Rude fans

When you're a performer, you trust your fans to respectful! Each performer should be able to feel comfortable that they won't be groped on stage by fans or their rings removed from their hands while reaching out to fans. It must be tough to put your trust back into your fans when two bad apples can spoil anybody's appetite.

Broken but fixable

I have many updates & pics from this weekend but for now I'm just going to share something my son said today.

He was playing with his train when he noticed it was dying.

"Uh oh." He said, "It's broken. It needs batteries. Let's fix it. It'll be okay."

It's constantly amazes me the things he knows these days. Such a little man!

Baby poll

Any guesses on what the sex or weight of the baby will be? Take the poll to the right if you think you know!

Sleepy time

Today at nap time, my son brought a blanket from his bedroom, laid down on our bed & went to sleep after I covered him. Now it's time for me to nap!

Trying to fly again

I'm starting FlyLady again which will hopefully help me keep the house in order, especially with the baby coming. It worked very well for me once I made my own adjustments until we started doing IVF treatments last July. That's when it all seemed to fall apart. Now I need it more than ever though. Best thing is to start out simple.

What grandparents fear...

Can you believe this is real? You can buy it here!

Petsmart Petition

Attention all you animal lovers out there! Petsmart has decided to sell house rabbits & the Best Friends Organization is petitioning them to only sell homeless rabbits. Please look at & sign this petition to help save as many rabbits as possible in shelters around the world. The number of people signing the petition grows every second & each person counts! Help make a difference!

Riding dragons

Over the past weekend, my son fell asleep on my shoulder in the shower after a fun day in the water. It was so cute. Anyhow, so today he was getting tired when we were showering mid-morning so he lay down on the shower floor & said, "I'm going to sleep. I'm tired." Of course that wasn't going to happen but still it was a memory in the making. Once that boy gets something in his mind...

We went with Daddy to his doctor's appointment today & then had lunch at the mall afterwards. For the first time, he was excited to 'drive' one of the cars (free strollers the mall provides). After lunch, he got to ride & pretend he was a dragon on the merry-go-round.

Then we had some ice cream & discovered these cool cars for kids. Expensive as heck but still very cool!

How things are going...

We're trying to get last minute things done for the baby's room (especially considering the baby could come anywhere from 3-6 weeks). We have the crib to repair, the wallpaper border/wall stickers to put up & last minute baby supplies to purchase. Busy busy busy! I have to admit that I'm ready to be done whenever the baby is ready to come out. I certainly don't want it to come early with health problems. In the meantime, we have our baby names selected whether it's a boy or girl.



Our son is doing well & seems to understand that a baby is coming & going to be in the house soon. When you ask him where the baby is he points to my belly & says "it's in there.": The other day we dropped off our pre-registration forms at the hospital. He asked "we see the doctor?" He remembered how Daddy was in the hospital to see the doctor for his appendix. We then explained how this would be where we would be seeing the doctor to have the baby & then bring the baby home with us. He got so excited & asked "Oh we're getting the baby now??? Yay!" I think he'll be a good big brother although wouldn't be surprised if he feels some jealousy at the time.


It's hard for me to believe that our son is going to start pre-school soon. Now if only we can get the ptty training down pat. Anyhow, it still surprises me what a little man he's becoming these days. If you tell him, time to take a nap, he says "No mom, I have to play with the cars for a while & then take a nap." He definitely has his own ideas.


The other day when I wasn't feeling well & crying, he took my face in his hands & said, "Look at me Mama. It's okay. I promise we'll see Daddy. Don't cry. It's okay." When I reached for some tissue he said, "Let me do it Mama." He then took the tissue from my hands & wiped the tears from my face, put the tissue to my nose & said "Blow.... okay blow again." Then I got a big hug & kiss from him. He was so sweet. I just love his empathetic nature.


I'm getting huge & definitely very pregnant! The baby moves quite a bit still which is good. According the doctor, everything is going well. This week I see the OBG for my last 2 wk check-up. Next week is the 35 week ultrasound (nope - not finding out the sex still much to everyone's dismay) & the week after I start going for my weekly check-ups. It's hard to believe the baby will be here before we know it.



