Monday, July 31, 2006

Bright sunshiney day

Happy Monday! I know it is Monday, but let's try to be positive and only focus on the good things today. I had a good weekend. So very different from weekends past.

We ate supper with my hubby's grandparents and mom Friday night. I just love those people. I actually got to stay in the kitchen and help Grand-mama with supper and after supper my sweet baby had plenty of people to watch over him, so I stayed in the kitchen and cleaned up all the dishes and even scrubbed the stove clean and swept the floor. I have not been able to really help out there since the baby was born because he can be clingy to me at times and it makes it hard to get anything done. Anyway he was very entertained and I got to help out. Helping out is something that I truly do enjoy. Hubby's grandparents are so funny. They are both over 85 and still married! They are an inspiration to me. We stayed at their house until nearly midnight, the babe finally crashed around 11:30 and slept all the way home. I got him into bed and he slept until 6, he woke up nursed and back to sleep he went. He slept until 9:00 am in his own bed! YAY FOR MY BABY! He has slept in his own bed for the past 3 nights. He has slept at least 7 hours before waking up to nurse. He also has taken wonderful naps. Apparently whatever was ailing him last week is cured! Thank heavens for miracles!

Saturday I did get a great deal on diapers by the case at Toys 'R' Us. I am very glad that my baby can wear the cheap store brand diapers. No expensive brands for us, which saves us so much money. Anyway he has so many diapers now, we won't have to buy any for a while. Also on Saturday my hubby took the daughter to a movie, the baby napped and I got a few things done. I made a reading nook in my bedroom, complete with a lamp and rocking chair. Now I want to find a different more cozy chair to put in the corner. Do you have any cozy chairs that you want to get rid of??? While my baby napped and the house was quiet, I read a book and painted my nails. Yeah me time. I did not do the laundry or scrub the bathroom, I did something for me. It felt good.

Sunday was great. I got up around 7 with the baby. We had breakfast and played and then I took him into our room so I could get a shower and hubby got up and kept an eye on him so I could get a shower. I got dressed and got the baby down for his nap and I was off to meet my best friend for lunch. She lives an hour and a half away from me, so we picked somewhere nearly half way that has a good mexican restaurant to meet at. Anyway after an hour and a half lunch and gab fest, we went shopping. I did not really have money to shop, but it was nice to look and just be out of the house without my baby. We spent a little while shopping and then decided we both needed to head home. Before I got back on the road I stopped at DQ and got a Caramel Moo-latte. Have you had one? They are FABULOUS! I stopped at a few places on my way home and I got home around 4:30. Hubby met me at the door, baby was sleeping so we snuck off to our room for some much needed couple together time. I won't go into detail here. I am pretty sure you don't want to hear about my sex life with my hubby.

After we were done the little one woke up and hubby went and brought him into our room and he was happy to see me. He was also happy to be with my hubby. I think the time together was really good for them too. They bonded. Anyway I had a great time "off". I will definately be doing that again.

Friday, July 28, 2006

Taking time for myself

That is something that I rarely ever do. Before I had my little one, I would go shopping or out to eat with hubby or my friends or just take a day to lay around and read magazines and watch movies. Those of you that have children know that once the baby gets here, there is no time for things like that. Even less time for anything that does not HAVE to be done.

Well I am one of those people that thinks that they can do it all. You know, work full-time, raise the kids, cook supper every night, keep the house cleaned, keep all the laundry washed and put away, bake cookies, entertain friends and family, fight crime and injustice, and not look like I am struggling to get it all done. I have always been like that, even before I had kids to raise. There are very few times that I just sit and do nothing. If I do sit down to watch T.V., I am clipping coupons and making the grocery list or thinking of all the other things that I could be doing while I am sitting there. The only time my mind really rests is when I sleep and even then my wheels are turning. I have been known to start a load of laundry when I get up to breastfeed the babe at 4 am. Most people would not be thinking about laundry in the middle of the night!

