy - I had my baby signing class to teach in the morning, then I met up with two of my best girlfriends and their kiddos at the Phoenix Zoo, and then hurried home to get ready for Supercross at Chase Stadium. Saturday was also my 2 year wedding anniversary. :) We got to go to Supercross as our date. What? We aren't redneck. hehe This is actually our 3rd year in a row attending Supercross - it's really fun! But I realized that I've been pregnant for 2 out of the 3 times we've attended - I hope we're not on a 'every other year' type of schedule. haha!

But then Sunday rolled around...and me and my two oldest girls woke up with the tummy bug that Monkey had earlier in the week. Ugggggh. So, Sunday was spent just kind of being lazy at the house - but I did have one little project we were able to make it through, and that was to tidy up the back patio so that I could turn it into more of a play area for the girls when I wanted to send them out back to play instead of out front. I bought this really big patio set, and it was taking up a ton of room, and we only use it when the weather starts getting warm - so we moved it into the pool area because there is a big unused concrete slab on the other side of the pool that was perfect for putting the patio set on. And now the girls have their little play tables in the area where the patio furniture was, and it just looks a lot nicer out there. I'd like to also make this little dirt area along the back wall into a little garden. I've actually kept a plant alive in my office for the past year, so I might be able to graduate to little garden now. :)

Monday was MLK day...this was another "Ugh" day. So my 3 oldest girls didn't have school, so they were going to stay home with me because I started my telecommuting this week since it's T-minus 2 weeks until baby. And me and SAM were still dealing with the tummy issues. So, I get Baby Pants ready for daycare, and go to drop her off. When my daycare provider asks "Didn't you see this sheet last week? And didn't your husband tell you I needed you to call me and let me know if Baby Pants was going to be here today?". I say "Yes, I saw the sheet - and everyone was just writing their child's name if they weren't going to be here. And no, my hubby didn't tell me I needed to call you." My daycare provider is a licensed in-home daycare provider, so she has limits as to how many children she can care for at one time, and when she has the full capacity of all the kids that come, she has a helper there with her. But, this "list" was supposed to let her know if she needed that helper or not, and of course Baby Pants would put her one child over her limit - so even though I was supposed to try and work yesterday because I didn't have the day off, I had to bring Baby Pants home. I was a little peeved, but I know it's not her fault - but seriously, who has MLK day off besides government employees and schools? Needless to say I didn't get any work done yesterday. AND it was raining, so I couldn't even send the kids outside - so they had to be inside - all.freakin.day.

Today was looking a bit better...SAM and I were still having residual tummy issues, but SAM wanted to go to school. But then Monkey goes to the restroom after she wakes up, and guess what she has? Yep, diarrhea...again...the one who started it all gets it AGAIN. So, I had to keep her home with me. But everyone else went off to school as usual, which was good. Since this tummy thing really appears to just be tummy related, no fevers, aches, chills, or overall yuckies...it was a bit easier to get some work done today. And there was a little break in the rain, so I took Monkey to a nearby park to play. Don't worry, there weren't any other kids there for us to pass the diarrhea germs on to - and when other kids started showing up, we left.

So, now I'm back at home, writing this post - and I'm feeling really tired. I can't believe I have less than 2 weeks before the baby arrives. I still have a mega-long list of things to get done before then, but guess what? I just don't think it's all going to get done...and I guess I'm okay with that.

Hopefully tomorrow will be better. Sheesh.

Good Day

2010-01-14T12:59:00.003-07:00

So today I'm having an extremely "feel good" kind of day. I hope I'm not jinxing myself by saying that in this blog post - but I'll think positive! :)

I went to Target on my lunch break today to buy some newborn clothes - I realized a couple week ago that I boxed up and gave all my girl newborn clothes to my best friend about a year and a half ago when she was having her little girl. So, even though I have 4 girls - my 'baby' clothes that I have kept start at about 18 mos. I also picked up a few more boy newborn outfits because I had already bought a couple a few months ago. Baby clothes make me happy. :)

Also, I've been talking to my mom and she's going to be starting a gym membership at Curves pretty soon. I'm really proud of her because she's been putting her health on the backburner for years, and I'm glad that she's taking steps towards healthier living. She's already starting eating better since the start of the year - so I think 2010 holds many positive things for her.

But back to Target...yeah, so I was walking out of Target and it's a beautiful day out here in Phoenix today. Kind of a chill in the air, but not 'cold', and it was all sunshiney. So, I was thinking to myself "Sun in my face, Target bag in my hand, and I'm going to run over to Taco Bell for lunch. What could be better?" hehe

Then I filled up my gas tank and got a car wash - nice sparkly car.

Got back to work and checked the online mommy forum I belong to - and some of the ladies' posts just made me laugh out loud, and almost choke on my Taco Bell (which was a steak taco salad, by the way).

So, as I continue eating my Taco Salad - I'm thinking, "Hmmmm...this is pretty good, but I wonder why they call it a Chipotle Steak Salad, when the only 'dressing' on it is Sour Cream?". So, I keep eating and I'm finally down to pretty much just the taco shell. So, I break off a piece of it to eat it, and guess what's UNDERNEATH the taco shell??? The pouch of Creamy Chipotle Dressing!! I couldn't help it, I just started laughing. I mean seriously, you put the dressing UNDER the salad? That's funny. Maybe on another day that would have ticked me off, but since today is 'feel good' day, it just struck me as hilarious.

So spill it readers...anything have you in a good mood today?

Dude - Part Deux

2010-01-12T22:26:00.003-07:00

Yeah, so I was still dealing with some tummy issues from Monkey today. They weren't NEARLY as bad as yesterday, but still bad enough to get her sent home from preschool if I tried to pretend she was all good and drop her off there. So, I didn't even bother.

We went to Target to get some much needed items for my nesting...and THEN....we went to the mall. I dread the mall, but I really wanted to go to the Brookstone store because I looked through the catalog and there were two things I needed in order to complete one of my nesting items.

#1 - A motorized CD/DVD Repair system - To repair all of the DVDs we have that my children have messed up, and now skip during all of their favorite parts, or won't play at all.

#2 - A CD/DVD Disc Storage System - This thing will house 100 DVDs - many of them will have been repaired by the apparatus mentioned in #1 - but the main thing is - this thing will allow me to finally throw away all of the DVD boxes that I have stored in my entertainment center cabinet, and make room for more important stuff (like baby diapers). Most of the cases are empty anyway because the children have taken them out and messed with them - causing them to have scratches, and in turn leading me to need Item #1. And I always thought my project would one day be to match all the boxless DVDs to their appropriate box - but I have now decided we are getting rid of the boxes altogether and streamlining them all into this DVD Disc Storage System.

Here is where the "Dude" comes in. Well, of course when I get to the mall, and go to the Brookstone store - they do not carry these items IN the store. They only have them online - BUT, they can order them if I have the SKU number of the items, and then I can pick them up at the store and avoid the shipping costs. Ummmmm....sure, let me just pull the SKU numbers out of my pocket. So, I ask "Do you have an email address, and when I get home I can look them up and email them to you." And the salesdude is all "No - I mean, there's an email for like the Brookstone headquarters, but not for the store." Uhhhh....OK...how do people communicate without email? Wouldn't you think that headquarters would need a way to communicate certain things to its individual stores - like promos, etc?? I didn't argue, I just left.

And then the "Dude"-ness continued...with...teenagers. Arrrrrrggggghhhh...I really and truly believe that my friends and I never behaved in the manner which teenagers today behave at the mall. They congregate in HUGE packs, right in the middle of the walking aisles of the mall...just mill around, and text each other and talk about "Oh mah gah, did you see Justin today? You should like, totally call him and tell him that you like, like him and stuff." So, everyone has to walk completely AROUND the mob in order to get by. Then, if the huge mob happens to actually be walking through the mall - they have no sense of making walking convenient for other mall-goers. They roll about 10 people wide, and they are so engrossed in their conversations and acting like complete doofuses that I have to totally be a linebacker to protect my small children from getting trampled as they walk by completely oblivious to anything going on around them.

Seriously...my oldest daughter is going to have several lessons in mall etiquette before she is allowed to frequent the malls sans parents...which is going to be like, ummm...never - OK fine, in maybe a year or two. But, if I ever catch her being as rude as most of these teen jerk-faces, her mall-going privileges will be revoked.

End Rant.

Dude

2010-01-11T21:54:00.002-07:00

So, today turned out to be kind of ironic in that I was inwardly thinking to myself last night while I was waking up every hour on the hour to either pee, or change position, or go the fridge to take a swig of orange juice straight from the jug...that I really did not want to go to work today. But I couldn't call in sick, because I wasn't sick, and I really don't like to make up stories to get out of going to work. So, at my 5am wakeup, I hear Monkey in the bathroom doing this dry hacking cough thing that she does every once in awhile...but then the dry hacking turns into BLLLLLEAAAAH. Yeah, every mom knows that sound...so I get out of bed, go into the bathroom and see Monkey sitting on the toilet with a puddle of barf on the floor in front of her...that smells and LOOKS like rotten apples. So, I ask her if she's done going potty...she says "Yes"...and I tell her as I have many times before, "Sweetie, if you are hacking so hard like that, please get a drink of water...because I think you just hacked so hard you made yourself throw up." She says "Sorry Mommy" and I get her a glass of water so she can get rid of the "I just barfed" breath. She goes back to bed, and I am left with the mess. I cleaned it all up with a towel which I immediately threw in the washing machine turned to the hot water cycle. Then I grab the Swiffer mop with antibacterial spray juice and mop the bathroom floor. Back to bed by about 5:20 knowing that my alarm is going to go off in about an hour...so I don't think I even bothered trying to fall back to sleep.

So, everyone gets up and starts doing their thing. Monkey is in bed still at 7:30am - so I have to go wake her up and she says her tummy doesn't feel good. Great. So maybe it wasn't just the dry hacky thing. I give her a children's Pepto and make her get up and start getting dressed for preschool. She sits down at the table for her cereal and she doesn't eat it. For some kids, this may be normal...but not for Monkey. She mows through her cereal every morning, and usually asks for seconds...she would probably ask for thirds if I'd let her. But not this morning...she said "Every time I chew, it makes me want to throw up". So, I tell her to go lay down and let the Pepto kick in.

I finish getting Cita out the door for her bus, and then turn my focus to Baby Pants to get her ready. I finally am able to get myself ready, and at about 8:15 when we all start getting ready to go out the door, I hand Monkey a 'barf bowl' for the car, just in case it really wasn't the hacky cough thing. We all go outside without jackets because it was going to be a balmy 70 degrees in Phoenix today - but at 8:20 it's still a tad chilly for us Phoenicians. So, we all go back inside to grab some jackets...as I'm putting the jacket on Baby Pants, I hear it again...BLLLLLEAAAAH. She made it into the barf bowl, bless her heart. This time it was Pepto Pink. She says "My tummy feels better now". I say "I bet it does"...and get her some more water, and rinse out the barf bowl.

OK, definitely not going to school today. So, I drop Baby Pants off at the babysitter's house and ask Monkey if she feels OK enough for me to drive to a couple of places, since I was obviously not going to work today (be careful what you wish for). She says "Yes"...so I go to the Uhaul store to get boxes, because, yes, I absolutely am still nesting. Then I drove through the drive-thru ATM for some cash, and then we head home.

I told Monkey to go lay down so she could start feeling better while I began my household disinfecting process. She slept for a good couple of hours - and I got the house all cleaned up. Aaaah...what a nice feeling.

Then, it was lunch time. I really didn't want to make anything...I really wanted Jack in the Box tacos. What??? I'm pregnant! So, Monkey asks if she can get french fries and a Dr. Pepper. Now, when your child has been throwing up, this is probably the LAST thing they need. But she sounded all sweet, and her beautiful hazel eyes were doing a number on her mommy. So, I said "Yes, but Monkey, Dr. Pepper and curly fries might make your tummy feel worse." She just says "OK Mommy".

We get home, eat our lunch...and then I thought it was nice and warm enough for Monkey to get some fresh air while I start packing up some unwanted stuff in my newly acquired Uhaul boxes. She asks if she can ride her bike, yes...then she asks if she can sweep the patio...yes. My darling Monkey is such a helper, even when she's not feeling well, she wants to help. So, she gets the broom. Then, all of a sudden she whizzes by me and heads straight for the bathroom. I think "Poor thing...she's going to barf again." And I hear, "Mooooommmmmy....I didn't quite make it to the toilet." I think "Great...more barf to clean up". Except No...Not barf...not barf at all, not even from the same place barf comes from. Rather the opposite actually.

So tomorrow...I definitely want to go to work. Definitely Definitely want to go work. (catch my Rainman tone there)

I Lost a Week!!!

2010-01-05T13:17:00.002-07:00

Soooo...don't know if I've explained the Due Date confusion I had early on...but when I first found out I was pregnant, I went to an online Due Date calculator, and came up with an EDD of 02/10/10.

When I went to my first doctor's appointment, they wrote 02/01/10 in my chart...a full 9 days earlier than what I had come up with. After my first ultrasound - they said, "Well, you're measuring kind of small, so we're going to bump you back to 02/08/10"...which was closer to what I was originally thinking.

Then I come in today, and the nurse says, "OK, the doctor is going to do your Group B Strep test...that's the test we do at 36 weeks."...and then she walks out of the room. And I'm sitting there confused going, "I'm not 36 weeks, I'm 35 weeks."

My doctor comes in, looks at my chart and says "OK...36 and 2, how are you feeling?" I say, "Fine" And she does the Group B strep thing, and measures my tummy, and says "Yep, you're measuring right on". She did the internal exam to check dilation and stuff...and said I was 1cm and 40-50% effaced. And then said, "OK, see you next week!"

So, I'm sitting there just mulling over everything...and I thought to myself "I just lost a week...here I was thinking I had just about 5 weeks to go, and now I only have about 4 weeks to go???!!!"

Crap, I have to get the rest of my nesting going ASAP.

42 days!!

2009-12-30T17:01:00.002-07:00

42 Days....42 DAYS....FORTY-TWO DAYS!!!!!

Holy Cow!! Do you see my baby ticker people??? Yeah, it says 42 days! Where in the heck has the time gone? I remember when I watched my ticker go from 100 to 99 days, and thinking, wow, I have less than 100 days left to go. Now it is less than 50, and actually closer to being less than 40 after I come back to work after the 4 day weekend. O....M....G....is pretty much how I feel right now. I'm as big as a freakin' house, I can't stop eating, I'm already at my 'normal' full-term weight (which is 170 pounds people...yes, it is...totally not kidding)..and I still have a little over a month to go. Either my baby is going to be a freakin' monster of a kid, or I'm just eating so much that all the weight is in my boobs and bootie, which is entirely possible.

Even with all of this weight, I'm still all like, "I'm going to do a triathlon next year". Yeah, that's my biggest fitness resolution for 2010. I'm turning the big 3-0 next year (April 22nd), and I really want to have something pretty nifty to show for my 30th year on the planet. I definitely won't be ready to do it ON or near my bday, since I'll only be a couple months post-baby - but I've been in contact with a triathlon trainer who says it's feasible to be thinking maybe an August/September date. And don't be thinkin' Ironman people - I'll be doing what they call a 'Sprint' triathlon - where all the distances are pretty short (in comparison to an Ironman) - but it will still be the biggest athletic challenge I've taken on in my entire life.

My maternity leave from work is rapidly approaching as well - so I basically have 42 days to close off or transition every open item I have. You know what I did last week, and part of the week before? I went through 700+ emails in my Inbox...yep, I did it. When we transitioned from good ol' Outlook to Gmail last year for our work email, I just never really got the hang of how Gmail labels and folderizes things...so I just didn't...and every email that I received (unless it was junk, or I totally didn't need it anymore, and deleted it) was still in my Inbox. So I spent countless hours either labeling and folderizing my emails, or deleting ones that were no longer necessary for me to keep. Now I have 43 emails...hmmm, 43 emails to close off in 42 days. Can she do it?? Not sure, I've got a pretty big project on my plate right now, that will honestly probably still be going on by the time I get back. But, I should be able to get a pretty large chunk closed off...and that feels pretty good, because I was in somewhat of a panic mode a couple weeks ago. :)

Oh..OH...OH!!!! I get to go over and see my BFF and her kids tomorrow!!! This is the BFF I have mentioned a few times that was moving back here to AZ because her hubby was deployed to Afghanistan for 6 months. She moved back to our hometown, and is staying with her mom. Her 5 year old daughter will actually be going to the same elementary school that we attended...kinda weird. I actually lived back in my hometown briefly while my oldest was in 3rd grade...my 6th grade teacher was the principal of her school. Anywho - I'm totally excited to be able to spend the next 5 or 6 months being able to hang out whenever our schedules permit - which I'm hoping is often. The great thing is her being here will coincide with my maternity leave, so we should be able to visit with each other quite often. YIPPEE!!

OK...well, this will most likely be my last post for 2009...wow, this year flew by didn't it?

Wishing you and yours a very Happy New Year - when we come back, we'll talk about resolutions some more. Doesn't that sound FUN???!! hehe (that was sarcasm, in case you didn't catch that...teehee)

The Great Debate

2009-12-23T10:12:00.004-07:00

OK - so I tried to pawn this topic off on my wonderful bloggy friend Alisa, over at Faith Imagined, because God is using her in a tremendous way to explain things of God in a practical and easily applicable way. I emailed her my thought for this topic, and she writes back telling me that I did a great job explaining it and she'd love to read it on MY blog. WHAT???!!! (hehe, love you Alisa!) You want ME to step out of MY comfort zone, and allow the Holy Spirit to use me on my very own blog that is only sometimes sprinkled with my spiritual thoughts? Ummm...I think I have to wash my hair. What if people don't like it, what if it's not applicable, what if, what if, what if??? But then God says, "What if it's what people need to hear, regardless of whether or not they agree?" Ummmmm....OK.

So, here goes - the title for this topic is the "Great Debate". What debate, you might ask? The Merry Christmas vs. Happy Holidays debate. (eeeeeeeeeek!! I can hear the shrieks and gasps now) Is she really going to go THERE? Yep, I am.

So, I personally have not taken a strong position on the whole Happy Holidays vs Merry Christmas thing - I don't get up in arms when people say Happy Holidays to me. My grandma, on the other hand, totally does - even to the extent of no longer shopping somewhere because they say Happy Holidays instead of Merry Christmas. And I know that a lot of Christians feel the same way.

I was just talking to my co-worker yesterday who is also a Christian - and I was telling her that this year, I was experiencing way more people telling me "Merry Christmas" (Costco, Verizon, Cable company) - and she said she just had the opposite experience when she went shopping this weekend, and everyone was saying "Happy Holidays", and it was really bothering her. It's almost as if when we go out, we are waiting with baited breath at the end of every shopping transaction to hear what the person behind the counter is going to say.

So, then I said to her, "I'm pretty sure the word 'Holiday' is derived from the two words 'Holy' 'Day'. And the only person I know of that is Holy is Jesus. So, the people that are trying to be politically correct, are still telling us to have a Happy Holy Day". And she said "Wow, thanks - I guess I won't get so irritated by it anymore".

Just to make sure I was telling her the right thing, I did some internet searching as to the origin of the word "Holiday" - and fortunately I was right. hehe :) It comes from the Old English word "hāligdæg" (hālig = holy, dæg = day).

I think sometimes we spend so much of our energy being upset about something that rubs us personally the wrong way, and in the grand scheme of things, it is SO not about us. So, we react negatively, and then wonder why people don't like Christians? In my opinion, I think if someone tells us Happy Holidays, we should say "Thank You"...and not get mad that someone is offering a nice statement to us. The world is watching us as Christians, and a big part of what they are watching for is how we react in situations. If we aren't acting any differently than anyone else, what draw does Christianity have on a non-believer?

Phew...I did it...please don't stone me now. hehe :) And have a very Merry Christmas, and Happy Holy Day.

Friday Fill Ins!

2009-12-17T21:02:00.003-07:00

It's time for Friday Fill Ins!! Yippee!

1. No, we will NOT be watching Sponge Bob Square Pants Christmas for the 80th time in a row (okay, who am I kidding, yeah we will - because Baby Pants likes it - and who can resist hearing a toddler say "Pun Bob Scare Panth Kissmas Mommy!".)

2. The new kitchen table is laughing at the old kitchen table.

3. I watched the steam rising from the hot cup of coffee (or tea) and thought: man, I must not have anything to do if I can sit here and watch steam rise from a hot cup of coffee (or tea).

4. Having to spend over $1000 on getting my car road-trip ready is going to be okay.

5. I'll take one freeway minus the Snow Birds...thank you.

6. I think replacing presents with memorable experiences is going to be wonderful, at least from my point of view.

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to my friend Sandie's 50th bday party (woot! woot!), tomorrow my plans include teaching a My Smart Hands demo class at Momma's Organic Market as well as watching Cita do a Christmas performance and Sunday, I want to go to church, watch Monkey do her Christmas performance, and probably do some laundry!

Weekend Update - On Wednesday (yeah, I know)

2009-12-16T16:41:00.011-07:00

OK, so I'm like what, 3 weeks behind on Marriage Monday posts? I haven't blogged in almost a week. And, I have swollen cankles. What's a girl to do?