For now I'm getting through day to day & seem to drain more energy each day. I guess that happens when your body wakes you every two hours though. I'm sure it's just training me for when the baby arrives & all those late-night feedings.

Visiting & sick

This weekend we got the chance to spend some time with my hubby's Ohio relatives. Our son had a blast playing around with them, talking to Buck (talking deer on the wall) & jumping into the water. He always enjoys new faces & has no fear of trying new things. He may be hesistant but that won't hold him back for long!

Unfortunately either myself or my hubby were sick the entire time. Of course that means that it's very likely everyone else in the family will be getting sick as well. I guess that happens sometimes no matter how you time things.

Today our son got his first splinter in the bottom of his foot. How or where? We have no idea! Unfortunately when he wouldn't hold still so it was impossible to remove it. In the end, I had to take him to the pediatrician where they gave him a shot to nnumb his foot. Although he cried during the shot, he stopped & as soon as the doctor removed a tiny thorn he said, "All better? I get a sticker now?" I was so proud of how brave he was... what a little man he's becoming!

In the meantime, I'm trying to muddle through this cold I've got since the only cold medication doesn't do much at all. Try explaining that to a toddler why you're one eye is crying but you're not sad, just sick. (LOL) Hopefully it'll gone by later this week. Wish me luck!

Teachers from the past

Today I was trying to relax & get some rest with my nasty cold as my son napped. I looked up & found some websites for the grade school & middle school I attended as a child. When I looked at the faculty, I realized that there were still two teachers in my grade school & three from my middle school that are still teaching today. I think that is it so awesome to see teachers who literally dedicate their whole lives to young ones. It's even more amazing when they remember you twenty years after you were in their classroom! Here is to all the teachers out there not pushed into retirement before they want to!

Wide movements

These days the baby is moving a lot! You can actually see the baby move across my stomach. It especially seems to love rolling from side to side.

Everything is going well with the pregnancy. The hot flashes have started to kick in which is a lot of fun. Okay, maybe not so much. (LOL)

We've also started to consider one or two other boy's names from the original boy's name we chose. Figures I want to start changing the boy's name (which is the hardest for us to pick out) eight months into the pregnancy! (LOL) The most amazing part is I think we found a new name in just one day of looking. Don't ask me how that happened but I'm thankful regardless.

We still haven't arranged the baby furniture, repaired the crib or hung the wallpaper border & stickers. We still have some time but it's hard to do things in the evenings after our son has gone to bed because it feels so late. By that time, we just want to relax. Only have approximately 45 days of that until the newborn is in the house & we begin our sleep deprivation stage!!!

Bathtub conversation

Monday night we had dinner with my parents who surprised our son. On Tuesday he kept saying, “I miss Grandpa. I miss Grandma.” It was so sweet!

Yesterday I caught up on laundry & while my son used a hamper as a boat, filling it with toys. In the early evening, we had a play date with our neighbor & her daughters. They had a ball playing together. I think my son has a crush on her oldest girl. He asked about her the remainder of the evening. When we got home Daddy was done working. He was sick with a cold & sleeping on the sofa. I sent him upstairs to bed & took our son grocery shopping. We got home, put groceries away & then put my son to bed. Once he was in bed, I finished laundry & watched some television while my hubby continued sleeping. I couldn’t sleep again but finally managed to get a few hours somewhere during the night.

Then early this morning, I took a bubble bath. When our son woke up, he came into the bathroom with a very serious face. This was the conversation that followed.

“What are you doing Mommy?”

“Taking a bubble bath. Do you want one?”

“No.”

I poked my toe out of the water.

“No Mommy. Toe goes in the bubbles.”

“Okay. You’re cute.”

“No. I’m not cute. I’m a boy.”

“You’re a cute boy.”

“No. I’m just a boy.”

Then he motioned toward the bath pillow. "Lay down Mommy. Go to sleep."

As I lay my head down, he patted my cheek & said, "Good night Mommy."

How can I resist such a sweet boy?

Dangers of online photos

There's a clip on Today show where they talk about the dangers of posting online photos & blogs. If you have a blog or internet page (myspace, facebook, etc) be careful what you post & be sure to protect yourself & your family.