Someone once gave me a book for women who do too much, do you think I have read it? Are you kidding, who has time to read, there are cookies to be baked and sheets to be changed. Don't think though that with all this cleaning and obsessing that I do that my house is actually spotless. Oh not for a minute, not with a husband, 2 kids and a dog. No matter how much I vaccuum, there is still dog hair, no matter how many dishes I wash or laundry that I do, something is still dirty.

There is no way that I can get it all done, there are just not enough hours in the day. All that said I wouldn't trade my life for anything, but it really wears me out. Especially lately, my babe has started this frantic crying when we put him to bed. Not just at night, oh no at naptime too. He will be really asleep and then we go to lay him in the crib and he open his eyes just a little bit and realizes that we are putting him down in his crib and he starts wailing. So we let him wail for a bit and then when neither of us can take it anymore. He wants to be held while he sleeps. WTF? Yeah, that is what I think of that. There is no way that I can sleep in his cirb every night. I mean come on, having to hang my legs out of the bars is just more than I can take. But seriously we have let him sleep with us for the past few nights. He will sleep for about an hour or two and then start moving around and wake up. If we snuggle him close and hold him tight usually he will settle down and go back to sleep. Co-sleeping is not for me. In my house every child has their bed and that is where they should sleep, with the exception of sickness or bad weather. I just cannot REALLY go to sleep with him in our bed. So I have not really slept in 3 days! 3 days is a long time. I thought yesterday that when he took his nap I would nap too, but he cried for 30 minutes before he went to sleep then he only slept about 45 minutes which was right as I was drifting off to sleep. He has been very clingy and whiny lately. I don't know if he is about to do something major and he is unable to sleep at night in order to prepare for it or if maybe he just has too much energy to stay asleep. When he is asleep, his legs and arms are moving and sometimes he is babbling. I don't know what to do. Last night I gave him Tylenol and he did manage to stay in his bed for almost 2 1/2 hours. He has been sleeping in his bed with no problems for several months now, and he has been fine. That is why I am convinced that something is going on with him, sleep habits don't just change overnight.

Anyway I have been really snappy and ill lately with my family because hello people I am freaking exhausted. On top of everything else that has been going on I have had to deal with my hubby and the job situation, so I just really am tired. Tired to the bone. As I was packing up everything to leave the house this morning, baby in one arm and everything else in the other, hubby says to me that I need to take Sunday off and go and do something for me. Go see your best friend, go see a movie, or I can take the babe and you can stay at home, whatever you want to do, but you need a break. Immediately I begin to cry. Yeah tears of relief, tears of frustration, tears of realization, tears of appreciation. I quietly told my husband thank you. He went on to explain that it was not because he thinks I am a bad mom or a bad wife, be he does realize that I do WAY TOO MUCH. He went on to say that he does not know how I do it. I need to learn to let some things go, they will eventually get done, that I need to take time for me and to relax and let the dishes sit on the table or the laundry in the basket. He also said that it will make me a better mom and wife, because what good am I if I am running screaming from the house because I just can't take it anymore. I know I need a break, but I will not ever ask for one, it is just part of the way I am. I will just keep doing it all until I run out of steam.

So think about me on Sunday, having some (hopefully) guilt-free me time.

Tuesday, July 25, 2006

A post about nothing, well mostly


I am so aggravated! For the past few days I have had problems with my cell phone charging. I don't think it is the battery, I think it is the phone itself. When I plug in my car charger, nothing happens. Last week if I wiggled the plug around, it would charge. Now nothing! Of course I did not realize this until my lunch break, when my cell phone died. So now I have to make that long drive home this afternoon with my baby and no cell phone. I almost brought my home charger with me this morning and then I decided against it. I should have went with my first thought to bring it. Oh well, hindsight is 20/20. I wish my vision was!!!