I really wanted to show you what I did this past weekend, because I actually took pictures, and then actually took the time to upload them to my computer.

So - on Saturday, I took on the nesting project of ALL time. And that was to go through every.single.article.of.four.children's.clothing. Yes, I did. I made them bring out everything that was in their overflowing drawers, and pulled everything out of their overflowing closets, and brought it to my living room "staging" area. 7 hours later (yes, 7) - I had 10 bags to take to Savers (because I like them better than Good Will), 8 plastic bins of clothes we were going to hang on to, and all my girls' drawers were adequately filled and organized. I went through ALL of the socks, and if it didn't have an exact match, I threw it in a bag for Savers too. Whatever they don't keep for the store, they donate to Big Brothers/Big Sisters I think...so I figured some of the kids would rather have mismatched socks than none at all. And my children used to complain ALL the time about not having enough socks...so my relatives would buy them more and more socks. And when all was said and done after my project, they each had like 15-20 pairs of socks in their drawers - with plenty more that I put in the donation bag. Not enough socks, my patootie. So, I told Aaron - "Please, if anyone asks you if we need some clothes for the girls...tell them as politely as you can...'Hell Freakin' No!'" Because I never want to go through that exercise AGAIN.

BEFORE (and yes, you can partially see Baby Pants trying on the tons of shoes...hehe)

And 10 Bags & 8 Bins Later... (and yes, I did use a label gun to put labels on the bins)

Then on Sunday we went to my hubby's Award ceremony for his dirtbike series. He won 1st place in two classes - 450 Beginner and 25+ Amateur. This was his first time ever to participate in an actual motocross race. A couple years ago, he bought an old beat up bike, and had been riding mostly in the desert because the bike didn't quite have the power to take on the obstacles and jumps of a motocross track. But, he did practice at the tracks every once in awhile. We all went out to watch him one night at the track, and I could tell that it wasn't that he didn't have the skill level to take on that track, it truly was the bike that was holding him back. So, for his bday last year, I bought him an 08 Suzuki RM Z450. And look where he ended up? 1st place! :)

What in the Friggidy Frick Frack...

2009-12-10T00:46:00.002-07:00

Am I doing up at 12:45 am, reading numerous blog posts of fellow bloggers all across the Nation - acting like I don't have to get up for work tomorrow or something?

I just can't sleep - I'm 9 weeks away from having a baby - and I feel like I have so much to accomplish prior to then, that the wheels in my head keep on turnin' (sing to the tune of 'wheel in the sky' )

Why does my husband need to sleep on MY side of the bed? I'm like 8 months pregnant, he's got a body & a half of space between me and his edge of the bed - and I'm scrunched into this little teeny tiny space, with my huge belly.

Tonight, the AWANA directors at our church had to kiss an alligator because the kids finished 100 sections in their scripture memorization books. I know it's weird, but the alligator was totally cute...it had it's mouth taped shut - maybe that's why it was cute. But my girls got to take a picture with said alligator - they printed them out, so now I"m going to have to scan them to turn them into digital images so you can see them - which I will add to my 'things to accomplish in 9 weeks' list, but I can pretty much gar-own-tee (think the Cajun chef dude voice) that it's not gonna happen - so I apologize in advance.

Too many things to be done...not enough time to do it in, and the things that I do want to get done can all be shot to heck if one baby decides to make an entrance even one iota early.

Bullets...Bullets...Oh yeah

2009-12-07T21:09:00.002-07:00

My Title was a little song I made up in my head for my post that will be denoted by bullets. :)

Today marks the one year anniversary of my husband's dirtbike accident - You can read about it here. Since the accident, he has reigned himself in quite a bit, and has gone on to be the Firebird Gold Series 450 Beginner and 25+ Amateur champion! I'm quite proud of my hubby.
Today is also Pearl Harbor Day. Dec 7, 1941 - Japan attacked Pearl Harbor, HI. My grandparents took me to Hawaii in 1988, when I was 8 years old. We went on the Pearl Harbor tour - and even though I had no idea what had really happened there that day, I remember becoming very emotional. You could see the tip of the USS Arizona sticking out of the water, and I just started crying.
Oh my gosh...today I had a McDonald's quarter pounder and french fries for lunch...and I ate it so fast, I don't even think I tasted it. I reached back over to the box of fries and they were GONE! So, then I looked at the box the quarter pounder came in...GONE too! I was like, what the heck, did I seriously inhale my food that fast? That's just not healthy.
This pregnancy has made me large and in charge. My belly is seriously huge - and it feels like the baby is taking up the ENTIRE thing. I don't even know if I have 9 weeks left of room in there for him or her.
The store manager of the Jack in the Box by my house (what? I don't eat fast food THAT much) told me I was having a boy. He is a hispanic guy probably in his late 30's or early 40's - and he says "You are having a boy." And I said "I don't know...I have 4 girls." And he says "No, not this time...it is a boy." So I told him "Well, after I have the baby I'll come by and let you know." And he's like "I haven't been wrong in 16 years." So we'll see. If it is a boy, I'm up a creek cuz I have one boy outfit that I bought 'just in case' and that's it.
It's less than 2 weeks before my BFF moves back here to AZ from Germany briefly while her husband is deployed in Afghanistan. Even though the circumstances that are bringing her back here suck, I'm totally elated that she's going to be here. I'm excited that our kids will be able to hang together for longer than a few hour visit. I always imagined that we would live next door to each other, and our kids would be BFF's. Funny how time changes things. :)
Raisin Bran Crunch is da bomb!
I'm currently doing a Bible study with a couple girlfriends using this book called Balance at the Speed of Life for Women. It's great - it is making me realize that my plate is too full - and I'm always trying to squeeze more stuff on there. I don't know why I do this...I guess I feel like if I'm not busy, I'm being lazy or something.
My current nesting project is to get through all of our closets and have a yard sale before Christmas. Kind of an ambitious goal, but I really want to do it dang it. Naps just keep getting in the way on weekends.
I just got word from our realtor that we haven't talked to in several months on a house that we put an offer in on - it's a short sale, and it had to go through this big long approval process with the short sale lien holder. Our offer was the 'back up' offer - but there is a chance that the first people will back out. The price of $175k was approved, and the seller is offering 3% in closing costs. It's within walking distance from where we live now, but it's a 4 bedroom instead of 3, and it has a large backyard that is pretty much ready for us to do whatever we want with it because it has never been landscaped. It would take a miracle for the first people to drop out, and for us to come up with all the money for closing costs - but God is in the miracle business, so if it's meant to be, it will work out. :)
I'm reading a book that my 12 year old is also reading called "Leven Thumps and the Gateway to Foo". It's a Sci-Fi / Fantasy book, and it's such a fun read. There are children who have special powers, multiple dimensions, and funky little creatures. I'm over halfway done already and I just started reading it this week.
When my little Baby Pants says Clap, it comes out 'Cwap' - so it sounds like she's saying crap - which is really funny to me.
All of my girls love the band 'Weezer' - it's so fun to hear them singing "Oooo Wee Oooo I look just like Buddy Holly...Oh Oh and you're Mary Tyler Moore!" We took them to see Weezer at the AZ State fair a couple years ago - they are GREAT performers. Each band member can play every single instrument on the stage, and they all take turns singing different songs. They put on a great stage show. And they just released their new album called "Raditude". I haven't heard any of the songs yet - and apparently their tour bus got in an accident yesterday and the front man, Rivers Cuomo, suffered internal injuries - that fortunately aren't life threatening, but they had to cancel the rest of their tour dates for this month at least.
But to end on a positive note - Baby Pants keeps going potty in the toilet - infrequently, but she still does it. I will have to record her saying "I go potty in the toilet" and try and post it as a sound file or something, because the way she says it is freakin' hilarious!

Have a great week everyone!

Sublime

2009-12-04T10:09:00.002-07:00

So - I was gonna post about how I couldn't believe it was Friday already, and how I had a somewhat crappy week, and yada yada yada. But, then I heard on the radio that plays throughout our office building....

"I don't practice Santeria...I ain't got no Crystal ball"....and then all of a sudden, the world seemed mellow. And I wondered to myself "What it is about the songs of Sublime that make me feel really chill and in a good mood?"

It's definitely not the actual lyrics...especially since the verse I heard just now as I'm typing this was "And I won't think twice to stick that barrel straight down Sancho's throat...believe me when I say that I got somethin' for his punk ass!" HA!

But, there's just something about Brad's voice, and the rhythm of the music that just makes you bob along, and kinda feel that So Cal beachy feel.

I was first exposed to Sublime in 1996, so the only album I really have any connection with is the self-titled "Sublime" album, even though the band had been around since 1988. And by the time I got into their music, their lead singer, Brad Nowell had already offed himself with a drug overdose. So, I didn't even have an opportunity to see them live. That's a bummer.

But whenever I hear these songs, I either go back to my senior year in high school - or road trips from Vegas to California, and my most recent memories are with my family at the lake in the summer - as my hubby is also a fan. :) Unfortunately, our taste in this music, and my hubbies taste in all things classic rock have our children singing "I'm a joker, I'm a smoker, I'm a midnight toker" at the top of their lungs in Target. I know that's not a Sublime song, but you get the idea. I don't think I want my kids singing about having something for anyone's punk ass either. But just hearing that song this morning put me in a much better mood than I WAS in when I first went to start my Friday post - so now I think I'm going to run along over to Playlist.com and make me a Sublimey play list to listen to this morning. :)

Because who can not love "What I Got", "Santeria", "Wrong Way", "Garden Grove", "April 26, 1992", "Pawn Shop", "Paddle Out", and "Doin' Time"? :)

Happy Friday!

Post It Note Tuesday: Maiden Voyage

2009-12-01T17:29:00.010-07:00

So, this is my first time participating in a Post-It Note Tuesday, found by visiting one of my Follower's, Lynn at Midday Escapades. I can't get their Post It button to work, so you'll just have to click on the link to go check it out. Here are my post-its for today. Enjoy! (Note: They rearranged themselves all weird, and I didn't have the time to figure it out)

And there ya have it - go make yourself some Post-It Notes!

Marriage Monday - 11/30/2009

2009-11-29T22:23:00.002-07:00

Wow - I can't believe I've missed two weeks of my Marriage Monday Posts! Where has the time gone? I apologize for slacking off in this area, it's definitely been on my mind - I just haven't taken the focused time and effort needed to get my posts done.

So, this week, we're going to cover a couple topics, His Affection and His Temptations because they are pretty short chapters.

His Affection

p.69-73

I'm just going to touch on a few key points that I found in this chapter. One of the big ones is that men often view sex and affection as the same thing, so they can feel like as long as the sex life is good, then so is affection. But as women, we know that affection is totally different - it can be holding hands, an unexpected hug, stroking your hair - for most men, stuff like that doesn't come naturally. But, Stormie quotes this scripture "Let the husband render to his wife the affection due her, and likewise also the wife to her husband." 1 Corinthians 7:3.

So, it's definitely in God's plan that our husbands are affectionate towards us - but I truly think most of the time they need some "help" in this area. So, since this is Power of a Praying Wife - this chapter talks about praying for our husbands in this area so that the power of the Holy Spirit can begin working on their hearts and ours so that when the time comes to talk about affection, it can be a conversation that is received well, rather than appearing to be just something else we are nagging them about. With my husband and I, my communication to him about affection is usually very playful because that's my husband's personality type...so I'll come in to the "Man Room" (aka the den) after all the girls are in bed, and sit down with him on the couch and say something like "Oh, what did you say? You wanted to give me a massage? How nice of you!" And then I plop myself down on the floor in front of him. We both chuckle, and he knows that I could use a massage - and he's happy to do it. He does the same thing with me - "Oh, you wanted to scratch my head? That's so sweet!".

So that way of communicating works for us. What would NOT work for us is me coming to him all the time saying "Why don't you ever give me a massage? Why don't you hug me more?". Confrontation like that usually never works for us. So, if your hubby is not affectionate or you would like him to be more affectionate, try praying for God to show you some effective ways that you can communicate that to him.

His Temptations

p.75-79

Now this is an area that I have more personal application with my ex-husband. My ex-husband was a compulsive gambler, and it seemed no matter how hard I prayed - and I prayed HARD and OFTEN - things never seemed to get better. When I finally filed for divorce, I felt like I had failed in my marriage - like I didn't pray hard enough, I wasn't strong enough, I should've done more. So, I was encouraged when I read this sentence on p.75 "But a heart that refuses to listen to the promptings of the Holy Spirit will not change, no matter how hard you pray." And I think that was truly the case with my first marriage - he just was not willing to change at that time in his life, and it cost him his family.

This chapter encourages us to pray in advance regarding any temptations that may come our husband's way, and to ask that they would be strong enough to withstand those temptations. It talks about temptations coming in all shapes and sizes: alcohol, drugs, money, power, food, pornography, etc. The bible says "blessed is the man who endures temptation; for when he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him" (James 1:12). There are many other verses in the Bible that tell us that temptations WILL come, it's just a matter of when, and how we will respond. 1 Corinthians 10:13 tells us "God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it." I can personally attest to that - when I was about 20 years old, I ended up in a very bad situation with a guy I had just met. He had his plans for how he wanted the night to work out, and I felt somewhat trapped. I didn't know what else to do, so I went to the bathroom, and just prayed and asked God to please help me find the way out. Seriously, minutes later, I started throwing up EVERYWHERE, and he left me alone and I got out and went home. I know it's gross - but I know that was my way out that God provided for me.

I've been very fortunate in my marriage to Aaron, I haven't seen too many temptations in his life, other than "the need for speed" - but this too can definitely be an issue - one that landed him in the hospital for a week last year with a lacerated liver. I don't know that I prayed specifically about that as a 'temptation' but I know I prayed that he would be more careful and realize what he had at stake. And I have seen him reign himself in and be more cautious when he rides his dirtbike, since he knows he has a family at home that needs him.

No matter what our husbands temptations may be, our prayers can be very effective in helping them resist those temptations. In Stormie's example prayer, she says to pray for a wall of protection to be around our husband, that he will have the self-control to resist anything or anyone that becomes a lure, and to give him the courage to reject tempting situations.

I pray that today's Marriage Monday post will find its way to those who needed to hear some of these things today, and that we will all put prayer for our husbands as a top priority in our lives - as it will not only benefit them, but will ultimately benefit us and our family. I know sometimes all the things we have to pray for can seem overwhelming - I could probably pray for hours on end just to get out all of the things that I want to pray about. But God knows what is on our hearts, He just desires for us to be in relationship with him - so don't think your prayers have to be a certain length, or that you have to pray them all at once. I find that I get my most prayer time in on my way to and from work in the car - in fact I rarely listen to the radio anymore because I know that I will have uninterrupted time on my drive. Once I get home, I won't get time to myself again until my children are in bed...hehe :) So, whether it's finding time when your kids are at school, or when they are taking a nap, or when your making your daily commute - you may have to sacrifice something else (for me it was giving up listening to music on the way to work - which I really liked to do), I guarantee that you won't regret having that alone time with God.

Next week I think I'll do 2 chapters again so I can get caught up - His Mind and His Fears.

Happy Monday!

Finally...The Announcement

2009-11-17T21:52:00.002-07:00

So the time has finally come – the time to announce my new business venture. This has been in the works since about October 2008, but the majority of the work on getting everything going started about August of this year. I haven’t breathed a word of it to very many people, because I have a tendency to get excited about an idea, and announce it to the world, and then I lose my excitement and don’t follow through with the idea – and I end up looking like a dork. But, with this venture, I have really committed, and have a fully legal and established LLC. The fire was lit under me when I found out I was pregnant with #5, and I really wanted to be able to do something that would allow me to be with my children and still contribute financially to the household. So, without further adieu…

I am pleased to announce the launch of:

My Smart Hands – Phoenix

Sign Language Classes for Hearing Babies and Toddlers.

This has been an exciting and scary journey to get up and running – but I am thrilled! Aaron and the girls are extremely supportive - as we all have witnessed first-hand the benefits of signing with our youngest daughter. Since making this decision, I have taken formal American Sign Language classes, as well as a class on Early Childhood Language Development - and one of the first lessons included research on the benefits of signing with preverbal children!

I have my first location for classes locked down in Old Town Scottsdale, at the Art of Dance studio (www.artofdanceaz.com) – and since I’m still currently working full-time, the classes will be on Saturdays. But once the baby comes, my plan is to start offering weekday classes as well.

This is a link to my website – www.MySmartHands-Phoenix.com. I’m currently looking for additional class locations in North Phoenix, Central Phoenix, and Fountain Hills at this point – so if any of you that are local to the Phoenix area know of any locations that rent their space out, I would greatly appreciate the contact info.

I will be holding my first marketing booth at the Momma’s Organic Market (http://www.mommasorganicmarket.com/) this Saturday, November 21st from 9am to 2pm. Since I don’t sell an actual ‘product’ – I’ll be giving away free bubbles, Hawaiian leis, and stickers to the kids, and teaching them the signs for 'bubbles' and 'necklace'. I will also be accepting class registrations and selling gift certificates for classes as well.

A special "Thank You" to my grandma Billie for always telling me I could do anything I put my mind to. I thank God for all of the wonderful people He has put me in contact with that have helped me to make this busines possible. And I'm looking forward to the additional time I'll be able to spend with my children during their formative years.

Woo Hoo! Here we go! (I'm jumping out of the boat Alisa & Crissy!)

Weird Dream and Some Other Stuff

2009-11-17T13:11:00.002-07:00

Okay - so, in case you noticed (or maybe didn't notice) - my Marriage Monday post is missing. It's coming, it just might be a Marriage Wednesday or Thursday.

But, because I had some things on my mind - I thought I would post today instead of waiting to get caught up, because this is my blog, and I can do that if I want. ;)

Last night I had this WEIRD dream - where I got an email from this ultrasound technician at my OB's office and it said something like "Oh, the new ultrasound guy just looked at your ultrasound pictures and he wanted me to tell you congratulations on your new baby boy!" I was SO MAD in my dream! In case some of you don't know, we are letting the sex of this baby be a surprise since we have 4 girls, and we figured since this will be the last baby that we wouldn't find out if it's another girl or potentially a boy. So, this dream really chapped my hide because I didn't want to know the sex, and here this ultrasound tech is sending me emails telling me what I'm having! Now of course I realize that this is just a dream, and may have no bearing on what actually may come to pass - but I'm just sayin'. Weird pregnancy dreams I tell ya.

Baby Pants has become a master manipulator with this new wake up and cry routine she tried to start this past week. She did it on a couple of week nights, and I thought "Awww...poor baby she had a bad dream" so I brought her into bed with us. Then, she did it again on Saturday & Sunday night - and we had my father-in-law in town, so in order to let everyone get sleep, I brought her in bed with us again. But neither hubby nor I get any sleep when Baby Pants is in the bed because as small as she is, she somehow takes up the whole darn bed! Her head is shoved into the side of my neck, and her feet are pressed against her daddy's back. So - hubby and I said "No more" - and when she woke up at 1am this morning crying - I went in first, and calmed her down but told her that she needed to go back to sleep. This really made her mad - so I asked if she needed a diaper change - to which the crying immediately stopped, and she said "Yeah" - so she stayed quiet in her crib the whole time I went to get the diaper and throughout the diaper change process. As soon as I said 'Good Night' and started to walk away - the wailing began again. Also as a side note, my oldest daughter shares a room with Baby Pants - and we felt bad for her, so we got her up and moved her mattress to our den so she could attempt sleep. When Baby Pants saw this, she got another fantastic idea "I'ant (this is "I want" in Baby Pants language) Seena (this is SAMs name as Baby Pants says it)". She thought if she couldn't sleep with mom and dad, she could sleep with her sister! I said "No - this is YOUR bed, and you are going to sleep in YOUR bed." and closed the door. Her wailing was very artistic - she played with several pitches and tones, and cry styles from sounding very pitiful, to screaming like someone was poking her with a stick - and pretty soon hubby and I were actually laughing at her repertoire. But, by this time it was 1:45am - and we wanted to go back to sleep. So....we sent in the Big Guns...Daddy went in. I heard him give her the same conversation that I gave her, about her sleeping in her own bed, yada yada. Then he said "Ok, now go to sleep"...and 3....2....1...."AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!". Then, the magical words were spoken in only the voice a daddy can do, that strikes fear in the hearts of little children everywhere - "Do you want a spankin'?", to which Baby Pants replied "NO!"...and she was quiet for the rest of the night. So, we'll see what happens tonight.

And finally - I have a couple updates to make to my business website tonight, and then I'm launching it TOMORROW, to the rest of my family and friends, this blog, and my online mommies community. I've been wanting to do it for awhile, but I always had an excuse - "This piece isn't ready yet.", "I want to do this first", yada yada. I'm very nervous, but very excited - my hubby is behind me, my kids are stoked, so off we go!

OK - I think that's all I need to get off my brain for now. Look for Marriage Monday, debuting on its new day this week only - and for my business launch! Yippee!

Randomness

2009-11-11T22:44:00.004-07:00

Just some random thoughts from me today - of course it isn't the same as bullets, because I'm going to use asterisks instead!