Some basic tips are:

• Make file names anonymous
• Do not post names
• Do not reveal information regarding where you live
• Do not reveal future travel plans or regular routines (class every Thursday morning)

Here are more additional tips for parents & children alike. If you follow these tips, you can avoid playing into the hands of sexual predators and thieves who use the web to identify targets.

Too smart for his own good

I gave my son some water with a little orange juice in it. He asked, 'Monkey juice?" "Yes" I said. He took a sip & then said, "It's water."

Flying by

This weekend just flew by. I think it was productive but to tell you the truth I don't remember much day-to-day these days. Too many hormones. (LOL) On the plus side, we're doing some spring cleaning out after starting to organize the basement last week. Now it's actually an area we can enjoy when we people over (which isn't that often when you have a three year old!).


After letting my hubby sleep & work, we got together with our neighbor & her girls at the last minute. While my hubby was grilling, the kids played & had lots of fun. One of our other neighbor's also came over with her little girl who joined in the fun. At dinner, our son refused to eat & wouldn't give in. Finally he had to go inside & up to his bedroom. One to two hours later, he finally consented & ate some applesauce.


Last night we threw out a ton of stuff that didn't go on freecycle in our garbage. I figure if it doesn't go for free, then nobody would buy it at goodwill.


This morning my son pooped in his diaper & made a mess of it all over the activity room 'painting' it on the walls, door, tv screen & pillow. Ugh... I was SO not happy!!! What is it with kids & their fascination with poop? I thought we were out of this phase. Now he's chasing & trying to catch a fly that got inside the house. Now that's funny to watch! (LOL)


Hopefully sometime this week we'll be able to get the wallpaper border up in the baby's room. It's going to be a busy week though!

Off to the racetrack!

Last night we went to a local amateur racetrack with some friends who are visiting from out-of-town. We’ve never been racing before but had a blast. As much as we wanted to, we couldn’t join them afterwards because we figured most bars are smoky which is definitely bad for the baby & me. When we returned home, my hubby’s parents said how much fun they had watching our son. Then it was off to bed we went!

Then sometime during the evening, our son crawled into bed with us, immediately said ‘I miss Grandma and Grandpa’ & went back to sleep. Then this morning we attended a sibling class at the hospital. Our son did a great job listening & behaving during the tour of the maternity ward at the hospital. The rooms at the maternity ward are very nice & look as comfortable as you can get!

'Ready to start your engines?'

Afterwards we went to an outdoor family sports center where my hubby & son rode the go-carts together twice. We tried to play miniature golf but failed miserably when our son had no interest in following directions.

On the way home, we perused some garage sales & by pure chance found something we weren’t looking for… a used kitchen table in good shape that had two leaf extensions which is perfect for the kitchen with our growing family. When we got home, we took apart & stored the old table, replacing it with the new one after cleaning it. We left one leaf in for general use & have the other leaf to put in when we have company. Although it didn’t strike us as ‘yes let’s get it’ when we first saw it, I have to say that after it was up I am absolutely loving it!!! It’s wonderful to be able to fit four people plus the main dishes on the table without worrying about how close they are to our son.

When our son awoke from his nap, we worked on the baby’s room. While our son helped Daddy work on the changing table & crib, I put up the new window stickers (http://www.berlinwallpaper.com/PrissPrints/index.htm) on the baby’s bedroom window. We had grilled hamburgers, sausage & hot dogs for dinner. For future reference, adding garlic salt definitely adds some flavor to hamburgers.

When the ice cream truck came by after dinner, the three of us each got ice cream & our son’s tongue turned dark blue from the ice cream. My son & hubby picked up the croquet set outside & then we emptied & cleared out the cooler. Once everything was put away downstairs, my hubby played with my son with the pool table. When the two of them ran to the hardware store, I rested as I started to get some more frequent Braxton Hick contractions as of today. Our son then helped Daddy finish repairing the changing table & then it was off to bed for our son.

So far, it’s been an excellent weekend. Tonight we’re watching a movie to relax & then going to bed.