On a happier note, my baby has like 4 teeth now. They are just sprouting up all over the place. Since his new ones have started coming in, he has not been too bad about biting me during breastfeeding. Thank you God for that. When his first tooth started breaking through the skin, he bit me all the time and it really HURT! He is also crawling all over the place, when he gets to an obstacle he either pulls up on it or tries to crawl over it. He is just growing up entirely too fast. I am definately not ready for him to walk yet. He is so cute crawling and sitting up though. I bought him some little leather sneakers the other day and thought I would put them on him Sunday afternoon. Boy I tell you he screamed like they had small tigers in them that were eating his feet. He only kept them on for about 2 minutes before I took them off. He has never really worn shoes and now he doesn't like them. Maybe I will get him some sandals to wear and get him accustomed to having something on his feet. He really just likes to bite his toes too much to put anything on his feet.

See this is really a post about nothing. No exciting news, nothing interesting, just everyday life today. Thank goodness for days like this.

Friday, July 21, 2006

Friday photos




Not much to say today, thought I would leave you for the weekend with some pics. The first pic is my dog looking for a phone number, she is so smart! The second is of some awesome vine that I have growing in my yard that has the most striking and unrealistic looking flowers. Any ideas on what kind of vine it could be? I think you can tell what the last one is. Have a great weekend!

Thursday, July 20, 2006

Thursday MeMe

1. The book nearest me: The phone book

2. Stretch your left arm, what do you touch? Files, lots and lots of files.

3. Last thing watched on television? CSI:NY, last night

4. Without looking, what time is it? 10:30 am

5. What time is it actually? 10:33 am

6. With the exception of the computer what can you hear? The radio and other people talking near me.

7. When did you last step outside? A couple of hours ago

8. Before this survey, whar did you look at? Miss Zoot's website, her vacation pics

9. What are you wearing? Denim skirt and a sleeveless striped shirt

10. What did you dream last night? I don't remember, I was so tired

11. When did you last laugh? This morning, dropping off my little one at my MIL's

12. What is on the walls of the room? A picture that my nine year old drew and colored for me about 4 years ago, and some other various framed pictures

13. Seen anything wierd lately? Last night a bird was in the road and he was just walking, he did not try to get out of the way or anything. I had to stop and let him cross the road. Strange!

14. What do you think of this quiz? It's okay.

15. What is the last film you saw? At the theater, Nanny McPhee. At home, The Ugly Dachsund with my family Friday night.

16. Tell us something we don't know. Let's see, do you know that I have a tattoo?

17. If you could change one thing about the world what would you do? End world hunger, the thought of children (people in general, but especially children) starving to death just sickens me. Can I fix 2 things, I also would like for everyone to be able to afford good health care.

18. Do you like to dance? Does a dog like to be run over by a car? Okay then, I do not dance.

19. George Bush? I don't discuss my political views on here, sorry!

20. Imagine your first child is a girl. Well technically my first child was a girl. Of course I did not give birth to her, but I lover her nonetheless. She has added so much to my life and taught me so many things.

21. Imagine your first child is a boy. What do you know, the first child that I gave birth to is a boy and he is just fabulous. He has changed me in ways that I could never have imagined. I love him so much.

22. Would you consider living abroad? I don't think so. I really like having my family close.

23. What would God say to you when you reach the pearly gates? Welcome home, I have been waiting for you.

24. List 6 bloggers to carry on this meme. I am not going to do this, how about this offer, if you want to do the meme, leave it in comments and I will be sure to come visit you and read your answers. Like I don't read you all anyway.

Wednesday, July 19, 2006

I am a junkie...

Hello my name is sunShine and I am an addict. I think about my addiction all the time. I wake up in the morning thinking about it and I go to bed at night thinking about it. I visualize it all day long while I am at work. I try to scheme other people into getting my drug for me. Oh I would kill for it right now. Would you like to know what I am addicted to? ICE CREAM. I just can't get enough of it. I dream about milkshakes from Chick Fil A and Blizzards from the Dairy Queen. I can not focus because I NEED ICE CREAM. I swear I am addicted and I need a 12 step program to get off the stuff. People at my office think that it's funny, but really it is not funny, it is serious. I am jonesing for some cold, creamy, ice cream. I don't know if it is because it is 100 degrees outside here with like 85 % humidity or what, but I cannot get enough of it. I find myself standing near the time clock at the office close to lunch time trying to bribe someone into going to get me a milkshake or blizzard, they are heartless cruel animals because they will not go get me a fix. DAMN THEM ALL! Maybe tomorrow I will just bring me a private stash so when I feel like I just can't take it anymore I can have my fix. The closest thing that I have here is yogurt, which has been taking care of the cravings at the office. When I leave here today thought look out because I am going to Chick Fil A and getting my cookies and cream milkshake. AHH SWEET HEAVEN, I can hardly contain myself.