*Dude - preteen attitudes suck. So, SAM is signed up for volleyball, and all of her games are on Saturdays. Tonight at our mid-week church thing, she finds out that the junior high kids are doing some kind of activity that will start on Friday night @ 11pm and have them playing laser tag, ice skating, and then gallavanting around until 7am on Saturday morning. I told her "Sorry, you can't participate, you have a commitment to your volleyball team." To which she got all pouty and pissy and door slammy and go to bed without saying goodnight-y. Argh. I wanted to smack her...but I didn't, so don't call CPS on me or anything.

*Baby pants pooped and peed on the potty for the first time yesterday. It was a monumental event. Of course my husband was all "Our daughter is going to be the first child potty trained before two." I really wanted to correct him to let him know that I'm sure there have been other children potty trained before two - but I didn't. See, Marriage Mondays are working! :)

*Monkey is going to be 5 on Saturday...FIVE years old people! She was student of the week at her preschool, and I had to go back to the archives to dig up newborn / baby / toddler-ish pictures of my little Monkey - made me get all nostalgic and stuff. I can't believe she was that little - and now she's just a big ball of chatter-face...with all her "Mommy...Mommmy...Mommmy! Remember that one time?"

*Cita is being Cita - she's always tried to be somewhat of a second mommy, and she's very patient with Baby Pants - but with Monkey, she acts like an annoyed, burnt out parent that's worked a very long day. So...what I'm saying is...she sounds like me. I just want her to be 7....I keep telling her that it's mommy's job to be the jerkface, and that she should just be a kid.

*I got my oil changed yesterday, and watched Divorce Court where this lady told the judge she was consistently abducted by aliens. I almost peed my pants laughing...she also imitated her husband eating a bologna sandwich. It was funny. But because I'm still getting over this upper respiratory thing, every time I laugh, I sound like Marge Simpson's sister who smokes 8 packs a day. It's not cool.

*My toenails need painting - I can't reach them - and I don't care.

*Since when did driving EXACTLY the speed limit in the fast lane on the freeway become an epidemic in Phoenix? It really bothers me - in fact, I used the carpool lane 5 minutes earlier than I was allowed to, to get around said speed limit obeyer. (NOTE: In Phx the carpool lane becomes a regular lane from 9am-3pm, and then again from 7pm-6am or something like that)

*I ate a sausage mcmuffin (without egg) for breakfast this morning

*I had a lot funnier random thoughts earlier today when I was thinking about writing this blog

*Oh yeah - I've kept a plant alive in my office for like 10 months! I'm turning into Martha Stewart or something - she's the only person I could think of - I don't know any famous plant-keeper-alivers.

*I love reading other people's blogs - they really make my day, or they make me cry - either one, or sometimes both.

*Why do farts never stop being funny? You know how when you hear the banana knock-knock joke 80 bajillion times when your kids start learning the knock knock joke concept - and you laugh for about the first 10 times they tell it - but then you just look them straight in the eye and say "ok - it's not funny anymore"? But, by the time they are five, you have probably heard them toot about 100 bajillion times - nevertheless the 101 bajillionth time is still freakin' funny.

*9 more days till "New Moon" comes out

*Why do I care about that?

*Because I'm a dweeb, that's why.

*I have cankles.

*Yesterday I caught a glimpse of my butt in these maternity pants I was wearing - and I wanted to cry. I looked like I had a foot long butt, that had been mooshed flat and wide by a shovel. Can I please trade this butt in for my 19 year old butt?

*My husband raises his arms over his head when he sleeps on his back - he didn't believe me - I took a picture

Marriage Monday - 11/09/09

2009-11-09T21:53:00.004-07:00

His Sexuality

pp.61-67

So, this week's Marriage Monday chapter is on our husband and his sexuality. I got two paragraphs into this chapter and read this:

"It isn't that the wife cares nothing about that part of her life It's that there are so many other things screaming for her attention, such as raising children, work, finances, managing a home, emotional stress, exhaustion, sickness, and marital strife. In the wife's juggling of priorities, sex can end up on the bottom of her list."

I don't know about you ladies, but these few sentences describe me. This is kind of a personal subject to talk about - but, I'm pretty sure there are many other women out there that feel this way. It's not like I don't WANT to have sex with my husband, I just have so many other things going on, it's like...when do I have time for THAT? And it sucks, because I know for him, he would probably want to have sex every day, multiple times a day if he could. So, where do we find a balance that works for both of us, you know?

On page 62, the author goes on to say "A man can easily be made to feel insignificant, beaten down, discouraged, destroyed, or tempted in this area of his being. There is probably no more important means of fulfillment for a man, and no area where he is more vulnerable."

Wow - I knew dudes liked sex, but it's sometimes hard to grasp that it is SO important to them.

This chapter talks about praying in this area of our lives, so that we can get somewhat on the same page as our husband as far as desire. And if there are times when we aren't quite feeling it, that we would pray that we would have renewed energy, strength, vitality and a good attitude. And then to take 10 or 15 minutes and prepare ourselves physically and emotionally, by doing things that make us feel pretty and desirable - fix our hair, put on lingerie, put makeup on if you want - I know I don't feel too in the mood or sexy when I'm my sweatpants that have 8 holes in the butt and a ratty old tank top, and my pits stink from a long day. :)

Page 64 talks about the flip side - what if our husband doesn't seem to care about having sex? The author suggests that we pray about this as well for insight into what's going on - she says "If there is no physical problem hindering him, maybe he's having deep feelings of failure, disappointment, depression, or hopelessness that need to be addressed - prayer can help reveal what the problem is and how to solve it."

So, to wrap up today's Marriage Monday - I will be honest and say that this area is something I definitely need to work on. I pray that I can meet this need in our marriage better, and that I can do it before things take a turn that I don't want it to take.

Next week we'll be talking about "His Affection" - have a great day everyone!

What A Week!!

2009-11-06T20:51:00.003-07:00

Phew - TGIF, seriously! This week was certainly crazy, and I'm pretty glad it's over....well, I guess we technically still have the weekend - and heaven only knows what joys that could bring with some of the drama that ensued this evening.

But - the week started out with everyone in the entire house being sick. I thought we would just tough it out, since any fevers that presented themselves were pretty much gone by Monday. But we all sounded like a bunch of barking seals with our coughs, so I took me and the 3 younger girls to the doctor first thing Tuesday AM. My oldest said she didn't need to go, she would just take some cough medicine - and she actually did sound better than the rest of us.

So - 4 copays and 1.5 hours later - we were all diagnosed with upper respiratory infections, with my 4 yr old, Monkey, being kind of the worst out of the bunch with bronchitis. They sent us off with our prescriptions for Amoxicillin (for the girls) and Cephalexin (for me) - those were promptly filled at Target for $4/piece, thank you very much - and now here we are....on day 4 of our antibiotics - still hacking up a storm, but 'feeling' a lot better.

Yesterday was actually my first day back in the office in 4 days - I stayed home on Friday because that's when Baby Pants started getting sick - and then I stayed home Monday through Wednesday of this week. By the grace of God, some of the high priority stuff that has been burdening me over the last several months took a bit of a breather this week, so I didn't return feeling COMPLETELY overwhelmed - just a teensy bit. :) Next week I'm sure it will be taken up a notch - I don't think I've ever wanted to see a project get completed as much as I want this one to be over with. It is very brain intensive, and my brain just isn't up for the challenge with all this baby growing I'm doin'.

And BOY am I baby growin'. I think I'm at a total weight gain of 25 pounds so far - and I still have 3 months to go. I really need to start getting some exercise in - even if it is just taking a walk around the block every night. But with everything going on with the kids' mid-week activities, and my job and everything - I just don't have the energy. But I'm going to have even less energy once the baby comes if I don't get to somewhat of decent pregnancy shape. Also - my belly is so HUGE - it seriously looks like I have a basketball stuffed under my shirt - an extra large one. I waddle like a duck and I have sleep with a pillow underneath the side of my tummy when I sleep on my side. I had an appointment this week, and they did an ultrasound to follow-up on my placenta previa that they had detected at my 18 week ultrasound - but it 'resolved', according to the doctor - so I don't have to worry about needing a c-section or anything - which is awesome. They said the baby weighs 2 pounds - and we're having a bit of confliction going on with the due dates - from the get go, I have been using Feb 10th as my due date because I used a due date calculator online with the date of my LMP - but apparently the doctor had put in my chart Feb 1st - and then after my first ultrasound, they bumped it to Feb 8th - but according to my measurements of this latest ultrasound - it looked like Feb 3rd. So, I guess somewhere between Feb 1st and Feb 10th I'll be having a baby. :) OH - I also had to do my glucose test with the sugary drink and getting my blood drawn - that was a blast. I actually don't do too bad with the needle poke thing.

The drama of the week revolves around the living situation we had with my 21 yr old brother-in-law living with us again. Not going to go into great detail, we're just all sort of at our wits end as to what to do. I've received some great input from some friends, and we've tried to offer some solutions to the guy, but he refuses to want to take responsibility for himself - and his mom keeps covering for him, so he doesn't really have a reason to. My poor husband feels like he can't win, because he's got me, a mother of four that works full-time and is hormonal and pregnant - dumping my emotions out about the situation - and then he's got his mom crying to him about how he needs to take care of his brother. So, this morning I apologized for making it worse, and that I would support him in the arrangement he had made with his brother which was to allow him to stay until mid-January, which is a few weeks before the new baby is born. But, apparently tonight his brother didn't fulfill his end of the arrangement which was to pay $100 in rent - and he is now 'kicked out', aka homeless...which is making his mother very upset, which is making my husband very upset. So, I'm just praying for something positive to happen.

Anywho - that's pretty much my week in review. I'm trying not to make any other plans for the weekend besides going to my girls' volleyball and soccer games, church and maybe a new bible study on Sunday night. But it is my hubby's birthday tomorrow - I gave him his presents early because I got him personalized riding gear for his motocross racing series, but it ended a couple weeks ago and I wanted him to have it for his last race. So, not sure what I'll do for him tomorrow - he's out riding right now with some buddies. He doesn't like sweets, so I can't bake him a cake (not like I'd be any good at that anyhow...hehe). I'll probably just make him some bacon & eggs in the morning. :)

Hope everyone has a great weekend!

Marriage Monday - 11/02/09

2009-11-02T21:29:00.003-07:00

Power of Praying Wife

Chapter 3 - His Finances

p55-59

So - I was on a hiatus last week with Marriage Monday - but I'm back - I may have to do a mid-week edition as well, so I can catch up.

Our whole family is sick - I spent today disinfecting the entire house - I felt pretty good earlier, but as the night wears on, I can feel the congestion building in my throat again. Good times. Not.

So - Chapter 3 is on His Finances. To be honest, I don't think the chapter was long enough - and it didn't really go into a lot of detail. I think the prayer she included at the end about our husband's finances is way better, so I'll probably end with that.

I have been married once before, we shared a bank account, and my ex-husband had a gambling addiction. This was not good. So, when Aaron and I got married, we were two very independent people, and I think we were both on the same page about keeping our finances separate. The cause of so much strife in marriage is due to finances, and my Dad had mentioned before that he and my step-mom kept their finances separate and they've been married for 15+ years. I think it depends on every couple. But, I had 3 children before I met Aaron - and I will obviously have expenses for them that I wouldn't expect him to pay for. He also has vehicles and toys that he had before he met me, and wouldn't expect me to pay for. So, we share the common household expenses - rent, utilities and groceries - and once those are paid, we are pretty much free to do what we wish with the rest.

Fortunately for me, I think Aaron does a pretty good job of managing his finances. He knows when to cut back on extras if he needs to, and he is very generous when additional funds come his way. But I understand not every man is like this - the author mentions that there are men that are miserly with their money and men that are reckless with it. The best thing that I think we can pray for our husbands is that they truly come to an understanding that everything they receive comes from God - it's ours to steward, and we should be the best at that as we can. We all have areas to grow in concerning our finances. I recommend a book called "Money. Purpose. Joy" by Matt Bell - it's been very helpful to me as I try to get my own finances in order.

So, as I said I'm going to end this Marriage Monday with the prayer from this chapter:

Lord, I commit our finances to You. Be in charge of them and use them for Your purposes. May we both be good stewards of all that You give us, and walk in total agreement as to how it is to be dispersed. I pray that we will learn to live free of burdensome debt. Where we have not been wise, bring restoration and give us guidance. Show me how I can help increase our finances and not decrease them unwisely. Help us to remember that all we have belongs to You, and to be grateful for it.

I pray that my husband will find it easy to give to You and to others as You have instructed in Your word. Give him wisdom to handle money wisely. Help him make good decisions as to how he spends. Show him how to plan for the future. I pray that he will find the perfect balance between spending needlessly and being miserly. May he always be paid well for the work he does, and may his money not be stolen, lost, devoured, destroyed, or wasted. Multiply it so that what he makes will go a long way. I pray that he will not be anxious about finances, but will seek Your kingdom first, knowing that as he does, we will have all we need (Luke 12:31).

Here are a few reference verses as well from this chapter:

Luke 12:29-31

Ecclesiastes 5:19

Proverbs 28:27

Psalm 37:25

Phillipians 4:19

Writer's Workshop from Mama Kats

2009-10-29T22:33:00.002-07:00

OK - so Marriage Monday was on hiatus this week as you may have noticed. My 4 yr old was sick all weekend through Tuesday, and then this crazy project that I've been working on for the last couple of months required I work long hours yesterday and today and in fact, I should probably be doing some work right now, because now my youngest is sick and I'm going to have to stay home with her tomorrow - but I really don't feel like it.

I feel like participating in Mama Kat's Writers Workshop -- you should too, it's fun! :)

I chose prompt #3 - "Write a poem to your child as their Halloween character"

Oh Daphne from Scooby Doo

Dooby Dooby Do, Where are you?

Your Orange Hair...the wig you wear...did you just find a clue?

Not so sure about the short dress

You're only 4, I must confess

You will wear tights...it's cold at night...and skin you'll show much less

You my dear are much too young

To even remember the Scooby fun

But Daphne you'll be...with joy and glee...and in go-go boots you'll run

Squeezin it in

2009-10-25T21:32:00.002-07:00

So I feel like the last couple of weeks have been a blur - all I've managed to post is my Marriage Mondays and a funny YouTube video. So, what's been up in the life of Crystal you might ask? Well, you might ask, but then again you might not give a crap. hehe :) But I figured I need to unload my brain now, because tomorrow is Marriage Monday and if I wait until after Monday to post this stuff, it will most likely end up being next Sunday night before I know it. Also, one of my kids has diarrhea and the other has had a 103 fever for the past two days, so who knows if/when it's going to hit me and/or the other two children. So, now for my recapitulation that I do the best via....BULLETS! But actually I think I'm going to change it up this week, and do....NUMBERS!

My girls' sports activities are in full swing. SAM's volleyball team won their first game a couple Saturdays ago, and then this Saturday, they lost. But honestly, for SAM never having played volleyball before in her life, I think she is doing really well - she does not get this from me. I was a dancer, who tried volleyball because her best friend was playing, and I sucked.
Monkey's soccer team tied their first game, and I didn't let her play yesterday because of the whole aforementioned fever thing. I'm one of those parents that actually keeps their kids away from other kids if they don't feel well...go figure. During her moments of Advil relief, we did let her play outside in our front yard though. I taught her some "soccer strategy" that I think was actually kinda cool - with kids her age (5 & 6), soccer is just a cluster of little legs all trying to kick the same ball. So, I told her that sometimes, you just have to run toward the goal WITHOUT the ball, look back at your teammates and see if one of them can kick the ball REALLY hard down to you, and then you are already that much closer to the goal, and you most likely won't have the "cluster" around you, and it will be easier to score. We did some scenarios where she and I were both trying to kick the ball, and she saw how we ended up all over the yard instead of anywhere near the goal - but that if I stopped trying to kick the ball, and just ran up toward the goal, then she could kick it hard towards me, and I could score the goal, and vice versa. I think she got it. :)
My projects at work have been extremely crazy, time consuming, stressful and all around yucky. Sometimes I'm not sure if my bosses remember that I'm pushing 7 months preggo here, and that they should be phasing me off of projects instead of making me the lead person on new stuff. I feel like I have a lot of burden on me right now, and I don't see it lightening up until January which is just one month before I am due. I'm kinda stressing about it, can you tell?
My brother-in-law is living with us...again...for the 4th time. What was supposed to be him hanging out with us on a Saturday, ended up with him sleeping on our couch for ummm....9 nights in a row now. My hubby said he told him he had 2 weeks to find a place, which would be next Saturday - but I'm having a very hard time with him here. He's 21, and has no respect for anyone or anything, he manipulates people (mostly his own mother) into giving him money or things, and will not take responsibility for anything. I'm trying very hard to have patience with the kid, but after having already offered our home to him, where he eats our food, uses our electricity/water, etc - all without paying us a single dime - it's wearing on my nerves. The first couple of times, I thought I was really getting through to him by offering him encouraging talks and showing him how he could make it on his own - but it turns out he was just sort of humoring me and all of it went in one ear and out the other. Help!
I miss my mom - she moved last year with my step-dad to a little podunk town in Texas called "Happy" it's about 30 minutes outside of Amarillo. My step-dad is from there, and he has brothers and sisters that all still live in town. It's definitely a lot slower than Phoenix - and I think they really like that. And they also like being able to have so much family around. But dang it, I miss my mommy.
I am getting freakin' HUGE! My belly is seriously gnarly - and my legs are getting fat. And that is usually the ONE place where I don't gain weight - I've always had fairly thin legs - but my thighs are rubbing together, I have cellulite, and my calves are bulking up. I have not been working out...at all...this pregnancy. My last pregnancy, I was taking my hip-hop classes at the gym all the way up until 8 months - and I was working out with a personal trainer. This time I just don't have the motivation - I really just don't. I want to, but yeah, it's not there.
OH...my oldest is going to be 12 on Wednesday!! Oh my freakin goodness...TWELVE!!! My baby's last year before the TEENS!! This is seriously freaking me out people. It freaked me out enough that she started junior high this year, but turning 12 seals the deal. She is a texting queen, she paints her nails, wants to wear makeup, shaves her legs, and actually has a really good fashion sense - she always looks cute. I was the one who went WAY overboard during the flourescent color stage of the early 90's - I was not cute. So, this fashion thing she also does not get from me. :)
I am "this" close to going public with my business - I've gotten input from a select few people and I've got my LLC paperwork done and am officially official with that. My website is done, I have business cards, car magnet thingies, and am signed up for my first expo next month. Now, I just need to tell my husband about it, and then I can tell the rest of you! heheehe! ;)
Speaking of my husband - he had his last race of the motocross series he's been participating in since July - and he WON! YAY!! There were 8 races in the series - and he only raced 6 of them. At each race, you receive a certain amount of points for the position you come in - for example, 1st place = 30pts, 2nd place = 27 pts, etc... ANYWHO - this guy who he has been competing against had participated in all of the races held so far, and he was ultimately going to win no matter if my husband came in 1st place this past Saturday or not - because he had accumulated more points from being in more races. I was bummed because my husband had worked so hard, and had been finishing in the top 3 positions during every race...and this other guy was like a consistent 5th, 6th, 7th place finisher. So - don't throw any stones - but I sorta said a little prayer that maybe this guy wouldn't show up to the final race because that is the only way my husband would win the series. I didn't want any harm to befall him or anything, I was just kinda hoping maybe he had a wedding to go to, or a bar mitzvah or something. hehe. So, we get to the race, and my hubby goes down to the line, and I don't see the other guy's bike - and I'm thinking "Really??? Did the guy really not show up??". And my husband took 1st in that heat (they race 2 heats)....and the second heat the guy didn't show up again, and my husband took 1st again! So, because of the points that he will get for taking 1st last night - he'll end up winning the series! I came to find out this morning that the guy DID show up last night - but that him and his buddy had spent the day rebuilding his engine on his dirtbike - and when they tested it, it was running too hot because of some "insert mechanical reason I don't understand here" - so he didn't want to run the risk of completely ruining his bike. Can you believe that???
And now we're at #10, and it's 10pm, and I'm exhausted. You probably are too from having to read all that. :) Remember tomorrow is Marriage Monday, and we're talking Finances (EEEEEEEEKKKKK!)

Wacky Wednesday

2009-10-21T15:51:00.003-07:00

OK - since I don't have time to actually write a post, I'm going to leave you with this HILARIOUS YouTube video I found over at Not Just 9 to 5. Laughing always makes my day better...Enjoy!

Marriage Monday - 10/19/09

2009-10-19T20:55:00.003-07:00

"His Work"

(Pages 49-54)

This week's chapter from the Power of a Praying Wife is about our husband and his work. It opens by talking about two different extremes that a man may experience in relation to work/career. One extreme is being very lazy, not wanting to find a job, and letting the wife support the family. The other extreme is a workaholic, someone who only feels validated by the work that they do, and spends much of his time away from his family.