After a long long time... it's time to party!

Wednesday morning I cat-napped during the morning again as my son played so nicely. Afterwards I cleared out the pantry of stale misc snacks (mainly chips & bread). During my son’s nap, I finally managed to find the energy to fold the laundry & got the shirts ready to hang later (without wrinkling in the meantime).

Then my son went with me to my 32 week (i.e. 8 months) appointment with my OBG’s office. My uterus is measuring 33 inches, my weight is right on par & the baby has turned (possibly temporarily) head down leaving its butt sitting in my chest area. During the appointment, my son behaved very well & enjoyed hearing the play-by-play of what the nurse was doing (feeling the baby, listening to heartbeat, etc). Then he wanted a turn for the nurse practitioner to examine his boo-boo after she was done seeing me. He was very proud of his stickers afterwards.

For dinner, we ate outside since it was so nice. We had steak with fried mushrooms & onions in addition to lemon & chive potatoes. After dinner, our son loved jumping on the large trampoline with Daddy & when I ‘scared’ them a couple of times. One time I caught him by surprise so much so that he actually did a somersault on the trampoline. (LOL)

While Daddy ran out for groceries, I was treated to a half hour massage which was very nice. When we got home, I put away groceries, cleaned out the fridge while Daddy took our son on a bike ride. He loves to ride Daddy’s bike with him & go fast. He’s such a thrill seeker! When they came back, our son brought me flowers he told Daddy he wanted to pick himself from the field for me. It was so sweet! Before bed, he watched a movie as I did the first load of dishes & then Daddy & I started clearing off the dining room table (which has become a storage area of late).

Daddy put our son to bed & worked while I organized & cleared the basement area for our dinner party tonight. Then it was off to bed for me for we have a busy day tomorrow cleaning up the house for company & Daddy has an early conference call.

After spending the entire morning upstairs unpacking suitcases & doing laundry on Thursday, I spent the remainder of the day cleaning the entire house. After not being up for house cleaning the past… well in forever… it needed cleaning from top to bottom. I got everything clean with the exception of the office & guest room/hubby’s office. After work my hubby helped by getting the cooler ready, starting dinner, setting up the roombas in each room, cleaning the litter, setting up croquet outdoors, helping with the dining room table, etc. Even our son helped me set up the pack-n-play for the 1 year old coming. As our friends arrived, it was like old times & we all caught up on each other’s lives. Everyone had a good time as the kids played together. It wasn’t until 11:30 pm that things closed up & then I spent the next half hour cleaning up (which was very little due to everyone’s help throughout the evening) while my hubby put my son to bed. It’s been forever since we had friends over (I can’t even remember the last time – probably New Years in December 2005 or March 2006 for my son’s birthday) but it was worth all the hard work. We had just enough food with the yummy dishes people brought to share. I wish I could do this more often. It’s nice that we can all catch up with each other after not seeing each other in forever.

Party with friends

After a great evening with friends, we all chatted before saying goodbye until next time.

Fathers & their sons

"Yes, we had a good time playing & talking!"



"We have matching hats!"



Two peas in a pod

Buds for the evening

Yeah... she's ready for baby number two!
Look at the smile on both of them.

Four men & a baby!

The youngest baby of the bunch & already a year old!

Oh say can you see...

Puffs of clouds gleam in the sky
Giving a silver gleam to each eye.

A beautiful sunset after a beautiful day
Makes this heart say "come what may"!

Stormy days

After a few days with some extremely bad storms, we have been lucky enough to have the most perfect, gorgeous weather we could wish for since then. It's so nice to leave the windows open & have a nice cool breeze going airing out the house! Who could complain about this?

Severe winds batter our front tree

Rain, rain, pouring down
Makes you pout & frown

Isn't that uncomfortable?

Sunday night the baby felt like it turned sideways & had both sets of limbs jambed into both sides of my rib cage. Needless to say it was quite uncomfortable & I couldn't get to sleep until 5:45 am! After about half an hour, my hubby got up for his meeting so I continued taking 20 min cat naps as much as I could during the day.