Now onto other things... dinner was wonderful Monday. I always tend to dread things and freak out about them and then they turn out fine. Just a little drama queen sometimes, I guess. Anyway the people were truly a wonderful couple. The man has a great business and after having dinner with us, he called my hubby yesterday and offered him a job. HIP HIP HOORAY! Hubby of course had to discuss it with me, you know I am his personal consultant and all, so he took the job. He is turning in his notice tomorrow. I feel like a huge weight has been lifted off of my shoulders and my hubby is already happier. Just knowing that he will not have to return to this job that has turned into pure hell has made such a difference. I really think that this job will be a great opportunity for my hubby. I know there will be challenges in the new job, but at least it will have set hours, which means he will be home with his family EVERY night of the week.

Thank you everyone for all of your well wishes and positive thoughts and prayers during this truly difficult time for us. I could tell you stories that would probably make you cry about some of the things that have happened over the past few months, but I always try to keep things positive, so I won't go there. Just know that reading your blogs and leaving me nice comments on here really helped. I am so lucky to have all of you in my life, even if it is just online. Look at me getting all mushy, someone pass the tissues... anyway truly thank you!

Monday, July 17, 2006

But I don't wanna go...

I am whining, I bet that surprises you! Well you see tonight we have to go to dinner at 7pm with someone who wants to talk to my hubby about a possible new job. YAY for him! Anyway the guy wanted hubby and I to go to dinner with him and his wife. Sounds fine right? Well the only problem is that I. REALLY. DON'T. WANT. TO. GO. I have gotten very introverted since I had my baby. I want to get off work, run over and pick him up, take him home and spend the rest of my evening staring at his beautiful little face and crawling around on the floor with him to see what we can find and feeding him his yummy supper and hearing him say MAMAMAMAMAMAMa. Notice that none of that included leaving him so I can go out to eat with strangers that I guess I need to try to impress. I will miss supper time with my baby and he will have to be up later because hello, his bedtime is like 8:30. I am sure we will not be finished eating and have him picked up and then drive the 30 minutes back to our house by 8:30. Which means he will not get a bath tonight and he will be up late! The restaurant that we are going to, ummm not one of my favorites, so what will I eat??? I know it is probably stupid to be this aggravated about it, but I just want to spend all the time I can with my little one, especially when I have been away from him at work all day! Wish me luck!!! oh yeah and my hubby, you know the whole job prospect and all...

Friday, July 14, 2006

The in-laws

My MIL is coming to spend the night with us tonight! YAY! No really I am excited, I love my MIL. We always have a good time when she is with us. She and my SIL always go out of town with us and on vacation with us. My MIL lives with my SIL and they are always together. I guess maybe I should give you a little history on them.

My MIL got divorced from my FIL when my SIL was like 19 or 20. So SIL was still living at home and going to college. She just never really moved out. After much searching and heartache, she never found Mr. Right, so she stayed single. A few years ago she had some money that she needed to invest in something so she bought a house for her and of course my MIL moved in with her. They have worked tirelessly to fix up this house and it is adorable. Anyway I am straying from my thoughts here, just stick with me. They are like best friends, they do just about everything together. Anyway my SIL is gone out of town for business this weekend and we do not want MIL staying the night by herself so we have asked her to come and spend the night with us. My kids just adore her and it helps to have another adult to help entertain the kiddies. Of course she also enjoys coming to spoil the kiddies just a little bit more.