Fortunately for me, I truly believe my husband has a pretty good balance between work and family. But, there have been times when I felt like he could probably take on a job at a larger corporation for more pay, and most likely company-paid benefits. But at what cost? Right now, he is able to pick up the kids in the afternoon because I work 35 miles away, and one of our girls has to be picked up by 5pm. If Aaron's job required him to work long hours every day, he would never be able to pick up the kids and we would have to find different childcare arrangements that offered longer hours, that we may not love as much.

This chapter talks about praying for our husbands to find the proper balance in their work. The author suggests that the same underlying reason may cause certain men to be lazy and certain men to be workaholics - and that reason is...FEAR. The man who appears to be lazy is afraid that he won't find a job that makes him feel successful, so he doesn't even try. The man that is a workaholic is afraid that if he doesn't work so hard, he won't be able to support his family financially or that someone else will be given his position that is willing to put in longer hours. And some men don't really even know what they want to be when they grow up...so they may go from job to job trying to find where they fit.

The one thing I have prayed for prior to reading this chapter is actually for the management of my husband's company - that they would have the wisdom to accept the business that is right for them, and to decline business that would be detrimental to the company. But, I don't think I've actually prayed specifically for my husband in the area of his career because it has always seemed to go pretty well. However, this chapter encourages us to pray for our husbands even when they appear to be in a successful place - and to pray that things continue to go smoothly.

If our husbands don't have a real clear direction of where they want to go in their career, we can pray for clarity. We can pray for God to show our husbands how to put forth their best effort if they didn't have a good example set for them in their own upbringing. We can pray for opportunities to open up that our husbands would be a good match for, and that their skills would continue to develop so that they can be an asset to whatever company may hire them. If the job that they have is running them down, we can pray for God to give them strength and peace to get through the rough times.

I think maybe we don't realize how effective our prayers can be in this area of our husbands' lives because their career kind of seems to be just that...THEIR career. But because a man often feels like he is defined by the success of his work, or his purpose in life - it can affect many other areas of his life as well, which will ultimately affect the entire family. So let's be sure to include prayers for our husbands' work during our prayer time for him this week.

Next week we'll be talking about the chapter "His Finances" - can't wait to see what Stormie talks about in this chapter, finances can be tough!

Friday Fill Ins!

2009-10-16T13:29:00.003-07:00

This is about all I have time for today - I'm going to catch up with a bulleted list sometime next week! :)

1. So are we going to have 100 degree temps again, really????

2. A good life is what's up ahead.

3. I love to take naps with my little girl.

4. I want to be able to be a philanthropist of some sort.

5. I walk a short distance, and I'm out of breath.

6. Having joy and peace is the true elixir of life!

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to Friday Night Dinner, tomorrow my plans include a volleyball game, a soccer game and then trophy trucks and Sunday, I want to go to church and take a nap!

Marriage Monday - 10/12/09

2009-10-12T20:45:00.005-07:00

Wow - I can't believe I haven't posted since last Monday! Yeessh! We had a great weekend, it's finally cool enough here in Phoenix for the kids to play outside, so I think we spent the majority of the weekend in the fresh air. It was great! AND...my husband, Aaron, got his very first win in the 450 Beginner class in his Motocross race series! He's been finishing in the top 3 pretty much the whole series, but he finally got to take home the #1 trophy on Saturday night! YAY!

OK - now on to Marriage Monday. This week's chapter is titled "His Wife" (pages 25-47) - yep, ladies, it's talking about us.

The opening paragraph talks about how our prayers can be hindered if they come from a place of bitterness, resentment, unforgiveness, etc. And that one of the prayers that we most likely pray the most is "Change him, Lord." - instead of "Change me, Lord." I have to admit, the first time I read this chapter was several months ago, and it was during a time where we had a couple of weeks of what seemed like constant irritation with each other - so I got to this chapter and wanted to stop reading it as soon as I started. It's very hard to hear that we are the ones that have some changing to do when we are so sure it is our spouse that needs the changing. And not to say that they don't - but it doesn't help matters when we are unwilling to soften our hearts, be sensitive to the guiding of the Holy Spirit, and identify those places where we are contributing to the conflict. On page 27, the author says "The most effective tool in transforming him may be your own transformation." Uhh...whoa.

Page 29 introduces the concept of prayer being the ultimate love language, and how praying for another person can soften our hearts towards them because we receive God's spirit of love when we pray for others. I have found this to be true in my prayers for my husband - if I begin my prayers madder than a hornet because I feel like I've been wronged, by the time I finish praying, I feel closer to him and I almost forget what I was mad about in the first place. By confessing my anger to God, rather than blowing up at my husband, things usually always end up resolving themselves in a much nicer manner that doesn't involve arguing and saying the word "Fine" alot. ;) Stormie gives this scripture as a reference - Proverbs 21:19 "Better to dwell in the wilderness, than with a contentious and angry woman." hehe - I think my husband has probably felt like retreating to the wilderness on more than one occasion.

OK - just read page #35, and this line jumped out "There are times when we are just to listen and not offer advice, to support and not offer constructive criticism". Lord help me if I don't have a problem with that - my husband will try and tell me something, and just as I mentioned last week, I have that "be right" attitude problem sometimes - and all the guy really wanted me to do was listen - but I always have to provide feedback, or if he made some minor error in his telling of the story, I have to point it out - MAN that has to be irritating. Here's a scripture I'll be memorizing "Do not be rash with your mouth, and let not your heart utter anything hastily before God. For God is in heaven, and you on earth; therefore let your words be few." Ecclesiastes 5:2...again with the "whoa" - the Bible has all kinds of wisdom doesn't it?

Now I read this next part a couple nights ago, starting at page 37 - and I found myself rising up on the inside with an argument - because it starts to talk about our "role". And I am totally not June Cleaver - but I kept reading, and I'm going to have to let God help me to let some of this stuff sink in. Very first sentence of this section says "I don't care how liberated you are, when you are married there will always be two areas that will ultimately be your responsibility: home and children." Say what??!! Yeah, that's what I said too. OK, hang in there. We know that God's order is that the man is the head of the household - but what many people misinterpret is that somehow that puts the woman in a lesser position. Not so - we are the heart of the family, this is a position of great power - because you know that saying "If mama ain't happy, ain't nobody happy?" - that's so true - our demeanor and the way we run our household, sets the tone for the WHOLE house. As much as I may not like to admit it - I know that I personally feel a lot better when the house is in order (not necessarily perfect, but tidy), when I'm showered, dressed in something that makes me look good and I have my hair and makeup done. Ummm...do you think this is internal hard-wiring? Because I know my husband feels good when his household chores are done as well. We are equal in the fact that we have become one flesh when we got married - but, just as everything else in the world has an order - gulp, I can't believe I'm going to say this - looks like God has an order for men and women and what our roles and responsibilities are in the household. OK - phew - next section please!!

Pages 39-41 talk about letting go of expectations - this is another area where I am guilty. Do you know sometimes my husband would say to me "I just don't feel like I can do anything right for ya" - OUCH! Can you imagine what it feels like to hear something like that? Especially when you don't think you're doing it on purpose? But seriously - I would ask him to do something - and he would do it in HIS way, which was obviously not MY way - and I would get SO frustrated. But you know what? The task got done. And I started to let go of expectations that he would do things the way I wanted him to do them - that might mean I would have to leave the house so that I wouldn't sit there and scrutinize (hehe) but I would no longer criticize and butt in when I didn't think things were going the way they should go. And...we can't change our husbands and their personalities anyway! It just sets us up to be more frustrated the harder we try to make them conform to our expectations! We fell in love with them for a reason - and guess what happens sometimes? Sometimes those things we fell in love with become the things that bug us the most! I loved the fact that my husband was a "man's man" - he knew how to fix stuff, and he was strong, and he loves the outdoors - and I would find myself saying to him in frustration "Gosh - you're such a DUDE!" Ummm...yeah...he is...that's kinda why you loved him because he wasn't a big wussy-pants. :)

I'm going to end with the paraphrasing that Stormie gives of Proverbs 31: 10-31 - she says to remember this model when we are praying for ourselves:

"She takes care of her home and runs it well. She knows how to buy and sell and make wise investments. She keeps herself healthy and strong and dresses attractively. She works diligently and has skills which are marketable. She is giving and conscientiously prepares for the future. She contributes to her husband's good reputation. She is strong, solid, honorable, and not afraid of growing older. She speaks wisely and kindly. She doesn't sit around doing nothing, but carefully watches what goes on in her home. Her children and her husband praise her. She doesn't rely on charm and beauty but knows that the fear of the Lord is what is most attractive. She supports her husband and still has a fruitful life of her own which speaks loudly for itself."

Now that sounds like the kind of woman I want to be (and she doesn't sound like June Cleaver)!!

See you next week when we talk about "His Work"

Marriage Monday - 10/05/09

2009-10-05T23:39:00.004-07:00

OK - I have 22 minutes for this post to qualify as a Monday Post.

A couple months back, I came across a blog called The Great Adventure, via a comment that a fellow blogger left on one of my posts. The gal over at the Great Adventure, Katy Lin, was doing a 31-day series of praying for her husband and encouraging others to do so as well. I was late coming into it, so I didn't do it (I'm kind of a person who likes to start at the beginning). But I saw that her next series was going to be on the book "The Power of a Praying Wife" by Stormie Omartian. I was SO excited, because I wanted to read that book too.

I had been feeling prompted to track my own journey to a better marriage on my blog, and to call it 'Marriage Monday'. But, life got in the way - and I thought I had missed the boat, because I was pretty sure by October, Katy Lin was well into her PPW series (and you now know how I feel about starting things at the beginning...hehe). But guess what? I went back to her blog today, and found that she had been busy working on a ministry with her hubby, and she restarted the series over...TODAY. OK, so now I have no excuses...and this is my first Marriage Monday post.

Not really sure what the structure of my posts is going to be - I figure I'm going to go chapter by chapter, as Katy Lin is suggesting and then see what sticks out to me.

Chapter 1 - The Power (pp 13-23)

OK - wow, first page, page 13 - and this sentence hit home "It's (this book) is a gentle tool of restoration appropriated through the prayers of a wife who longs to do right more than be right, and to give life more than get even." -- I am definitely a "be right" and "get even" kind of gal - I know that many of our arguments could have been avoided if I would have been a "do right" and "give life" kind of gal instead.

This chapter also tells us that it's very likely that our husbands aren't going to pray for us in the same way that we pray for them, or even at all. This is where this thing goes against our nature of "What have you done for me lately?" (thank you Ms. Jackson - sorry, couldn't help myself). We truly have to pretty much die to that way of thinking, in order for our prayers to be effective. And I've already come across days where the last thing on my mind was praying for my husband to have a great day, and for blessings to come his way. In fact, I was thinking more like, I hope he has a really crappy day and that a bird poops on his shoulder, then maybe he'll realize what a butt he was being to me today. But that type of thinking is not what is going to make my marriage better.

A suggestion in this chapter that I think is valuable as well is to find one or two other women you trust, that you can get together with, either in person or on the phone, on a weekly basis to pray and encourage each other. We don't need to go into all the details about what a jerk our husband has been that week, but rather according to PPW "the purpose is to ask God to make your heart right, show you how to be a good wife, share the burdens of your soul, and seek God's blessing on your husband."

I truly believe that any woman, at any stage in her marriage, even if it's going great right now - would benefit from praying for her husband on a regular basis, daily if possible. I know I'm going to try my hardest to do it every day.

If you want to join along in Marriage Mondays, I would love for you to join me and share your journey if you'd like! In fact, I'm going to try my first MckLinky list. :)

Thursday Survey

2009-10-01T09:29:00.002-07:00

A big thanks to my Mommy for emailing me a survey thingie to do today, so that I wouldn't have to come up with my own post topic. BUT, I do want to say a couple of things:

#1 - Don't buy a container of mixed fruit from the convenience store. The fruit is yucky...even if you bought it before the 'sell by' date. It has somewhat of a wine flavor, and that can't be good.

#2 - My 19 month old had me crackin' up last night on our way home from our mid-week church thing. She was singing her ABC's, and at the very end, she decided to do a hodge-podge of ABC's and Twinkle Twinkle...it ended like the "Now Ah know mah A, B, Sheee's, Nest Time Wonduh Whatchoo Ah" ha!

OK...on to the survey thingie - feel free to fill it out and post it too!

Where is your cell phone? On my desk

Your significant other? Where is he? Or what's his name? My mom put her hubby's name, so, mine is Aaron. hehe :)

Your hair? Blonde-ish

Your mother? Lisa - she lives in Texas, this bothers me. I miss her.

Your father? Allan - lives in California - talked to him yesterday, he was stressed and busy.

Your favorite thing? The ocean

Your dream last night? Hmmm...I know I remembered right when I woke up, but darned if I can remember it now.

Your favorite drink? When I'm allowed to drink alcohol, it's a margarita on the rocks with salt. Non-alcoholic is probably iced tea, or water.

Your dream/goal? Stay home with my kiddos more, run a successful business, and then end hunger and child abuse.

What room are you in? My office.

Your hobby? Hmmm...I don't really have a 'real' one - but the activity I'm finding I spend the most money on currently is organizing my house - so I guess my hobby is technically 'organizing stuff'. Kinda boring huh?

Your fear? Argh...I hate talking about this one, because it makes me feel sick to my stomach - but honestly, my biggest fear is one of my children passing before me.

Where do you want to be in 6 years? HeHe...this was kinda funny to me, because on most interviews it's 5 or 10 years, but this one is 6. Hmmm...6 years, I will be almost 36 - I will be preparing to send my first child off to college - and all the rest of my kiddos will be in school as well - maybe I'll be able to find an actual hobby by then. :) But on the serious side...I'm hoping my business will be doing extremely well, that we'll finally own a house, that we'll be able to take 2-week vacations, that we'll be able to contribute significantly to our community's needs, and uh...that I'll have the body of a supermodel (had to throw one superficial thing in there!)

Where were you last night? Home, then AWANA, then home again

Something that you aren't? A quick thinker on my feet - I always think of the best things to say about a day or so later

Muffins? Blueberry please

Wish List Item? A craft room - you know, for all the hobbies I do.

Last thing you did? Put a piece of a King Size Hershey's Cookies n Creme bar in my mouth

What are you wearing? A maternity shirt, some jeans, and flip flops

TV? Ummm...what about it? I watch it - my new show is 'Medium' now that its on Lifetime every night. I think I've just about watched every re-run of 'NCIS' that they've shown, so I'm over that show for now.

Your pets? 2 inside cats, and 6 outside cats

Friends? A few really good ones, and a handful more of friendships I'm developing into good ones, hopefully :)

Your life? Is busy, but it's awesome

Your mood? Happy

Missing someone? Yep -my momma, my BFF (but she's coming back in a few months), my daddy

Drinking? Water

Smoking? Nope

Your Car? 2004 Ford Expedition

Something you're not wearing? Socks

Your favorite store? Target

Your favorite color? Blue

When is the last time you cried? Yesterday, when I read Mama Mary's post

Where do you go to over and over? Work, home and Target

Favorite place to eat? Ajo Al's, Kona Grill, Pei Wei

Place I'd Like to be right now? The ocean

Okay - your turn!

PrompTuesday #75 - Woulda, Coulda, Shoulda

2009-09-30T10:06:00.003-07:00

Wow, it's been a long time since I've participated in a PrompTuesday, but I I couldn't pass this one up.

It was inspired by Mary over at the Mama Mary Show, and brought to you by Deb at San Diego Momma.

Here's the Prompt:

“Let’s say I am casting for a new reality tv show/web series called “Woulda, Shoulda, Coulda.” Either write or webcam your story about who you are, what you do now, and what your “woulda, coulda, shoulda” story is as your audition piece–you can post it as a comment, send it to me via email, or post it on your own blog/facebook page. And then come up with a scenario we could “play out” on the show — for example, Melanie said she would be a big time event planner caterer, so maybe her segment is partnering with Oprah’s party planner/caterer team Debi Lilly and Colin Cowie to plan a ginormous event that is her creation from start to finish.”

Okay - so here goes - I tend to be long-winded, but I'll try and make this as interesting and concise as possible. ;)

Growing up, I had a lot of dreams - doctor, lawyer, Indian Chief (okay, just kidding, that was a game we played in school). But seriously, I think my first one was to be a doctor, but that was pretty short-lived and didn't make it past my 7th or 8th birthday. Then, around 10 or 11 years old, I discovered that I really liked to write, so I thought I would be an author. This thought stuck around, and I spent a lot of time writing all throughout school, whether it was poems, stories, or journals. I had some of my poems published in our school newspaper, and my English teachers were pleased with a lot of my stories. But, I just never took it much farther than that.

Then...there was dancing...I ate, breathed, slept, drank, dreamed, about dance from the time I was 8 years old until I graduated high school. I took class after class, ballet, jazz, tap, modern, technique, African...all of it. I performed with my dance studio at state fairs, local fairs, competitions, the State Capitol...and then when I made dance company at my school, I performed at football and basketball games, took workshops at ASU and performed in spring concerts where I choreographed many of the dances I performed in. My junior year in high school, we moved from Arizona, where I had spent my 4th through 10th grade years, to Las Vegas, NV. I auditioned for a Performing Arts high school, and was accepted into their dance program. This could have been my "big break", except for the fact that I was so pissed off at my grandparents for moving me during my upper-classmen years to another state, I pretty much looked for ways to rebel. About half way through my first year there, I pitched a fit (very mature of me, I know), and demanded that I be allowed to drop out of that school and go to my 'home school' which was the high school I would have been zoned for in the area we lived. The performing arts school was in downtown Vegas, about 40 minutes away from my house, and none of my friends lived close to me (this was a lie - I had several friends that lived on my side of town, I was just being a spoiled brat). And so...I dropped out of the performing arts school, proceeded to go to my local high school, made all the WRONG friends, ditched school just about every day, failed my English class, and just barely passed in all of my other classes - this was NOT like me, as I was a straight 'A' student. I moved back to Arizona, and lived with my mom and her boyfriend my senior year...got pregnant at the end of the year, graduated, had my baby in October that year and started life in the working world. The end.

Just kidding. ;) OK - so, I had a little thread of a dream that was interwoven through all of that. It was singing. I took choir for the first time in 7th grade, and my choir director built me up to think that I could be really good. That year, we were going to perform the "Pirates of Penzance" in front of the entire school. I was selected just for a back-up role, and I was fine with that. Then, the girl who had been chosen for the lead female role, had to back out. I was chosen to fill her place. Her songs were way out of my vocal range at that time - I tried to get the choir director to lower them - he said "No". And my voice cracked extremely bad, in front of the ENTIRE school, and parents, and God and everybody. I was crushed, broken and embarrassed. From that day on, I didn't sing in front of anyone on my own until I was 24 years old. I had performed in a couple community theatre plays, but my role was more of dancing than singing - and any singing I did was 'ensemble', no solos. I used to just buy CDs, sit in my room, and sing along with them - or sing in my car - or the shower. Finally, at age 24, I had 3 children, was a single mom - and I decided, "It's now or never." If I don't do something with this, I never will.

I started looking around for bands that were looking for a singer, found one, auditioned, and then nothing ever came of it. One night, I decided to go to karaoke night at a local bar, and invited my grandma to come with me. She had no idea I could sing - and she raised me for 18 years. hehe. After my song, a guy came up to me and said he knew a guy named Bobby that owned a restaurant in Scottsdale where they did karaoke, but before they opened up the mic to everyone that signed up, they did a "showcase" which was pretty much a group of regulars at karaoke, that Bobby liked to have come up and do a song or two. I started going to Bobby's restaurant for karaoke on Saturday nights while my mom watched the kids. Pretty soon I was doing the showcase, and then I got asked to do the "Dinner Show" - which was from 7-8pm, with a gal named Sandie. So, it was just Sandie and I, trading off songs, for an entire hour. I was SO nervous! But Sandie became one of my best girlfriends in the process! :) We did the dinner show for awhile, then we decided to see if we could get our own band going - we did, but it was short-lived.

Then, I found a guy that was looking for someone to record a song that he wrote. So, I recorded it...and nothing ever came of that either. What is it with the music industry? hehe ;) BUT - that song did get me accepted to the Colgate Country Showdown in Prescott. That was a GREAT experience, we actually got to sing up on a big stage in the community college amphitheater. After that, I joined the band that I had auditioned for a couple years prior (the one where nothing came of it at first?? yeah, that one). We actually did quite a few performances - we did the grand opening of a Toyota dealership, a silent auction at a big church, and then we got our first gig at a country bar. This was the beginning of the end for me - as I had met my hubby by this time (we weren't married yet though) - he wasn't too keen on the idea of his future wife singing in bars until 3am. At first I thought he was being stupid, and controlling - but then I saw it from his perspective - you know, a mom of 3 kids, in a bar with a bunch of drunks until the wee hours. So, I wasn't with the band much longer after that. My very latest singing venture was singing with our church band during the 'contemporary' service at 10:30. That was a LOT of fun - and I felt like I was singing for the right reasons and in the right type of place. Then...I got pregnant (AGAIN), and started not feeling so good in the AM - so I had to step down from the church band for a little while. And here we are...present day, with 4 kids and one on the way.