At nap time, I was reading a book to our son when he asked what one of the pictures was. I told him it was a melon that we eat & he responded by clapping his hands against his cheeks & said in an astonished tone, "Oh my gosh! Oh my gosh!" (LOL) I couldn't help but laugh out loud at my son's adorable moment.

In the late afternoon, the three of us watched a major thunderstorm coming down from inside our garage for a short time. My son was fascinated by all the rain, thunder & lightning. He got a little scared with a particularly loud clap of thunder but got over it quickly. Then he would wait for the thunder to come after the lightning. What he really got a kick out of was Daddy 'predicting' when thunder would happen. We'd all clap when Daddy got it right. The winds were so strong at one point that we thought the large trampoline was going to flip over.

After work, we exchanged cars with my hubby's sister & picked up a water slide attachment from someone really nice on freecycle. I just know our son is going to love it! He talked about & pointed it out for the remainder of the night. Then my parents watched our son for a short while while we went out for saganaki. There we discovered that I only have about half an inch of space between my belly & the table. Thankfully the baby didn't move too much during dinner or I would've gotten stuck! (LOL) So for now, we're going to have to avoid sitting at booths. Then once we picked up our son & got home, I went to bed & my hubby to work for an hour or so. Although the baby was still sideways, it now had a slight angle which allowed me to sleep until I got kicked out of bed at 4 am by a bathroom break which followed by our son crawling into bed with us & hogging the bed. When I awoke this morning, the baby is still sideways with a slight angle & uncomfortable but doable.

This morning our local pest control company returned for a free visit with the thirty days because my hubby found a major ant hill (seriously like two feet long & six inches wide) in the small corner area by our front porch. So we had them specialize in that area in addition to re-treating the perimeters for precaution. Hopefully it'll be all good now without further problems. But hey, at least they haven't come back inside! (knock on wood)

After breakfast, our son kept hugging, kissing & talking to the baby in my belly. You can tell he's starting to get excited about having a baby in the house. We keep talking about how he gets to be involved in everything which he loves. In the meantime, he enjoys talking to the baby especially.

Today I have to find the energy to get laundry & dishes done. Later tonight my hubby & I also need to clean up & organize the basement before we have some friends over later this week.

Still not sleeping

If this baby would stop kicking my ribs & I could get somewhat comfortable, I might actually get a few hours of sleep in before our son wakes up & my hubby has his conference call...

Birds, Rabbits & Water... Oh my!

Friday evening we had a bird & rabbit both hanging around our yard much more & longer than usual. Not sure why, but they sure tormented our poor cat. She had this look on her face that said, “I could totally get them. Just let me out!”



Saturday morning our son woke up early & went downstairs where the downstairs gate was left unlocked. There he raided the fridge finding almost an entire pie, some Italian spices & his sippy cup of milk. He retrieved a fork & sat down at the table with his milk, fork, pie & spices. After dumping the entire container of spices onto & then mixing it with the pie, he started to eat. As Daddy came down, he greeted him by saying, “Happy birthday Daddy. Surprise! I got cake!” Daddy’s first thought of course was, “Oh no…” Surprisingly our son did not create a mess on the table or floor other than destroying the pie (which is more funny than not). Later I asked my son about his ‘cake’. “I didn’t like it,” he said. “Did you mix stuff in it?” I asked. “Yeah,” he responded, “I didn’t like it.” “Well next time Mommy will make it for you & it’ll taste better,” I told him. “Okay Mommy.”



Later that morning we didn’t have much success finding any gender neutral summer clothing for infants at garage sales but I hit pay dirt at the local Salvation Army later. After washing & hanging it all in the baby’s closet, I think we’re ready at least for the first month until the local school clothing sales. Then we can prepare for the remainder of the fall & winter with more gender appropriate clothing. In the meantime, my hubby is persistent about wanting to open the envelope so we’ll know the baby’s gender before baby is born. I really want that surprise though & as much as he bugs me about it, he also respects my decision. He’s wonderful like that.



Then we dropped by the new model homes across from our subdivision. Although they were nice, both had major pros & cons to it & neither really hit us. If anything, it reconfirmed the fact that we love the home that we chose & that it suits us well.