I don't think I would ever want to be a "famous" singer - because I think about all the time I'd have to be away from my family if I were to ever 'hit it big'. But, my husband plays guitar, and we've talked about doing open mics or coffee house type gigs locally, and that would be a lot of fun. But sometimes I just wonder what I "woulda, coulda, shoulda' done if my voice wouldn't have cracked in the 7th grade. :)

Here's a link to the one song I recorded, in the living room of a guy named Adam Matthews' with his recording equipment. Adam wrote this song, and I'm pretty sure he had it copyrighted, I just don't know what the number is. (basically, don't steal the song, k?) And be kind if you listen to it. ;)

For This I Give You

Who Loves Blog Awards??

2009-09-22T15:35:00.005-07:00

ME! :) And I just got one from Mary over at the Mama Mary Show! It's the Your Blog is Fabulous award and it looks like this:

(but is it just me, or does it look like she has a trail of toilet paper stuck to her high heel? That would be me - thinking I look totally awesome in my high fashion outfit, but then there's toilet paper stuck to my shoe. hehe)

So - the thing with this award/meme is to write about 5 things I'm obsessed with - I have a feeling mine aren't going to be as fascinating as some of the other bloggers that have had this honor bestowed upon them - but - here we go anyway - if I can write 100 things about me, I can come up with 5 right? :)

1. Starbucks Bottled Mocha Frappuccinos
I know now that I'm pregnant, I'm not supposed to drink caffeine...yada yada yada...but I got hooked on these things prior to my pregnancy, and I couldn't just stop cold turkey. When I was first introduced to these, I thought they couldn't replace my love for the actual Starbucks Frappuccinos - so I tried them hesitantly when they were introduced to the office fridge. And let me tell ya - they are YUMMY and they give me just the jolt I need when I have a lot of stuff to get done at work. When I get an actual Frappuccino, I always get Caramel with Whip - but in the bottled variety, I don't like the caramel flavored one as much as I like the mocha.

2. Organization and the objects used for organizing
Awhile back, I posted about how much stuff I have, and how I want to de-clutter my house. I've taken on this task, and so far, Ikea and Target have been my stores of choice for my Organizational tools. Thus far, we have organized my children's under-bed areas with clear tubs; my "junk" table with these cute green magazine boxes from Ikea - 1 box for my actual magazines, and 1 box for all the stuff that my kids bring home that they made for me that they don't want me to throw away, but they don't have an actual place for; my "junk" drawer - with a junk drawer organizer; my workout DVD shelf in my entertainment center, the previous organization was in the small brown boxes I packed them in when I moved - and they were just piled on top of each other - so I got matching green DVD boxes also from Ikea, and voila, my DVDs are hidden away in a fashionable manner. My next task is my childrens' closets and then my own closet - as well as my oldest daughters' dresser and desk areas - these will be accomplished with some more tubs, and some cabinets with shelves.

3. The Internet
This was mentioned on my 100 things about me post - but seriously - the software we use for my job is internet-based, I pay my bills, transfer funds, look up my daughter's grades, fill my daughter's lunch account, find movie times, add movies to my netflix, perform research, monitor my bank accounts, order lunch, take classes, blog, read blogs, shop, make hotel/flight/car reservations, get directions - the list goes on and on. You name it, and I will want to do it on the internet. I'm getting to the point now where if I'm going to do business with a company, you better have a website - if you don't, then you may as well not exist. If I can interact with your company mostly via your website/email, the better for me.

4. Making my children love each other - all the time
I know this is probably a moot point, but I absolutely can NOT stand the sibling rivalry crap between all my girls. It is like one of the top 5 things that piss me off. So, I have made it one of my top priorities to teach them to respect each other, love one another, and act in a mature way toward one another. Just this weekend, I made my girls write "I will love my sister as God loves me" 100 times for my 11 yr old and 50 times for my 7 yr old (she can't write as fast). I bought a book called "Keep the siblings, lose the rivalry" and I am ready to jump in and figure out how to apply every principle as soon as possible. I never grew up with any siblings, so most people will say - "Oh, it's just what siblings do" - but I refuse to accept that...or I will die fighting it. hehe

5. Keeping my toe nails short
Okay, I know this is a weird one - but I seriously can not stand it when my toe nails get even the tiniest bit of length on them. I don't know if it has to do with growing up as a dancer and getting ingrown toenails because of all the shoes that would squish my toes together (yuck, I know!) - but I keep them trimmed super-dee-duper short all the time. One time, because I thought my obsession with this was weird and not normal, I actually got fake toe nails (yes, they make them) from the drug store that had a french manicure on them and glued them to my toe nails to see what it looked like to have a big toe nail that actually went past the tip of my big toe - I hated it. I know they look somewhat better that way, especially when you want to get pedicures - but I just can't let myself grow my toe nails out.

Now to the fun part - I get to tag my friends in the blog-o-sphere with this Award / Meme.

To all of you ladies - I think your blogs are fabulous, I love reading them, they bring joy to my day (and if I didn't tag you this time, it doesn't mean I don't love your blog, I just think it's cheating when you tag everyone on your blog roll - not to mention it takes a long time to copy and paste the links...hehe):

Angela at Viva CookeVegas

Melissa at Green Girl in Wisconsin

Danielle at Don't Touch the Cactus

Kerri at I'm Just Sayin'

Have a great day!

Here it Goes...My 100th Post

2009-09-19T21:39:00.003-07:00

So here it is folks...my 100th post. I've read some other blogger's 100th posts for some inspiration. Here goes:

1. I was born Crystal Leigh Mathews
2. On April 22nd, 1980
3. In the city of Orange, CA at St. Josephs Hospital
4. My mom and dad were 19 and 20
5. Ultimately, I ended up being my mom's only child - my dad remarried and had another daughter, Annaka - I think she's 18 or 19 now
6. I have 4 daughters, with a 5th child on the way in February
7. My favorite color is blue, although I rarely wear anything blue
8. I have 2 inside cats, and 6 outside cats that I care for - yes, I am the "Cat Lady"
9. My mom was adopted, and just a few years ago found out her biological mom's middle name was Crystal
10. All my life I went without any Aunts, Uncles or Cousins until my mom found out she had 4 brothers
11. I met my best friend in the 4th grade, but we didn't become best friends until 6th grade
12. We were going to live together in New York, and she was going to act and I was going to sing - that didn't happen obviously
13. But, aforementioned best friend and I did perform in many community theater plays together as kids
14. I'm afraid of spiders
15. I bite my fingernails and crack my knuckles, and have since I was a kid
16. I have 4 tattoos - and plan to remove all but one of them.
17. My belly button was pierced - now there's just a hole
18. Speaking of belly buttons, my belly button looks like it is smirking at the bottom since I had my gall bladder removed earlier this year.
19. As soon as I paid off my very first car, I had to buy a new one because my family grew.
20. I got into my career field from a job I got through a temp agency when I was 17 and pregnant.
21. I was raised by my grandparents.
22. I grew up in a really sheltered town - when we moved to Vegas when I was 15 I was severely culture shocked
23. My first job was a busser at an Italian restaurant, at age 14, in the really sheltered town
24. I used to read books under my grandparents' dining room table
25. My toenails are rarely ever painted - gross I know
26. Most of my underwear are granny panties (TMI but whatever)
27. I love Ben & Jerry's Cherry Garcia and Karamel Sutra ice cream
28. My favorite book is Anne of Green Gables
29. My favorite movie for the longest time was Steel Magnolias - I don't think I have one now.
30. But I do like pretty much every movie with Kate Hudson or Jennifer Lopez in it
31. I wish I was Faith Hill's friend
32. I hate going to crowded places with my children, it stresses me out.
33. Actually going anywhere with my children stresses me out, I'm trying to get over it
34. #32 & 33 are because of safety reasons, not due to their behavior in public. hehe
35. I wish I could live near my dad - I never have.
36. The ocean is my favorite place.
37. I'm addicted to doing everything on the internet - shopping, paying bills, reading news
38. I have a gym membership, and haven't gone in close to a year.
39. I still subconsciously choose Sprite as my soda of choice from having a Mormon upbringing
40. I can't stand horror movies, they give me the heebie jeebies
41. My favorite cookie is a soft sugar cookie
42. My favorite dessert is fried ice cream from Ajo Al's restaurant
43. I've been in a couple country-western bands and competed in the Colgate Country Showdown
44. My grandma built my foundation of faith, even though she doesn't think so
45. I wish my husband was more like my grandpa sometimes, but am glad he is who he is most of the time
46. I'm too independent for my own good occasionally
47. I started using some serious anti-aging skin care products this year
48. I wish I could get back into dancing somehow, but I can barely touch my toes now
49. My oldest being in middle school scares the poo out of me.
50. Everyone who makes me upset in traffic gets called a stupuh-dass
51. Child abuse really bothers me - I can hardly stand to read or hear about it on the news
52. I never went to college
53. I've only lived in 3 states - California, Arizona and Nevada and haven't visited many more than that.
54. Skiing freaks the be-jeesus out of me - my husband says I'm the only person he knows that can ski uphill
55. I also thought there was a right ski and a left ski when I couldn't get my boots to snap in
56. My husband is a patient man, hehe
57. I didn't really know much about keeping house until just a few years ago.
58. Now I'm somewhat of a freak about it
59. Recycling is about as 'green' as I get at this point in my life
60. I've entertained a gajillion business ideas since I was in my early 20's - but I've finally settled on one - more on that to come real soon.
61. I'm still waiting to be independently wealthy though.
62. I am very afraid of the day that one of my grandparents passes away - very afraid
63. Singing in the car is one of my favorite things to do
64. My creative side is being crushed by my analytical side - trying to find a balance
65. I've had two of my children with anesthesia and two without - this last baby will also be born without
66. I have a fairly high tolerance for pain
67. I learned how to ride a dirtbike on Valentine's Day this year
68. Two months later was my birthday, and my husband bought me brand new really cute riding gear - the next month, I found out I was pregnant - no more riding for me.
69. My grandma always made me take a bath using a washcloth - I never use one now.
70. I own a guitar, and don't know how to play it.
71. Joining the PTA takes courage - I did it for the first time last year
72. All of my girls have different personalities, I'm trying to find the pieces of me in each one of them
73. Naps are my favorite
74. I sneak sweet stuff when my husband isn't around
75. Since I moved out on my own, I've moved to a different house/city at least every 2 years - I've been in this house for 3 and I'm itching.
76. I have a magazine addiction - I'm in recovery and have cancelled many of my subscriptions because I had a stack going back to December last year that I hadn't read yet (but I just totally subscribed to 2 more magazines because that's the only thing they had on my daughter's fundraiser this year).
77. I hate fundraisers
78. Christmas has lost its magic for me, I'm hoping I can find it again
79. Our family tradition is to eat spaghetti on Christmas Eve
80. I have 5 books on top of my night stand and 3 more on the shelf underneath that I'm trying to read at the same time - I also have 2 more on my bookshelf in the other room that I'd like to re-read (maybe what I have is actually a reading addiction not limited to magazines)
81. I've had my hair long, short, dark, light, curly, straight - you name it, I've done it to my hair (except for a mohawk, or a beehive - OK, I guess there's still lots of stuff I haven't done to it yet)
82. For some reason, I desire change a lot - hence the moving, the changing of the hair, and the tattoos - psychoanalyze that one
83. I'm really glad I started blogging - writing is a really good outlet - and I've made some great bloggy friends :)
84. I listen to all types of music - the only genre I really stay away from is rap - I used to like some rap, but now it's just gone way overboard.
85. I wanted to be one of Janet Jackson's backup dancers when I was a teenager
86. I think it's dumb that they came out with another version of 90210 and Melrose Place - I mean seriously, are we out of ideas people?
87. Only 13 more, I think I can make it
88. OK, #87 was cheating - the last concert I went to was Weezer, and it was awesome
89. Or maybe it was Martina McBride, and she was awesome too
90. I would like to learn how to surf sometime in the next couple of years
91. I get majorly pissed off when I've spent hours cleaning the house, and someone makes a mess in an area I just cleaned
92. I'm making headway in my de-cluttering project
93. I discovered the best time to go to Ikea is on a weeknight, about 2 hours before they close
94. My black thumb is getting greener by the year - I've now kept a plant in my office alive since Janaury
95. People sometimes mistake my shyness for being conceited - I'm an outgoing introvert, if that's even possible
96. I try to see people I don't like through God's eyes, but it's really really hard, I tell ya.
97. My husband's boat freaks the crap out of me, and I scream at him when he goes too fast
98. I wish I could stay at home with baby #5
99. It makes me have a mini internal freakout at the thought of me having 5 kids
100. I pray I continue to learn and grow, and be even farther along in my journey when I get to my 200th post. :)

And there you have it folks.

Intimidated

2009-09-17T10:33:00.002-07:00

OK - So today is my 99th post - so that means the next one I do will be my 100th (yes, I can do math, yay me!). And I have read lots of other blogs where people have done really cool things for their 100th blog post, like write 100 things about them, or, ummmm...uhhhh...actually mostly people write 100 things about them. :) I don't know if I could do that, I might get to 30 - I just honestly don't know if there are 100 little tidbits of info that the general public would like to know about me. So, as soon as I hit "Save" on this post - I'm going to be dreading my next one - maybe no one would have ever known it was my 100th post - but I would have known. Every time I go to my little dashboard, I would see that I was getting ready to create my 100th post - or if I decided to be dishonest and skip it, I would see that I was past 100 and would never get that one back. I mean, how cool is it to say, "This is my 113th post"? Definitely not as cool as 100th. OK - that was a lot of paragraph dedicated to something not quite so important. :)

Take a look at my little baby in a bubble in my left sidebar - isn't he or she getting so big!! After this week, I am officially at the half-way mark. Woo hoo! I'm feeling a lot more movement, it's pretty nifty. It's strong enough that my hubby can feel it now too. My little Baby Pants talks to the baby, even though I'm not sure she really understands what she's doing - she will point to her belly and say "Baby?" too - so I think she probably thinks everyone has a baby in their belly at this age. But she hugs my belly and kisses it and everything, and it's really freakin' cute. And she says "Hi Baby" in her cute little toddler voice. I totally need to videotape her singing her ABC's and Twinkle Twinkle Little Star because it's so darn sweet.

This week, me and Cita (7 yr old) and Monkey (4 yr old) came down with the sickies for 2 days. We stayed home and drank DanActiv Immunity booster, and ate chicken noodle soup and sprayed Lysol everywhere! And the little buggy only stuck around for 2 days - we have residual cough but it's at least tolerable. I hate being sick - and I especially hate being sick and pregnant. Not a fun combo.

But needless to say, I should be working and not blogging - so I better run. Hope everyone has a great day!

So Much To Blog...So Little Willpower

2009-09-09T23:06:00.002-07:00

I am amazed at the swiftness with which time is passing me by...seriously, WTH? I blinked and it was September - not only September, but just one hour away from being September 10th!! That's like almost half-way through, people!! So, I hate to do it but....dun dun dunnnnn...BULLETS!!

The ultrasound on 09/01/09 went well - I didn't cave and find out the sex, so as far as we know we're having a healthy baby something-or -other. :) My placenta is low (I know, TMI, right?) - for now it just means they have to watch it and make sure it moves up as the baby gets bigger, if not, it means a c-section for me, which I do not find awesome at all.
My girls are in full swing of school, they've got the routine down, and it's pretty cool. (totally didn't mean to make that rhyme, it just happened that way, I swear)
I've been having some really cool 'aha' moments with my relationship with God, and in turn my relationships with other people. The first one I'll mention was more about my personal relationship with God - I became awe-struck last week at the thought that God, the Creator of the Universe, truly desires a one-on-one relationship with EACH one of us, and He and only He is capable of having that. How many people do you know that can have one-on-one relationships with the population of the world? Yeah, none. AND - not only that, but His relationship with each of us is completely different than anyone elses - He know ME, and how I relate to things, and that's different than how you relate to things. This got WAY deeper, but if I keep going, this won't really classify as a bullet point and I still have one other one to talk about. The other was having God reveal marriage to me from a dude's point of view, except I actually understood it...probably because my husband drives the comparable concept home all the time - and that is Marriage is like a car - in order for it to keep running, it requires constant maintenance. If you don't take care of your marriage, thinking that it's running just fine, you are likely to end up with a huge mess on your hands in not too long of a while. So, just like you have to change the oil, rotate the tires, get your 30,000 mile service, and wash your car - you have to maintain your marriage as well - don't just assume things are going okay and then have your engine drop through the floor onto the freeway.
I am starting a new business venture - yay! More on this to come - I know, I hate when other people do that to me, and now I'm one of "them". It will be running in conjunction with my full-time job, so I'm not quitting or anything. (just in case my bosses are reading - they're not though)
We went camping as a family for the first time over Labor Day weekend (just one night) - we did it 'tentless' (which I will never do again) - and it involved critters (read: raccoons and skunks, oh my)
I'm volunteering for the AWANA program at church - it's basically a fun Bible-verse memory program held at a local church - they work through books, recite verses, and get little prizes. My girls participated for the first time last year, they had a blast! I'll be working with 3rd through 6th grade girls - and strangely enough, none of my girls currently fall into that age group. My oldest moved up to the Middle School program this year (waaaah), and my younger 2 are in 2nd and Kindergarten - so my 7 yr old just missed having her mom as her teacher - phew that was a close one!
I got my kids all signed up for extra-curricular activities - Cita is currently taking karate through a program they offer afterschool once a week. SAM is signed up for volleyball and Monkey is signed up for soccer - both of those sports are through the same recreational program, and they start up in October.
I need a massage badly.
I'm hungry (what's new?)
My BFF in the whole wide world is moving back to AZ from Germany while her husband is deployed to Afghanistan for 6 months. You have no idea how EXCITED I am about this!

OK - end bullets. :) I feel somewhat better now that I've caught you up on most of my life - but I'm still extremely behind in reading your blogs...I'll catch up, maybe not on ALL of the posts I missed, but on the last few days at least...I promise!! :)

Good night!

So...ummmm....yeah

2009-08-31T13:01:00.002-07:00

So, I posted last Monday thinking that I was going to be able to get back on track with my blogging frequency, but last week went by so fast, I'm still dizzy!

Basically I'm a Client Manager at work for one client, but since things have somewhat slowed down for them as far as projects are concerned, I've been pulled onto a couple projects for two of our other clients. One of the projects is extremely time intensive and I've been spending the majority of my time working on that. The work is heavily analytical, and it's making my brain hurt.

On another note, my girls are now in their 3rd week of school and are really enjoying it. I got to go to a curriculum night for my 7th grader, and her group of teachers seemed to thoroughly enjoy teaching - even their presentations for the parents were entertaining. So, I can only imagine if that is truly their teaching style, that the kids will definitely have some fun while learning at the same time this year. I still have to meet my 2nd grader's teacher, but Cita seems to like her. Cita always likes school though - I think it would take a really crappy teacher to turn her off from liking school. My little Monkey is in her private Kindergarten class at the preschool she attended last year - French class has started up again for her, so she's been counting in French at home. And saying "Le boo boo" a lot (which is really 'le bonbon' - French for 'candy').

Aaron and I put an offer in on a house around the corner from ours on Saturday. It's on a "short sale" property, so the process takes a bit longer than a regular sale. Also, we are in 'backup' position, meaning someone else beat us to the punch and got an offer in before us. Our realtor wasn't too stoked about putting this offer in because he thought it would pretty much be futile - but I asked him if it would do any harm, and he said no. So, he obliged us. :) In previous conversations with him, he had mentioned that in many cases the first person to put an offer in on a short sale eventually drops out, because they find something they like better that they can close on sooner. So, that's why I was thinking it would be a good idea for us to put in the backup offer. We're not really in any rush to close, so we have a bit of time to wait. It's a 4 bdrm with a large den - plenty big to accommodate our growing family. No pool - so that kinda sucks, but we can put one in at a later date. Until then, there's always slip n' slide and kiddie pools, and the good ol' fashioned water hose. :) I used to love running through sprinklers when I was a kid - who needs a stinkin' pool? hehe. And my faith really plays a big part in this process...because I feel like if this is the house for us, then things will just work out the way they need to - if not, something better will come along. So, I'm not really worried about it either way. :)

Hubby and I saw the movie "District 9" yesterday afternoon. Pretty interesting movie. I won't ruin it for anyone that hasn't seen it - but it does leave you wondering if there is going to be a sequel. Also, since we're talking about movies - I did see "The Time Traveler's Wife" a week or so ago. I read the book a little over 5 years ago, and then once I saw movie trailers for the movie, I read it again so I could refresh my memory. I think they did a pretty good job capturing the essence of the book - of course the book gives you a lot more detail, but I didn't walk away from the movie feeling frustrated that they didn't put in key parts, or that they added "fluff". If you get a chance, check it out, and then read the book and let me know what you think. And then finally, the countdown to "New Moon" is on...less than 3 months. Yes, I'm a Twilight Mom. Totally dumb...I know - but the books are actually really good. The first movie kinda sucked (no pun intended) in my opinion - but they have a new director or producer or something this time around, and had a bit longer filming time & budget, so the actors are saying really good things about this movie. So, my daughter and I will go to see it - probably not opening night, but maybe opening weekend some time. :)

OK - I think that's a good recap for the past couple of weeks. Oh yeah, and I have my ultrasound tomorrow! Usually this would spark the excitement of finding out the sex of the baby, but since we're not finding out, it's more of a confirmation of due date, and ensuring the baby's development is going as planned. My dad called me this weekend and said that my step-mom keeps bugging him to ask me what we're having because she wants to start shopping - and I said "Well...we're definitely having a baby....not a monkey, or a 3-toed sloth" (okay, I actually stopped at the word "baby" - I thought of the monkey and 3-toed sloth thing this morning - I'm not a very good 'on my feet' thinker, so the funny stuff always comes a day or two later).

Hope everyone had a great weekend!

I'm Alive!

2009-08-24T09:42:00.003-07:00

Oh my goodness - I can't believe it's been over a week since the last time I posted! Crazy! My kids started school, and work has gotten really busy as well - but I think I'm getting back into the routine now and my posting frequency will pick up. I'm actually starting a new thing tomorrow, so be on the lookout for that!

Sorry this post has to be short, but I have a meeting in 20 minutes - just wanted to let everyone know I'm still here and doing well. :) My tummy keeps growing, and I'm at the stage where I finally look pregnant - I think I felt some little flutters of movement this weekend as well! YAY!

Hope all of you are doing well! See you tomorrow!

It's Raining, It's Pouring (no it's not - but it did rain)

2009-08-13T10:20:00.002-07:00

Yippee!!! It rained from about midnight to 6:30am at my house this morning. I love waking up and hearing rain, it makes me happy. Why couldn't today have been my daughter's "Walk Around" at her middle school? It was yesterday, and it was freakin' hotter than Hades - and the middle school campus is designed as such that all the classrooms face toward a courtyard and all the doors are outside. Gone are the days of the elementary school where all the classrooms are inside an air conditioned building. So, I sweat my bootie off yesterday walking with Sereana from classroom to classroom...and have I mentioned I'm pregnant, and I already don't like the heat - but being hot and pregnant is the pits. And I'm not even THAT pregnant yet, I'm barely into my 2nd trimester - but I like blaming my crankiness on that, I get more sympathy that way. hehe

Yeah - while most people's kids started school weeks ago, my kids are finally starting this Monday. I remember 3 weeks ago thinking to myself, "Wow, the kids start school in 3 short weeks!" - and let me tell you they have DRAGGED ON FOREVER AND EVER!! I'm like "Good Lord are these kids ever going to start school?" But of course I'll be taking that sentiment back in a couple weeks when I'm helping with gobs and gobs of homework, and going to school functions galore - then I'll be thinking "How much longer until summer?".

My baby, who is 18 months now, has obtained a nice milestone of being able to be put to sleep in her bed while she's still awake and she doesn't cry! She used to fall asleep while drinking her night-time bottle, but that stopped about a month or so ago and then she would think it was playtime again. So, I would turn off the light and lay with her until she fell asleep. But this whole process from bottle to actually sleeping would sometimes take over an hour - so I said "Oh no, this is not going to work. If she's not sleeping by 8:30, I'm putting her in her bed anyway." And so I started doing that, and for about 2 weeks, she would cry every time I laid her down. She would only cry for about 5 minutes, but I still somewhat felt bad. And I hope I'm not jinxing myself here by writing about it - but for the past few nights, I've been able to lay her down and she just rolls over and doesn't make a peep! YAY! We're probably going to start potty training soon too - it would be nice to have a potty trained toddler before the new baby arrives.

Anywho, that's about all I have time for today - have a great day everyone!

STUFF!!!

2009-08-05T16:20:00.004-07:00

OK, at first this post was going to be about why I wait so long to do laundry and then have to go to the laundromat and wash 4 loads at once. So, I will talk about that briefly - Why do I wait so long to do laundry and then have to go the laundromat and wash 4 loads at once?? I'll tell you why - I hate laundry, that's why. I don't so much mind the washing it - it's the folding it and putting it away part that I don't care for. I need to hire a folder/putter-awayer. I would have my 11 yr old do it, and trust me, that is definitely going to be on her list of responsibilities for this year - but she helps me at the laundromat too, and I am constantly refolding her folds. I'm not the best folder on the planet, and I know I should probably let it go, but ugggh...I can't. Anywho - so there's a great feeling once you know ALL the laundry in the entire house, including towels, has been done. PHEW!! But then guess what happens when you get home and you have to put it all away???? (And now for the MAIN topic of this post...)

You realize you have WAY TOO MUCH STUFF!!! When every shred of laundry is done, you go to put it away, and you are literally cramming clothes into every nook and cranny of the drawer - holding the clothes down with one hand and sliding the drawer shut with the other hand and hoping that the drawer doesn't explode and shoot clothes all over the room. Goodness sake! So, then you start looking in the drawers, and realizing that neither you nor your children wear half of the crap that's in the drawers.

And guess what that realization makes you do? Yep - you start surveying the rest of your closet, and your room for that matter. And then you think about your junk drawer, and the stack of magazines on the counter. And all the birthday cards you're holding on to for "posterity" - the list goes on and on. And then just short of a major freakout - you decide - I am going to de-stuff my house. You realize the task is daunting, you promise yourself that you will do it in small chunks, no matter how badly you want to do it all in one day, and then...you go sit on the couch and wonder if your plans to de-stuff will ever come to fruition.

Oh yeah...I'm totally doin' it. Not saying it's going to be easy. But seriously people...we have WAY too much stuff. The problem is, I could probably make some money off of a lot of this 'stuff' by having a yard sale, but that would require way too much organization on my part and I'm not sure if I'm up for THAT task. So, needless to say, Good Will and Savers are probably going to be the ones making some dough off of my stuff.

My goal is to have my house de-stuffed before the baby comes - Feb 2010. I'm probably not going to start the de-stuffing until after the summer is over (oh yeah, by the way, I decided today that I don't want to live in Arizona anymore, it's too damn hot) - so September is probably when I'll start, and then just a couple months later is 'holiday season' and I know things get crazy then, but I think I can do it.

The crazy thing is - I don't really think it's me that buys all this stuff we don't need. I have loving parents, grandparents, in-laws and friends that love feeling like they are contributing to our family, and I love that they do that - but I honestly think that's where most of the stuff comes from. So - do I send them all a letter/email/phone call letting them know about my de-stuffing process and to please not bring us more stuff? Or would that be rude? I don't want to offend anyone, but at the same time, I'm afraid if I don't speak up, you're going to be reading this exact same blog entry in a year's time. Know what I mean? Help!,

Wow - I feel lighter already. Do you feel like you need to de-stuff? If so, what is your process going to be like. And if you've had a yard sale and want to give me some pointers on how not to be afraid of having one, please feel free to share. :)

Friday Fill-Ins

2009-07-31T13:53:00.002-07:00

1. It's time for Friday Fill-Ins of course.

2. Work; it's not a bad place for working.

3. I must be getting old, when I got off the plane on Wednesday night my knees were killing me

4. Air Conditioning in the AZ summer is the best thing I have ever known.

5. My belly is simply expanding at a rapid rate.

6. The last time I laughed really loudly was when I was reading Unknown Mami's post about Ass Cheeks.

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to Friday Night Dinner, tomorrow my plans include going to my grandparents' house and Sunday, I want to go to church and then relax!

More Bullets

2009-07-27T20:48:00.003-07:00

Yep, more bullets - sorry, but it's the best I can do, I've been in an airport or on a plane since 8am this morning. I had to travel to Raleigh, NC to do some training at a system launch on Wednesday. Wish it would have been lighter when we got here, it's so pretty to see all the lush green surroundings when you live in the desert.

Our plane was delayed 2 hours, so instead of getting in at 8pm, we didn't get here til 10pm.

We're staying in a fancy schmancy hotel called the Washington Duke . It's beautimous.

My oldest came home on Saturday, and she actually texted me while we were in the same house! That is a 'no-no' and it was immediately brought to her attention.

My baby is almost 18 months old - and she's talking more and more, and it's making me sad that she's getting so old. Thank God I'll have my newborn fix in just 7 more months (wait, did I just say that?? I'm having a newborn in 7 months, holy crap!)

I don't think my toe is broken, I think I just bruised it, because it feels a lot better already and I can bend it now and stuff. But it's still purple, which is gross.

I want to be independently wealthy somehow

Oh, I got over half way through 'Three Cups of Tea' while on my flights, and there is hope people, it does pick up and it's very inspirational - so if you've picked it up but can't quite get into it, give it a couple more chapters. You'll get lost with all the different people he meets, and the style in which it's written is kind of distracting, but just try to glean the gist of it and you'll like it. I kind of have to read it in "skim" mode.

I don't like my Snickers to come from the refrigerator (I say this because I hadn't eaten since our stop in Dallas and I was hungry, but not hungry enough to order room service, so I looked in the mini-bar and there was a Snickers and that sounded good - but I don't like my candy bars to crackle when I bite into them, I like them to smoosh - unless they are meant to crackle, like a Crackle bar - is it spelled with a "K" though? I can't remember.)

OK, I think I'm done bulleting. Nighty night.

3 Things

2009-07-24T11:26:00.002-07:00

#1 - When did my husband and I start acting like we were 12 years old? I accidentally left my unfinished bowl of grapes on my dresser near the TV last night. So, I got up at 6:30am with our toddler - he got up at 7:30 to get ready. When he came out of our room, and took Baby Pants outside with him, I went to our room to start getting ready. Right outside the bedroom door, on the floor, was my bowl of grapes. Oh he showed me! So, what did I do? I went to the kitchen, cleaned my bowl, and put it in the dishwasher. I'd like to say I stopped there - but I didn't. Every SINGLE night of our existence together, we do the dishes after dinner and put them in the dishwasher - and every SINGLE night, he lifts weights and drinks a protein shake and at about 9:30pm has a snack, and all of these dishes he leaves in the sink!! The dishwasher is right there man!! Anyway - every morning, like the good little wifey I am, I clean his dishes for him and put them in the dishwasher. But not THIS morning. Instead, I took all of his dirty dishes and put them on top of his protein bar that he sets near the coffee machine...and then proceeded to get ready. Oh, I SO got him back. Neiner Neiner Neiner! Seriously, can we grow up please?

#2 - I broke my toe this morning. When I got up, I realized I had also left my daughter's bottle over on my dresser (along with the grapes) and had to walk over to the other side of the bed to get it. As I did this, I rammed my fourth toe into the wooden bed frame and broke my freakin' toe. It hurt then, it hurts now, and it's probably going to hurt for a while. I think they should hang beds from the ceiling, because it's not the first time one of my little piggies has been a casualty of that bed frame.

#3 - I almost had a major freakout this morning, when I booted up my laptop and it told me some Windows updates were running and not to shut down my computer. So, I waited patiently, and when I finally got logged on - my whole desktop was CLEAR! And all of my documents folders were EMPTY! (This is my work laptop by the way, which holds every single important file that I need). I had a mini panic attack - then I thought, if all else fails I have Carbonite (which is a web-based back-up tool, and all of my files would be stored there safely). I just didn't want to have to spend all day restoring my files. Anywho, I did what any girl with a computer problem would do...I rebooted and prayed that everything would magically reappear. And guess what??? It did!! YAY ME!

Okay - that's all. Happy Friday everyone!

(And don't forget to tell me how pretty my blog is. hehe)

My Blog Is Bee-Yoo-Ti-Ful

2009-07-23T20:44:00.000-07:00

My blog got a makeover, and it's gorgeous!! Crissy over at Crissy's Blog Design designed it for me, and I think it's just GREAT!! If you are itching for a blog overhaul, go see her!

Writer's Workshop

2009-07-23T10:23:00.000-07:00

This is my first time participating in the Writer's Workshop from Mama's Losin' It. She gives you a few prompts to choose from, you pick one, write about it, and then go back to her website and put your name in the McLinky thing that shows you participated.

This week, I saw an interesting one, and I think it might help you get to know me a bit better, and may make some of you think I'm weird and run screaming from my blog never to return. ;) Hopefully it's the former and not the latter.

So - I chose Prompt #5 - Describe what brought you closer to your faith.

There were a few things that brought me closer to my faith, or at least put me back on my journey to getting closer to God. I was raised by my grandparents, and they were practicing Mormons when I was a kid. My grandma never really taught me stories out of the Book of Mormon though, she taught me about Jesus from the Bible. She says she felt she agreed the most with Mormon doctrines, I'm not sure why, and I don't argue it with her anymore. But, I never really felt that being a Mormon was for me - the rules and some of things I read just didn't sit well with me. By the time I was about 13 or 14, I was the only one out of our family still going to the LDS church. My grandma still said she was Mormon, but she felt bad going to church because she drank coffee and smoked. I continued going to church off and on until I was about 16, then I stopped.

I got pregnant my senior year in high school, and had my first daughter 5 months after I graduated. Her father left and was not involved. I moved back in with my grandparents, and when my daughter was about 6 months old, I met a guy, and he loved me and my daughter so I moved in with him (much to my grandparents' dismay). About 6 months into the relationship, I started feeling a tugging on my heart to return to church, not the Mormon church, but I wasn't sure which church. Since I didn't know what church to go to, I just went to Walmart and bought a Bible (yes, Walmart). Of course, we are a "drive-thru", get it quick, culture - so I flipped to the end to see what happens (this is the book of Revelation, and it can be pretty scary stuff). So, here I am, this 18 year old kid, reading about how fornicators (me and my boyfriend) were going to get thrown into the lake of fire. I said "Ohhh...we are going to hell in a handbasket". We kind of laughed it off, but not really. We eventually grew apart because I worked days and he worked nights, and I ended up moving out and getting my own apartment for me and my daughter.

I started seeing someone else (this was a bad pattern for me as a young adult, I just could never seem to be alone). I had also started a new job, and was working with a gal that kept talking about her church and how it was really laid back, non-denominational and the pastor was really cool. I went with my new boyfriend one Sunday, and it was OK, a lot different than what I was used to (LDS church is all about being 'reverent'), and these people were standing up, and singing, and clapping their hands. I wasn't sure if I was going to go back, but I still felt tugging...God's kind of annoying like that sometimes (hehe). Anywho, when I was a senior in high school, I had gotten into going to raves (and all the illicit drugs that went along with it) - but obviously stopped when I was pregnant (ok, I guess that's not obvious as I'm sure there are some women out there who wouldn't stop just because they're pregnant...but I did). Anywho, I heard about a rave that was going to go on on New Year's Eve, and I hadn't been to one in a long time, so my mom watched my daughter for the night, and I convinced my boyfriend to go with me. He had never taken drugs, so he just drank a few beers before we went, but as soon as I got there I found the ecstacy guy, bought a pill and took it. As the night went on, we were dancing, and somehow got separated from each other. The next thing I know, I'm outside, kissing some other guy and my boyfriend walks up. He looked really hurt, and he left...he came back, and I left with him. When we were talking about it in the morning, I told him that I really needed to get myself straight, it wasn't right for me to live like that, and as much as I wanted to stay together with him, I just couldn't. He understood, and he was a really good friend to me for many years later.

So, that January, in 1999, I went back to my friend's church, and turned my life over to God. I was almost 19 years old at the time. I've been on my journey for the past 10 years - there have been more ups and downs, life has not been perfect by any means, and God doesn't promise that. In fact, He says there will be more trials and tribulations for being a believer. But I wouldn't trade anything I've gone through, it's made me the person I am today, and I'd like to think I'm a much better person now than I was 10 years ago and that I'm teaching my children now to develop their faith so maybe they won't have to go through ALL of the things I went through. I'm sure they'll make their own mistakes, but as long as they know that God is always waiting for them when they're ready to come back, I think they'll be just fine.

Slackin'

2009-07-22T10:01:00.000-07:00

So I've been slackin' on my bloggin' - I guess it's because I sort of feel like I haven't had anything blogworthy happen as of late. I'm working really hard on a project that is launching next week, so I guess much of my focus has been on that.

I guess I'm going to copy my buddy Angela over at The Hills, and if any of you read her blog (and if you don't, you should) - you may know what this means.....BULLETS!! San Diego Momma does this too - they are highly effective for recapping (and did you know that recap is short for 'recapitulation'?? I looked that up one day online). Anywho - let the bullets begin!

My oldest daughter is coming home on Thurday from her visit with my mom. Tons of drama ensued while she was there - she actually thought I would let her live with my mom for the next school year. Uh...no. There's some sad stuff involving kittens as well, but I don't want to make this blog a downer.

My second oldest daughter is coming home from her Dad's on August 15th. We will then have our full household back - it's going to be great...but weird at the same time.

After everyone is back, there is going to be much back to school shopping occuring.

During my company retreat last weekend, I got stung by a bee. I know many of you might not know this about me yet, but I have been deathly afraid of bees after being stung twice as a child, and I stored those experiences as very traumatic. So, whenever a bee gets in my vicinity, I always have a MAJOR freakout - the freakouts have calmed a little bit over the past few years as I've been trying to use my rational mind, but I always knew that if a bee stung me I would just about die from the pain (this was of course all in my head). So - I say all of this to say, that yes, it hurt, but not that bad, and only for a second - so I'm pretty glad that I got stung by a bee again as an adult so that I can now replace my traumatic memories with a not so traumatic memory.

I am in my 12th week of pregnancy - the gas has not stopped, the breakouts have not gone away, and I'm still pretty tired most of the time. I'm hoping when this week comes to a close, that the Second Trimester Fairy will come wave her magic wand over me and I will stop farting, my skin will glow, and I'll have my energy back! (here's hoping right?)

A few of you have asked how "Three Cups of Tea" is - well, I started it, and haven't picked it up again yet - I've been too engrossed in episodes of 'House' and 'NCIS'. What I've read so far has been pretty good - it does start off somewhat slow if you're not that into reading about mountain climbing, so I'm hoping when I pick it up again that it will get into the 'good stuff'. :)

My toddler has started sassing - this is great...not. I totally saw her doing the "I'm Pooping" face, so I asked her "Baby Pants, did you go poo-poo?" - "No" She says as she shakes her head. "Well, you smell stinky, so I think you went poo-poo. Did you go poo-poo?" - "No!" this time more adamantly. "Baby Pants, I know you went poo-poo, so let's go change your diaper". At this point, she starts shaking her finger at me and says "Buh Duh Del Mah Nuf Guh POO-POO!" (I interpreted this to mean - "No Mom, I think you are the one that's poo-poo!"). Ultimately, I win, and the poo-poo diaper does get changed...but only after she gets her own baby wipe (to help mommy) and proceeds to stick the wipe in her private area and then rubs it all over her mouth - great.

I got free Starbucks today - so that was awesome.

I'm barely 3 months pregnant, and already have to wear the "Belly Band" - you know, the thing that you probably would have worn as a mini-skirt back in the day, but now it's used so you can refuse to buy maternity clothes a bit longer, and still wear your regular pants with the button undone. It's a great invention...especially since affordable maternity clothes are ugly.

My latest funny conversation with my 4 yr old last night went like this "Mommy, is tomorrow a school day or a stay at home day?" - "It's a school day." - "Is it a show and tell day?" - "No dear, Friday is show and tell day." - "How come you know everything?" - "Because I'm a mommy, and mommy's know everything." - "Well, I know everything too, because I'm a big girl. I know what 'brain freeze' is, that's when your brain gets frozen." And then she skips away.

And now you are all caught up! :)

Friday Fill-ins

2009-07-17T08:42:00.000-07:00

It's time for Friday Fill-In's

1. Taco Shells and Hamburger make a quick and easy dinner.

2. Three Cups of Tea is the book I'm reading right now.

3. July brings back memories of being extremely, uncomfortably hot.

4. My craving for sorbet at 10 o'clock last night was obvious.

5. They say if you tell your dreams to random people, you might need to go to the funny farm.

6. I don't have time to think it over.

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to dinner with my company and our families (we're having a company retreat), tomorrow my plans include more company retreat fun at the hotel waterpark and Sunday, I want to go to church and maybe visit my best friend's mom!

I should have killed him when I had the chance

2009-07-14T14:04:00.000-07:00

Nooooo...not my husband, the huge freaking cockroach that I ran away from in the guest bathroom this morning!! I went in there to go potty, and there he was, in all his hugeness, sitting on the bathroom sink. I of course had an internal freak out - then I tried to shoo him back down the sink drain from whence he came, because I have no idea where else the bastard would have come from. But, instead he ran down the side of the sink and behind the toilet...where I left him, because I did not want to choose that battle today.

But then later I thought, my 4 year old is going to have to take a bath in here later tonight, and she will have a major EXTERNAL freak out if she sees that thing during the course of her bath, and she'll thrash around in the bathtub, smack her head on the faucet, and I'll have to take her to the ER...and that would suck.

So, I go back in, broom in hand, prepared to battle the beast. And yeah, you guessed it, nowhere to be found. Of course I'm trying to convince myself that he didn't find anything cool in there, and just decided to crawl back down the sink drain and get on with his nasty cockroachy life in the bowels of the sewer system somewhere. But part of me knows that he's hiding in a dark place, and then at the moment I least expect it, he's going to drop on my head, I'll thrash around in the bathroom, smack my head on the toilet, and have to go the ER.