In the afternoon, we started to work on getting the baby’s room ready. Unfortunately some tasks were delayed when my hubby discovered the parts of the crib had broken, important screws were missing & the drill charger was missing. So we packed up everything from the entertainment center & made room in other closets for those said items. I washed & hung the baby clothes, washcloths & blankets.






When my parent’s arrived from my niece’s birthday party, we all had dinner together & then they helped us move the heavy furniture out of the baby’s room & into the basement. With only two months until the baby arrives, we don’t want to wait until last minute because baby’s can always arrive early. If not, then you’re too busy & tired to do them once the baby arrives. Good news is that we’ve started making progress which is definitely helpful. At the end of the evening, my hubby & I relaxed by watching a movie in bed & then hitting the sack. Unfortunately neither of us slept well; partly because I kept having waking him up during my dreams.



Sunday my hubby let me sleep in while he played his online game (for the first time in a long time) & even my son enjoyed watching the animals in the game. Later during my son’s nap, mommy napped again while Daddy mowed the lawn. Mommy’s very tired these days with the pregnancy. :-O





After our naps, we spent the afternoon at the local water park where I overheard two young boys talking. One boys exact words were, “If someone were to blackmail me, it would be very hard to know who was doing it.” I couldn’t believe these two boys were discussing the topic of blackmail around the age of ten! So glad I didn’t know about that then. Our son wasn’t shy about the slide at all & loved going on it over & over. Then during one of the breaks, we discovered a hidden children’s area that had fountains popping up everywhere & was built like a car wash. There our son made some friends & chased some girls around. Then it was back to the water slide in the general kids’ area. Afterwards we went grocery shopping, dropped off our groceries & then had take-out at Outback where we encountered really poor service. It was surprising because they’re generally very good; at least our food was warm.

More water park fun!

Some days are just to hot to stay out of the water!!!

What's it like at 20,000 feet?

You won't believe what happened to this nurse at 20,000 feet! Even more amazing is that he survived with limited injuries. I will definately bypass the experience, thank you very much.

Changing lives

The other day I was talking to one of our friends & was thinking afterwards how our lives our constantly changing. Another couple we know (let's call them K&J) are expecting their second child seven weeks this fall after our second child is due. Another couple (C&L) are trying for their second child.

I'm happy with our lives but am constantly amazed how quickly things can change. You really have to appreciate every moment you are given. We can only imagine how our world is going to change all over again (for the better) after our second child is born in approximately 9 weeks. It seems like a while but then when we consider what we need to do & actually look at a calendar... well, then we realize how quickly it's going to happen.

Another thing my hubby & I have discussed is how smart kids are. Our son is no rocket scientist but it's still amazes us the things he's learning every day. The other day he & Daddy were looking at a book together when Daddy pointed out an eagle as a bird. Our son quickly corrected him saying, "No Daddy, that's an eagle." Each day he's adding new words to his vocabulary & then learning how to say them.

Then there's the funny moments that you just wish you could capture to put into a box & relive any time again & again in the future when the kids are grown. Like the other day when my son put his ear to Daddy's belly & said "Good night baby" & then gave Daddy's belly a kiss (like he does for the baby inside Mommy's baby). Or when my son brings a barbie to me asking that I undress the her as he proceeds to accidentally snap off her leg. Then he tells all the other toys, "Yeah, her leg is broken." These days he wants to go everywhere with Daddy so if we stop somewhere he asks, "I come with you?" When we reply, "Sure you can." He always gets excited, smiles & says "Oh thank you Daddy!" Just the way he sees & reacts to the world is so precious. We can't wait to see what a good big brother he'll be... at least that's what we hope for. (LOL)

Family games & dinner

Tuesday evening we spent had a yummy dinner & then played croquet afterwards with my hubby's relatives from Arizona.

Who doesn't love babies???

Some had to find the ball among the thrush... while others each gave it their best shot!

During a crazy game of croquet, everyone got hit somewhere along the way.

Playing with one of his Aunt G was so fun! They kept cracking each other up.

Our son loved hanging with his cousin & instructed her to follow him everywhere.

Meanwhile, other relatives caught each other up on life events.