Like I said, I should have killed him when I had the chance.

(Sidenote: Deb, does this count as my PROMPTuesday since the cockroach has an evil plot to send one of my family members to the ER with his nasty cockroachiness??)

Havin' a Bad Day? Watch This!

2009-07-09T12:36:00.000-07:00

OK, I just looked up the videos on You Tube where my daughter, Cita (who is now 7), was dancing to the 'My Humps' song by the Black Eyed Peas. She was just shy of 4 years old, and her dad recorded it when she was on a visit with him in California. At first I was mad because I didn't think it was appropriate for a 3 year old to be dancing to 'My Humps' - but you gotta admit, it's pretty darn cute and funny. So, if you needed a little chuckle today, click on the link below (for some reason I couldn't get the embed code to copy and paste properly).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-J_fl2UyhwE

PROMPTuesnesday - Looking Back

2009-07-08T11:40:00.000-07:00

Today's topic for PROMPTuesday (that I'm doing on Wednesday, yet again) is:

If you could live one year of your life over again in the identical way, which year would it be and why?

My answer would be my sophomore year in high school (94-95 I think?). This was the first year I made my school's dance company team - I had a job - my friend's had cars. I had a lot of fun during this year of high school - whereas a lot of people's senior year is their pinnacle of fun, it seemed to all go downhill after my sophomore year.

During this year I performed during pep assemblies, football games, basketball games, art festivals, and dance competitions. My friends and I all worked at the same restaurant (one of my PROMPTuesday's past describes this job) and had a blast, even though the job itself was somewhat gross. I was a young sophomore since I skipped Kindergarten, so all my friends were turning 16 and getting their driver's licenses. This of course enabled our ditching efforts. I remember when my friend Karin got her license and a brand new car - a Nissan Sentra - we decided to ditch school and drive it up a road out of Fountain Hills that never had much traffic on it and see how fast the baby could go - it could go 110, or at least that's how fast it went before we started kind of freaking out.

Money earned from working was spent at 5-7-9 or Wet Seal, or the Wherehouse (do you remember that store ? That's where we bought our tapes (singles!!) / CDs). We took un-chaperoned trips to the mall to talk to boys from other schools, and pretend we were older than we were. They had an upscale version of the photo booth at the mall, and we always had to stop there and take pictures of our cool selves.

Toward the end of my sophomore year, I discovered The Rodeo. I was friends with a few guys who thought they were 'cowboys' - if you know where Fountain Hills is, this will make you laugh (think country club retirement community). But we did have West World in Scottsdale. Again, the rodeos were not so much for watching the actual rodeo, but for meeting 'cowboys'...and underage drinking (oops, did I say that?)

River parties!! Oh yeah! Parties at the Verde River listening to country music really loud and trying to go 4-byin' (as we called it) with my boyfriend, whose truck wasn't actually a 4x4 - and getting stuck on the edge of 'Potty Hill' (it had a port-a-potty on it).

Mill Avenue in Tempe at Club 411 (they had an 18 and under night) - where we could go dancing and cruise up and down Mill listening to the 'Bad Boys' soundtrack.

Going to the State Fair - before we cared that it was really ghetto and scary.

Durango Ski Trip over President's Day Weekend!

Sneaking out of my best friend's house and driving to the Indian Reservation casino to have coffee in their little restaurant thinking that we were totally cool and rebellious.

I'm sure there was some not so fun stuff in there too...but I'd have to say I would totally relive Sophomore Year over again in the identical way.

Holy Summer Storm Batman!!

2009-07-01T22:34:00.000-07:00

OK, so I was just sitting here, reading other people's blogs, checking my email, yada yada yada - you know, all the stuff I do at 1030pm when my husband is out riding his dirtbike at the track and I can't sleep worth a hoot.

Then, all of a sudden I start hearing weird noises outside. At first I thought it was one of our umpteen cats (you can read about them here) - but it wasn't, it was a huge gust of wind that started blowing all of our backyard paraphernalia around.

And guess what?? As soon as I started to write about it, and took the time to look up the post about my cats so I could link you to it, the darn thing ended. That's a freakin summer monsoon in Arizona for ya - they end just as quickly as they start. We didn't even get any cool lightning and thunder. Oh well - so much for a really cool summer storm post.

OHHH! But I do recall that I forgot to tell you my heebie jeebie story from a couple weeks ago! So, my husband had to go to Utah for work a couple weekends ago - so I was home by myself with the girls. Anywho, we had just finished dinner, and I was getting ready to clean the cat litter box (cuz that's what everyone does when they finish dinner). The litter box is in our laundry room, and the room has a door that leads outside. So, I prop the door open with the container of cat litter (fresh litter, not used), grab a trash bag, and then unplug my cat litter box (yes, I have the electric one that sweeps it into the plastic bin - but you have to dump the whole thing every once in awhile, or it just gets gross). I hang one of the handles of the trashbag on the propped open door handle, and lift the cat litter box out of the laundry room and onto the sidewalk outside the door. As I do this...a FRIGGIN SCORPION STARTS RUNNING AROUND THE LAUNDRY ROOM WITH IT'S STINGER ALL A-CURL!!! I of course scream "HOLY CRAP" (except for Crap rhymed with Snit) - and my eldest comes running over to see what's going on. And I'm just rubbing my arms up and down because I now have a bad case of the heebie jeebies - because what if that thing would have been stuck to the bottom of the cat litter box and then fell on my foot or something???!!! Anyway, it ran under the trash bin that we use to collect our recyclables (yay! we're helping the earth) - and there was no way in hell I was going to kill that thing myself, and of course my freakin' husband had to choose THAT weekend to go out of town. Anyway, I had to go to 3 neighbors houses to track down a dude that would come to my house and kill the damn thing. And you know what he used?? A fly swatter!! Then he put the dead scorpion in a plastic jar with a lid so I could show Aaron when he got home. Of course I immediately called him and chewed him out for being out of town when I needed him. ;) After the fiasco was over and I had calmed down a bit, I thought to myself...WTF?? I care for EIGHT CATS, and not a damn one of them took care of this little scorpion issue for me? That's it...no more food for them. (yeah, that edict lasted about 30 minutes).

And that my friends is my summer storm turned scorpion story.

Total Cop Out

2009-06-30T21:22:00.001-07:00

OK, I'm totally copping out on this post - since I haven't posted in awhile, and I couldn't think of anything cool anyway - I am going to cut and paste a questionnaire that I was just asked to fill out for Mom of the Week on my local mommy's group website. Enjoy...hehe

What is your REAL first name? Crystal

How old are you? 29 (dun dun dunnnnn - 30 next year eeeeek!)

What is your profession: Project Manager/Account Manager/Business Analyst

Are you married, single, or dating? Married

How did you and your DH/SO meet? Through my mom - she worked a at a vet clinic in Fountain Hills that was having a new location built. My husband's company was the general contractor on the job, he showed up, saw my picture and asked who I was. He gave my mom his number, I called him, we went out on a date, and the rest is history...hehe

How do you feel about being a mommy? Awesome, overwhelmed, happy, proud, scared -- a bunch of emotions

Kids names that you didn't get to use? None, I actually ran out of names after my second daughter, I had to get creative after that

How long have you been a Mom? Almost 12 YEARS, holy crap!

How many children call you Mommy? 4 currently - but another one on the way

Girl? Boy? or both?: 4 Girls, and we don't know what the new baby's sex is - but we can probably guess!

Did you know what you were having? Yes, with all my girls I found out the sex, this is the only time I'm not going to find out until the baby is born

How old were you when you became a Mom? 17.5

How long were you in labor? 9-ish hours I think with the first one

What's your favorite thing about being a Mom? Having help around the house - haha - j/k, but that is pretty cool. ;) Watching my girls' personalities develop, teaching them new things, helping them develop their faith, discovering their talents

What's your least favorite thing? Sibling rivalry - it blows - hard

Do you want more kids? Well, whether we wanted more or not, another one is coming, LOL

Do you plan on having more soon? After this one, we are definitely D-O-N-E

One thing you will not give up just because you're a mom? Ummm...that's a tough one, I think I've given most things up because I'm a mom, and I'm not saying that's a bad thing - because I've picked new things up :)

What are you looking for in a playgroup? Moms that I get along with who have kids that my kids get along with. Nothing suckier than having a mom who you like, but your kids hate each other.

What value do you hope to instill in your kid(s)? Self Confidence

How many times have you been pee'd on by your kids? Too many to count

Barfed on? Again, too many to count

Is your child named after anyone? Sereana has my middle name (Leigh) as part of her middle name (Ashleigh), Mya has my mom's first name (Lisa) as her middle name, Audra has Aaron's grandma's middle name (Mae) as her middle name.

How did you come up with their names? I always knew I was going to name my first child Sereana - I had a summer camp counselor in the 4th grade who was named Sereana, and I thought she was the coolest. Then, when I was about 14, I started writing a book, and my main character's name was Morgan Taylor (so that's where Morgan got her name), I came up with Mya's middle name first (see above), and then started thinking of names that went with the middle name, did the same thing with Audra - middle name first, then chose a first name that sounded good with it.

When your child gets in trouble, who is the bad guy? Both of us

What is the longest you have been away from your children? Couple days

Are your toes painted? Nope

One thing you did give up now that you're a mom: I gave up my pursuit of dancing as a career - but that was a lifetime ago, so I don't really think about it too much anymore

Best Mom perk: : We have perks?

When the kid is napping, you are: Napping too

Where is your child(ren) now? sleeping

Store you can’t live without? Target

What (or who) is your favorite:
Food? Cheese enchiladas and Fried Ice Cream (not mixed together)
Author? Don't have a fave
Book? Anne of Green Gables, but I'm re-reading Time Traveler's Wife now that I found out a movie is coming out, and it's really great too
Season? Spring
Day of the week? Saturday
Snack you sneak bites from your child: Puffs
Pizza topping? Ham and Pineapple
Number? 7
TV show of all time? Gilmore Girls, but now I'm addicted to NCIS

Last movie you saw in the theater? My Sister's Keeper - saw it today, it made me cry - but I purposefully didn't bother wearing eye makeup

Your favorite thing to do in your mommy time: Get a massage, go to a movie by myself, read, get my hair done

If you could live anywhere in the world, where would you live and why? I don't know, I haven't seen much of the world - but I kind of like the US - I would live in a San Diego beach city if I could afford to live there comfortably with a house right on the water.

If you could have any job in the world, what would it be and why? I would prefer to not have a job - I'm so over working – I would rather just be a philanthropist that gave lots of money to children’s causes (I changed this answer slightly from my answer on the mommy website – my other one said to own my own business)

Are you from Arizona? If not, where are you from and what brought you here? Nope, originally from California, and my grandparents moved me here when I was 8 - I've since left and moved back a couple times

What was your first PM event? Dinner at Cheesecake Factory a couple years ago - I was actually pregnant then too

Event’s you would like to see here on PM I think the events they have are good - I can't make it to all of them as it is, so if there were more, I'd be overwhelmed. hehe

If you had an afternoon of time to yourself, what would you do? Take a nap, maybe go to a museum, or walk around downtown Scottsdale or something

What's the difference between moms & dads? HAHAHAH! Don't get me started - way too many things

Tell us about your child(ren) and your journey to becoming a mom. My journey started when I was 16 almost 17, I was a senior in high school, and I got pregnant by who I thought was my high school sweetheart that I would be with forever. That was not to be so. Sereana was born 10/28/1997 - she's going to be in 7th grade in the fall. Morgan was next, born on 03/30/2002, she's going into 2nd grade. Mya was born 11/14/2004, she's starting private kindergarten this year. And Audra was born 02/09/2008 - she's just about 17 months. Baby #5 is due 02/08/2010 - but he or she could definitely share a bday with Audra - that would be funny. :)

Michael

2009-06-26T13:44:00.000-07:00

So, below is the link to one of my favorite Michael Jackson music videos. I have always called it "Annie are you OK" - but it's really called "Smooth Criminal".

Also, my friend over at the Mama Mary Show, wrote this about Michael - it's such a vivid description of what it was like to have been affected by him in our generation. I will truly miss him. I know there are people who will think he was just this really weird guy, and won't miss him at all - but I don't think anyone will ever truly understand what it was like to be Michael Jackson, except him. Rest in Peace Michael.

Pregnancy Update

2009-06-25T10:47:00.000-07:00

I totally forgot to give you the update on my pregnancy. All my tests came back OK, so we are back on track and I'm less stressed out. And now I can go back to fussing about the minor annoyances of pregnancy...such as...the zits. I mean, seriously? I don't think I've had this many pimples since I was 14 years old. And they're everywhere, not just my face! But my chest, my back, my neck - What the Heck??!! My weight gain has stabilized though, and I haven't really gained anymore in the past couple weeks. I have my regularly scheduled appointment tomorrow morning - the one I scheduled several weeks ago before I had the complication last week. I think this is the one where they are going to take about 10 vials of blood. Oh Joy.

As if you Needed More Books to Add to the Pile (but there's a giveway!)

2009-06-24T16:17:00.000-07:00

I jumped on the bandwagon from San Diego Momma's website, and I'm linking you to a Summer Reading List - if you comment, or blog about the contest, or tweet about it, you get entered into a drawing for a $10 Amazon Gift Card. YAY!

Sniff...Sniff

2009-06-23T16:01:00.000-07:00

Do my armpits stink?

Two posts and no comments. :( Where is everybody?? ;)

When is a job, not a job?

2009-06-22T16:43:00.000-07:00

So, I'm having one of those moments...you know, those moments where you wish you could find what you love to do and do it for gobs and gobs of money? But then I start thinking of some of the cool things I would like to do, and then I follow it about 5 to 10 years down the road, okay, like 6 months actually, and I think to myself 'Would I really still like to do it after it's my job? Because doesn't something being your "job", take all the fun out of it?

Say that your dream is to become a rockin' hair stylist (which was one of my thought patterns for cool things I'd like to do, even though I way suck at doing hair...but I could go to school right?)...so you go to Vidal Sassoon school for hair, and you become totally awesome and you go work at a cute little trendy salon. You get to wear way cute clothes, and have a hairstyle that you would never get away with at a 9-5 suit job. But then, after months and months of washing, and styling, and sweeping up hair particles, and fighting with your salon co-workers because they keep "borrowing" your styling wax...then, is it still fun, and your dream? Or do you start thinking about something else?

As you're working as a hair stylist you think...wow, I'd love to be a massage therapist...because it'd be really cool to work in a fancy schmancy spa with soothing music all day and helping people relieve their stress. Everything is going great, until the first day you get Mr. Super Hairy Back Guy on the table...what do you do then?? My girlfriend's daughter is a massage therapist and I ask her questions like this all the time...and she's totally cool with all the funky stuff she encounters, and she handles it quite diplomatically...but she's like 22, so will she be cool with it for the rest of her life, or while she's massaging Mr. SHBG is she daydreaming about...

Becoming a famous singer?? (this is also on my list, as was the above mentioned Massage Therapist) So, you get vocally trained and you play in a band and you get stage experience and you make an album and you try and get heard by a bunch of different recording labels. And you finally get signed! YAY! That's totally exciting, but then you're whole life is booked for you from the time you wake up, to the time you go to bed, with radio appearances, autograph signings, performances, charity events...yada yada yada...and then don't you get burnt out?

So, you become a writer instead. You have this great idea for a book, and you stay up all night for weeks getting it finished. And you track down an editor and a publisher and stuff...and then they tell you...well, you have to take 30 pages out...by end of business tomorrow. So, you're so close to being published, but then you have to do all this work...do you really want to sit there and figure out which lines don't absolutely need to go into the story...or would you rather be reading other people's blogs about how cool and awesome their artsy fartsy life is? Because that's what I'd wanna do.

Is there a way to get paid lots and lots of money for reading other people's blogs? :)

Two Posts in One Day!

2009-06-19T14:26:00.000-07:00

OK, I took some pictures and wanted to share them today instead of tomorrow...so here we go.

The first is of my cats sleeping on my bed...while I'm working. They all know when my husband is not home, otherwise they would never be up on the bed. Isn't it totally cute though that they would all rather be snuggled up in the same space as me, instead of dispersed around the house on various lounging apparati?

The second is of SAM, holding her long tail of hair that was cut off yesterday. (Oh and it was a little over 10 inches, we measured) And Yes, we are donating to Locks of Love. :)

It's Friday!

2009-06-19T09:14:00.001-07:00

So, I looked at today's Friday Fill-Ins and they just looked a little too taxing for my brain to come up with something clever today...so I'm skippin 'em this week.

I'll just give you a little update on stuff instead. "Mmmm...that sounds good, I'll have that." (can anyone tell me what movie this is from?? You won't win anything, I'll just think you're really cool)

Anyway, this week was actually kind of stressful. I ended up in the ER on Tuesday because I was bleeding from a place you're not supposed to bleed from when you're pregnant. Needless to say, it freaked me out, and made me cry...in front of my co-workers...awesome. But my girlfriend/co-worker took me to the ER that was the closest to where we work, while I called my hubby and my mommy. Yes, I'm 29 years old, and I still call my mommy.

I had to pee in a cup, give some blood, and then they did an ultrasound. They didn't put me in a position where I could look at the screen...I had kind of mixed feelings about that. I wanted to see, but at the same time wasn't sure if I wanted to see, in case something was wrong. But thankfully, there was nothing wrong during the ultrasound. The baby had a heartbeat and everything, and they told me I had a 'subchorionic hemorrhage', which they kept trying to tell me happens all the time and everything would probably be fine. So, they let me go home...and the bleeding stopped later that night.

The next morning (Wednesday), I woke up with cramping, like what I usually feel before my period. So, again I somewhat freaked out...because when I had the bleeding, I had no cramping...but now I had cramping and no bleeding. I called the doctor's office, and they had me come in...they did another ultrasound, baby is still okay. Whew. The doctor just told me to take it easy for a couple days.

I worked from home yesterday, and felt pretty good..just somewhat tired I think from stressing myself out. And today, I had to go in for another blood draw so they can compare my bhCG levels from Tuesday to today. If those numbers continue to go up, then I'm doing good...if they go down, not so good.

I don't think I would be so paranoid about all of this if I hadn't lost a baby once before, and had all these same symptoms. That experience was horrible...all of the medical staff I dealt with were completely emotionally detached from the situation. My doctor even had the nerve to tell me it wasn't the end of the world. I know it's not the freakin' end of the world you moron, but it's still sad, and I have a right to be sad dammit! They kept referring to my baby as a 'non-viable' pregnancy. I realize it's the medical term or whatever, but have some heart people. Phew...guess I'm still harboring some bitterness about that. Sorry for the rant.

Anyway, I'm feeling like things will be fine...I'll just feel better once I get my blood results back and those numbers have gone up. I'll let you know.

But on to other things, since that was kind of stressful and sad stuff.

My oldest daughter, SAM, and I, got our hair cut yesterday. She cut off about 7 inches of hair...I only cut off about 3, because I had made my drastic cut from long to short about 2 months ago. She looks really cute...really grown up...which again, makes me sad. OK, sorry, this post is just going to be sad...that's just the way it is apparently. She's going into 7th grade in the fall, and can I just tell you that it freaks the livin' crap out of me?? Also, my Cita is going into 2nd grade, and Monkey starts Kindergarten. Only one "baby" left, until this baby is born...and even little Baby Pants is growing up. At 16 months she's very verbal, and she can sign like a mo'fo' (is that appropriate for a mother to say? whatever.) She's seriously signing like 30+ words...it's awesome. I'll have to take a video one day and put it on my blog...that is once I figure out how to get video from my camera onto my computer. This has been a task that has been daunting me for, oh, a year or so now. I'll get it figured out some day...once all the kids have gone off to college.

Alright, this post is getting very verbose, so I'm going to end here and let all you lovely people enjoy your Friday. And please, click on some of the links of the Blogs I Read...they are probably of a happier tone than mine was today. :) Have a great weekend!

Big Trucks..Skull and Cross Bones...and Jesus Stickers..oh my!

2009-06-16T10:53:00.000-07:00

OK...so this morning, I was driving to work, and I see this large Dodge Ram driving down the road. It was to my left, so at first I couldn't see it's bumper. What initially drew my attention, was this large skull & crossbones sticker on the back window that said this:

Then, as he sped up, and eventually got in my lane in front of me...I look down at his bumper, and see this:

Don't you always laugh when you see stuff like that? There is a reason why I don't put Christian stuff on my car anymore...I'm not perfect, but when you have a Christian symbol on the back of your car, everyone expects you to be. And then, when you're not, you give everyone who doesn't like Christians more reason not to like us. "Oh look at that lady in the Ford SUV that just cut me off...she's got a Jesus Fish on the back of her car. Some Christian SHE is." Isn't it funny that people who don't like Christians still have expectations of how we should act? They expect us to act differently than everyone else, with more kindness, integrity, stronger moral values...but what they don't understand is that we are human just like everyone else. However, we have an inner desire to change, to become the person God had in mind when we were born. Unfortunately, the process doesn't happen overnight...and we still might cut someone off, or lose our temper. I understand that not every person who claims to be a Christian has any desire to transform their lives...and if you don't, please don't put contradicting stickers on your car and make it worse for all of us.

Or if you insist on doing it, please add this sticker as a disclaimer (hehe):

Yippee Freakin' Skippy - It's Friday!!

2009-06-12T10:25:00.000-07:00

It's Friday!

1. I grew up thinking the bumps on the road were there so that blind people could drive.

2. vintagethirty.blogspot.com was the last website I was at before coming here.

3. Why don't you take my children for awhile so I can have a break, hehe?

4. Wine helps me relax, but I can't have any for awhile, so massages will have to do.

5. Thanks for the muffins and fruit at work today, I didn't get to eat breakfast at home.

6. Please let me know immediately if I become very off-putting.

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to picking up my Cita from Girl Scout Camp!!!!, tomorrow my plans include hanging out with a friend and dropping Cita off at the airport to spend the rest of the summer with her dad and Sunday, I want to go to church and get ready for another week of the grind!

PROMPTuesday on Wednesday

2009-06-10T23:13:00.001-07:00

Okay, so yesterday's PROMPTuesday was this:

What major decision(s) have you made in your life? What road did you take that led to something unexpected, or wonderful or not-so-wonderful-but-it-all-worked-out-in-the-end?

As I thought about it, the very first thing that popped into my head was, wanting to learn how to type. I was about 5 years old, and we had one of the typewriters that went "cha-ching!" when you slid the register back to the left...seriously, we had one. I'm THAT old. Anyway, my grandma was always in the office, clickety-clacking away, and I wanted to do it too. Well, my grandma thought she would deter my curiousity by telling me, "Chris, you can't play on Grammy's typewriter. If you want to use it, you'll have to learn how to type correctly." Little did she know that I would say "Okay, when do I start learning?!" So, she had some typing books on the bookshelf, and set me up with a bookstand, and had me go through the exercises. I think I sat at her typewriter for hours at a time, day after day...F-R-F, J-Y-J, K-I-K, D-E-D, click click click...click click click...CHA-CHING!!!

This decision has benefited me in so many ways. The first time was when I was in about 4th grade, and we started having computer class at school. We would have to type short stories, and it would take most kids the entire hour to finish theirs, and I would be done in about 10 minutes. I think I was probably typing about 45 to 50 WPM back then, with pretty decent accuracy.

Then, my grandma got me a video game for our Kaypro computer, called Word Wizard or something like that. It was a floppy disk (yes, floppy disk) with a bunch of typing games. One of my favorite ones was where you had to guard your planet. Asteroids with words in them would come hurdling toward your planet, and you had to type the word and press to zap them and break them to pieces before they destroyed your planet. As you blew up the words, they would start coming faster and faster toward your planet. Boy, was that a suspenseful game, but it sure helped me type faster!

Anywho, after I was in the higher grades, typing came in handy when it was required to type school reports. Sometimes I would even type my friends' reports for them. I also typed up a short story that a girl I went to school with wrote about her family. It was really sad actually, her name was Tanice Stefanich. I have no idea where she is now.

And now for the grand finale...after I graduated high school, I was pregnant with my first daughter. I moved to Las Vegas to live with my grandparents, and I didn't have a job. My grandma drove me down to the Appleone Temporary Employment Agency. They had me fill out an application, take a typing test, and go through an interview with one of their placement agents. By this time, I was in the 85-90 WPM range with accuracy. I was called the next morning for a data entry job for a healthcare company called Sierra Health Services. I was initially supposed to help out with a temporary data entry project, but the gals in the department took me in like mother hens, because here I was this single, pregnant teenager, working as a temp with a baby to support soon. So, they started giving me other tasks to see if I could handle them, and I did. They wanted to hire me on full-time after I had my daughter, but they didn't have any openings, so they got me in to a subsidiary of their company as a front desk person for an Optometrist's office. And 6 months later, I was transferred back to the Health Informatics department. This is where my current career began...all because I could type. I was with that company for 5 years, where I learned all about a software program called IDX that was used to managed Healthcare practices. That knowledge took me to California, where I used the same program. I gained new knowledge there, and when I wanted to move back to Arizona I had a job ready for me to start when I got here. That job led to an opening at Phoenix Children's Hospital as a Financial Analyst. And finally, that job led to a position at a start-up consulting firm, where I am having the time of my life learning tons of new things, growing professionally by leaps and bounds, and only God knows where I will end up going from here!

OK...this post was hugely tooting my own horn...sorry about that. ;) But, seriously, for all you momma's out there, teach your kids to type. In an economy where jobs are hard to find, that skill is always needed, and if your kid can type faster, with more accuracy than the other applicants, they're in!

The Joys of Pregnancy

2009-06-09T00:25:00.000-07:00

Ok...I'm only 6 weeks pregnant so far, and here's all the "fun" stuff that's going on:

I've gained 10 pounds - What in the freakin' hell?? Really?? 10 pounds?? I think the scale is lying, but regardless, my butt is going back to the gym ASAP. I worked out during my last pregnancy and I think that's the only thing that saved me from becoming the Stay-Puft Marshmallow Man - and apparently I better do it with this one too - cuz, let's do the math shall we? 10 pounds in 6 weeks = 1.6 lbs per week. Pregnancy is 40 weeks, so 1.6 x 40 = 64 pounds!! And you know you always gain more at the end, so we'll just round it to 70. Yeah...that's not gonna work for me.
My sleeping patterns are jacked up - Not to mention the fact that I have a 16 month old with an erratic sleep schedule, now my body's internal sleep clock has gone on the fritz. I want to sleep during the day, and I toss and turn all night. I took a nap right after dinner, woke up at 9pm, helped my 7 yr old get packed for her Girl Scout camp trip tomorrow, did about an hours worth of work from 11p-12a, and now here I sit, blogging, when I should be sleeping.
I have Gas...lots of it - I know this one may be too much information, but seriously, is there anything I can eat now that won't give me gas? At first I thought it was funny because now my hubby isn't the only one making music with his rear-end, and let's face it, farts are funny, as much as you may not want to admit it. But now, it's just sort of annoying and uncomfortable. Especially because I don't want to toot at the wrong place at the wrong time.
Acne - It's like high school all over again. And guess what? Having acne on top of getting fat and gassy is just not right.
My boobs are huge - This is usually my first tell-tale sign that I'm pregnant. And, I just bought new bras to fit my way smaller pre-pregnancy boobs just a couple months ago - and in fact just bought a fancy Victoria's Secret one specifically designed to make my boobs look bigger. Guess I won't be needing that one for awhile.

OK...that's all for now, I am going to go eat some cherries (which will probably give me gas), and try and go to sleep (and as soon as I do, I'm sure my 16 month old will wake up).

TGIF!

2009-06-05T13:42:00.000-07:00

And it is time for Friday Fill-Ins!

1. Only 3 more hours until I can go home.

2. My favorite thing for dinner lately has been sausage and potatoes, mmmm.

3. Cat is to meow! meow! meow! as Dog is to bark! bark! bark!

4. A nice long walk is what I need right now after the huge amount of lunch I just consumed.

5. Everyone always likes some good news.

6. When all is said and done, I hope I have lived a life that made a difference in the lives of others.

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to Friday Night dinner and taking the kids to the Childrens Museum (Free First Fridays, yay!), tomorrow my plans include not sure yet and Sunday, I want to go to church and get some laundry done!

This is RIGHT on the Money

2009-06-04T10:42:00.001-07:00

If you've ever been a consultant (vendor) working with a client, you will find this hilarious. ;)

PROMPTuesday #58 - Fun Friend

2009-06-03T15:23:00.000-07:00

So, I'm doing my PROMPTuesday on Wednesday because I was too busy handing out awards yesterday.

Here's the direcciones (sorry I'm stuck on Spanish since yesterday)

We’ve got all kinds of friends, haven’t we? The serious ones, the anal ones, the silly ones, the lost ones, the distant ones, the ironclad ones.

Today, let’s write about the fun ones. Do you have a friend who makes you laugh and is a guaranteed good time? Write about this friend. Tell us a funny memory, something he or she said, or some goofball thing you did together.

OK...I could already tell that this was going to be a post that was going to make me laugh, make me cry, or make me laugh so hard I started crying.

My BFF, Gina Marie, and I have known each other since 4th grade, but became BFFs right at the end of 6th grade. The circumstance was that my BFF and Gina's BFF at the time, broke up with us, and became each other's BFFs...leaving Gina and I BFF-less. So, what were we to do? Become BFFs of course! And we did.

It was a bit awkward because she was from the popular, Guess-jeans wearing, crowd. And I was from the dorky, fluorescent-colored sock wearing, crowd.

This post will take FOREVER if I mention every hilarious thing we did, and they will most likely not be hilarious to you. Oh yeah, one serious thing first, as to what solidified our friendship. I have to try and make it brief because it can become it's own story...basically the first time I ever invited her to spend the night, she ended up witnessing some serious domestic violence between my mom and her boyfriend. And she never told a soul...not one...about how messed up my family was. She didn't even want to tell her mom, but my grandparents told her mom anyway. That's some serious loyalty right there...and we weren't even that far into our friendship yet. OK...seriousness now over, let the hilarity commence!

DISCLAIMER: Some of these events may not be in the order that they occurred. ;)

We made home movies...and named them spoof-names instead...so, we essentially started the concept of movies like "Scary Movie". We made "Butt Tracy" instead of "Dick Tracy" (dirty I know, but we were goofy kids). Her brother made movies too, one was called "The People Under the Dining Room Table", instead of the "The People Under the Stairs". We also tied fishing wire around the heads of her massive collection of Troll dolls, and moved them around like puppets. She had one huge troll with pink hair, and we pretended that it farted and blew away all the other trolls as we were swinging them around by the fishing wire (gosh we were so juvenile).

We played drinking games...well before we were old enough to drink. Her parents had a liquor cabinet that they never locked...um...duh!! So, we filled Dixie Cups with shots of different varieties and took them to her room while her parents were gone. And we tried to make up our own drinking games, but they sucked, so we just downed all the shots as fast as we could. Then we got extremely silly...and then...her mom came home. She could tell that we were hammered, and the whole time she was reprimanding us, we were laughing uncontrollably. The icing on the cake was that Gina and I had to perform in the play "Oliver" the next day for the matinee show. Gina's mom is the president of the community theatre, and we were always in plays. By that morning, her mom was over the anger, and instead thought it was hilarious to have other cast members come over to us and speak REALLY LOUD! I'm sure our performance sucked that day.

I think I'm going to bullet-point now, otherwise we may be here all night --

Running out the back door and jumping into the pool...with all of our clothes on.
Having to scoop poop out of her toilet with a Dixie Cup, because it was always broken, and she didn't tell me in time.
Pretending to be Ren & Stimpy or Beavis & Butthead for that matter
Making up our own songs - our favorite was when we were talking about growing old together and playing the "I'm too sexy for my shirt" song...and instead of it saying "I'm a model, you know what I mean", it would say "We're grandmas...you know what we mean...and we shake our wrinkled booties on the hospital floor". We also had granny names for each other...Granny Goolahee and Granny Gritzel...I don't know why our Granny Names wouldn't be our own last names...that's kinda funny too now that I think about it.
Sneaking out and staying out all night, both telling our parents different stories, and getting totally busted.
"Moshing" to Metallica's song "One"
Pretending to be mannequins in department store windows at the mall.
Making people roll down their car windows and asking them if they had any Grey Poupon.
Pretending to pick our nose, and then offering our boogers to the cars next to us (in the back of her mom's station wagon, unbeknownst to her)
Dressing up like punk rockers for Halloween, and court jesters, and genies (on different years of course...since her mom was the community theatre president, she had the costume shop in her basement...this was also where we found costumes for our home-made movies)
Riding our bikes through the golf course and getting caught in the sprinklers
Making water balloons in the park bathroom, and totally denying it was us that made the water mess in there as we were standing there with our hair dripping.
Getting locked out of our hotel room in Vegas when we were there with my grandparents, and they didn't know we had snuck out...and having to make up a story to the desk clerk to give us another key.
Cliff diving at the lake, and getting huge wedgies and having our tops come up
Pretending to be mermaids in the pool, singing underwater, and screaming "Rooooooobbbbbiiiiiin" at the top of our lungs Maid Marion style from the Robin Hood movie with Kevin Kostner
"Would you like crunchy noodoo or normal noodoo?" (you won't get that one, but it's funny to me)

OK, I seriously could go on and on...but you get the idea. Gina has been my partner in crime since we were kids...and even though she lives in Germany now, we can still pick up where we left off when she comes home to visit. I love her. Dammit, now I'm gonna cry. See what you did, Deb?

Oh, and here's a recent pic of us and our BFF Jami.

(L to R - Jami, Gina, Me)

The Award(s) go to....ME!!

2009-06-02T15:06:00.001-07:00

Okay, so, I'm kind of lame...really lame, actually. My buddy over at Don't Touch the Cactus gave me an award, um...back in April. And I was swimming in work soup, so I told myself when I got the chance, I would thank her on my blog, and then follow suit by awarding other fellow bloggers in bloggy-land. But, it is now, June 2nd...and that time did not come.

Today, I was blessed with another award from A Lil' Dash of Diva. So, this prompted me to get off my ass (figuratively, because I don't normally blog standing up), and thank my friends for my awards and pass them along. So, many of you are going to get double-awarded, YAY!

My first award is:

The description of this award is:

These blogs are exceedingly charming. These kind bloggers aim to find and be friends. They are not interested in self-aggrandizement. Our hope is that when the ribbons of these prizes are cut, even more friendships are propagated. Please give more attention to these writers. Deliver this award to eight bloggers who must choose eight more and include this cleverly-written text into the body of their award.

My second award is:

The description of this award is:

None...other than the person receiving the award is extraordinary and awesome!

And now...great people of Blogdom, prepare to be awarded!

Lil' Dash of Diva: You get the hearty one, cuz you gave me the Awesome one. ;) But, hey, I can make the rules right? So, you get the Awesome one too!

The Hills: You get double-awarded today! The stories of your boys, and your life at school crack me up!

Green Girl: Double-award for you! Becoming a black belt in karate, living with Team Testosterone, and planting a gorgeous garden that is the envy of all...enough said. ;)

Doves Today: Award x 2! Thank you for sharing stories in such a beautiful way, and many times with even more beautiful pictures to go with them!

San Diego Momma: Dos Awardos Para Ti. You're from San Diego, you speak Spanish right? ;) Thank you for PrompTuesdays, even though many of them intimidate the crap out of me. And thank you thank you thank you!!! for the VLOG or V-LOG or however the hell you pronounce it.

The Things We Carried: Two awards for you. Your entries are so touching, I cry pretty much every time I read one...sometimes in a happy way, sometimes in a bittersweet way. Thank you for sharing your life for others to read.

Vintage Thirty: Double Awards. I just recently started reading your blog, but your Open Letter to Very Important People, Part Deux, had me laughing so hard I was crying...so I am now hooked on your brand of wittiness.

Viva CookeVegas: Table for two awards please. I'm glad I found your blog through Danielle...I love reading the adventures that you have with your boys, and washing your car, and getting half-and-half sunburnt (and loving that you called it the "half and half approach")!

Don't Touch the Cactus: And then...there were 2, awards that is. Thanks for awarding me, and please excuse my delay in response, and please accept my double awards in return for my delay. I love the bluntness in your posts about life, kids, and assloads of stuff (crayons, shoes, you name it, you have assloads of it). ;) Oh, and lunch...need to schedule it...pronto.

Andi's Family Life: Two Awards for you! You are awesome Andi! I don't always comment on your blogs, but you are truly a superhero!

Phew!! I'm all awarded out, how about you?

And if you've made it this far in my award bloggy - I'm pregnant, with baby #5, totally not kidding.

Deep Tissue Massage

2009-05-26T22:44:00.000-07:00

Oh...it hurts SO good.

My last couple of weeks at work have been somewhat stressful/chaotic/tiring/head-hurty-ish. I'm managing 3 projects pretty much by myself that are running concurrently. They are for the same parent company, but different departments. So, my life as of late has been full of conference calls, system configuration, project management, etc. And my kids have been in their last couple weeks of school, so this meant end of year parties where I have to buy crap for them to bring...but I usually don't find out about it until the last minute which leads to 9pm grocery store runs...which I don't particularly enjoy.

And then to top it all off, I thought that I was still young enough to do cartwheels and roundoffs with my kids in the front yard last night. I was wrong. Those activities use muscles that are agile and flexible (do those words mean the same thing?) when one is young...when one is older and stiff, those muscles scream at you the morning after...like waking up with a hangover, except with aching muscles instead of aching head, and no tequila burps.

So, with the combo of job/life stress and achy muscles, I scheduled my monthly massage at Hand and Stone. I broke down and got the monthly membership, so I get one massage a month "FREE" with the membership. They are usually 50 minute relaxation massages, but I asked the gal if I could request deep tissue. Of course I could, for $10 more. ;) I paid the 10 bucks...it was worth it. Did you know you can have tight muscles in your ass, even though you sit on it all the time, and it's most definitely not from doing squats and lunges? Even though you would like to pretend that's why they are tight. And the hips! I didn't even know there was muscle on my hips...I thought it was just excess fat there, but lo and behold there are muscles underneath, and they hurt when someone pushes on them with extreme force. She got into the shoulder blades, and neck, and those muscles that run along the spine all the way down to your lower back. When she was done, I felt like a million bucks...it seriously melted the stress away and the achy cartwheely muscles. And I only yelped in pain once!

Good Ole Grandpa Razzi

2009-05-24T20:23:00.001-07:00

Today Cita and SAM were watching "John & Kate + 8" - Cita LOVES this show. She even asked for the DVD of Season 1 and Season 2 for her 7th birthday this past March. She's a weird kid, I know. (just kidding) We've been to the stores since the tabloids and now even the 'reputable' magazines have confirmed that John got caught in an affair and their marriage is probably over. So, my girls knew that something was up, but didn't really understand what had actually happened. Today as they were watching one of the episodes, Monkey (my 4 yr old) asked if they were going to show the episode where they lose their 8 kids. I don't know why she thought that would happen, but maybe she overheard someone at the grocery store saying John was going to lose the kids in the divorce or something. Anywho...I said "No, they probably won't show any of that on TV". SAM, my oldest, asked "What happened anyway?". I said "John cheated on Kate, and got caught" She says, "Kate caught him?" I started walking down the hall at this point to go get Baby Pants, and I call back to her "No - the paparazzi got a picture of it or something." I hear silence for a moment...and then I hear SAM say "Ohhhhhhh...I get it now. For a second there I thought they had a Grandpa named Razzi." (We call our grandpa "Papa"...so get it? Papa...Razzi?) I think I choked on my spit I was laughing so hard. I love my kids.

My So Called Life

PROMPTuesday #179: The Senses

To Give...or Not to Give

And the Winner is.....

I Dare You To Change - Last Stop on the Blog Tour

I learned to "Corner"

Conversations with a 2.5 Year Old

If you think I'm lost

My Baby is THIRTEEN!

Daily Commute - Episode 1

Social Media A.D.D.

It's been over a year...but I did it!

How Do You Eat an Elephant?

Spiritual Insight from my 2 year old

Don't Cut It!

Wordless Monday

Friday Fill-Ins 06/11/2010

Friday Fill Ins

Help for a Little Girl Named Kierra

Wordless Monday

Only 2 More Weeks

30...Flirty...and Thriving

Hooray for Bullet Time

1 Month Pictures

Getting Older...The Kids AND Me

3 Things

Mastitis and Upper Respiratory Infections

2 Weeks *Updated with Pics*

Sorry For Leaving Everybody Hanging

Dude...Seriously??

Happy Birthday!

4 Things (aka 'The Cop Out Post')

Update

O' Labor Where Art Thou?

Good Thing

Good Day

Dude - Part Deux

Dude

I Lost a Week!!!

42 days!!

The Great Debate

Friday Fill Ins!

Weekend Update - On Wednesday (yeah, I know)

What in the Friggidy Frick Frack...

Bullets...Bullets...Oh yeah

Sublime

Post It Note Tuesday: Maiden Voyage

Marriage Monday - 11/30/2009

Finally...The Announcement

Weird Dream and Some Other Stuff

Randomness

Marriage Monday - 11/09/09

What A Week!!

Marriage Monday - 11/02/09

Writer's Workshop from Mama Kats

Squeezin it in

Wacky Wednesday

Marriage Monday - 10/19/09

Friday Fill Ins!

Marriage Monday - 10/12/09

Marriage Monday - 10/05/09

Thursday Survey

PrompTuesday #75 - Woulda, Coulda, Shoulda

Who Loves Blog Awards??

Here it Goes...My 100th Post

Intimidated

So Much To Blog...So Little Willpower

So...ummmm....yeah

I'm Alive!

It's Raining, It's Pouring (no it's not - but it did rain)

STUFF!!!

Friday Fill-Ins

More Bullets

3 Things

My Blog Is Bee-Yoo-Ti-Ful

Writer's Workshop

Slackin'

Friday Fill-ins

I should have killed him when I had the chance

Havin' a Bad Day? Watch This!

2 Weeks Updated with Pics