My MIL and SIL and I have not always had a great relationship. Our relationship started out very rocky and turbulent, all of that is behind us now and I won't go into details here. Since I married into the family instead of just disappearing, like they had once wished, they finally gave me a chance. Of course once they got to know me, they just adore me now. I mean, really, who wouldn't??? We have been very fortunate to have them in our lives. My MIL keeps my little one while I work and she is super close to my office so I can go and spend my lunch break with them. She takes him to see his great grandparents all the time, so they get to enjoy him a lot. My SIL is usually still at home in the mornings when I drop off the babe and he just adores her. She makes him laugh and sometimes he cries when she leaves for work. She never had kids of her own so she spoils her neice and nephews ROTTEN! They have both been such a blessing. My child is getting the best care and I have peace of mind about leaving him, because I know he is being loved and spoiled just like if I were at home with him.

I am excited about tonight. I know we will have a good time! Hope everyone has a great weekend!!!

Wednesday, July 12, 2006

I just want to cry. I have not had a good cry in a while and whether or not right now is the appropriate time to do it, I think is going to happen anyway. I have been trying to hold back the tears all morning, but I can only do so much. I hate to cry at work, too many people with too many questions. I hate to tell everyone all my personal business here, so I don't. Anyway welcome to my pity party. It is hard to hold everything together sometimes and even Wonder Woman needs a break! (my husband refers to me as Wonder Woman because I manage to get everything important done and still have time for my family.)

Tuesday, July 11, 2006

Calgon take me away...

Some days I wish Calgon could just take me away. Not permantly or anything, just for a little while for a much needed break. My little sweet one is getting another tooth, on the top this time. Let me tell you teething is pure HELL! My little boy has been in so much agony, he has had such a hard time sleeping. He wakes up just screaming and he tries to go back to sleep, but he can't because he is in pain. Thank GOD for teething tablets and Tylenol. He had a really bad night Saturday, but we got through it and I thought that the worst was over. I thought wrong. He woke up at 3 this morning, just screaming. I was so tired, I could not keep my eyes open. I finally gave him teething tablets and put him in the bed with hubby and I and he sat up and leaned over on me and went to sleep. After he had been asleep for a few minutes I was able to lay him down and snuggle up with him. I don't really sleep when he is in my bed though, so I feel like poop today. I did stay in bed an hour later this morning trying to rest, but I never was able to go back to sleep.

What do you do when your husband is MISERABLE in their job??? He got this great job with a very large worldwide corporation back in May. We were all excited. The job sounded great and everyone thinks that this is such a wonderful company to work for. He would have killer benefits and retirement and all that jazz. Well the job really sucks. He works anywhere from 10 to 14 hours a day. He has had a few 16 and 17 hour days. They pay them salary and so the overtime is what they call "calculated" or chinese overtime, which basically means that by Thursday of every week he is working for around minimum wage. It is just draining him physically and emotionally. Working all those hours, he does not have time to look for anyone else. He can't really take advantage of all the great health insurance and all because he doesn't have time. He barely sees us during the week then on the weekends he is so tired... I don't know what to do. We cannot afford for him to not work and look for something else. The job market here really sucks. We have had several large companies close in the past few years in this area so everyone is looking for a job.

Like I said in the beginning Calgon take me away...

Friday, July 07, 2006

Tumbling

My sweet little boy got his first knot on his head yesterday. My MIL called me yesterday morning, not too long after I got to the office and started off by saying that she was a bad Grandma. It kind of shocked me that she called me anyway because the only time she usually calls is to let me know what time to come and feed him lunch. I did not panic though because her voice was very calm. I asked her what happened and she said that he was standing and playing on the ottoman (you know standing in front of it) and he lost his balance and fell back and she could not catch him before he hit his little noggin on a piece of HARD furniture. She said he started crying and she started crying. THANK GOD my sister in law was still there and she took him and gave my MIL time to calm down and she got my son calmed down and put some witch hazel on his bump and he was fine. Although just to be sure she kept him awake for about an hour to be sure that he did not have a concussion or something. He seemed fine when I went over for lunch. He has a red bump on his head still, but he has been acting okay. Apparently it did not scar him for life because today he still wants to stand up at the ottoman. I know his first bump had to happen and honestly I am glad that it did not happen while he was at home with me. I probably would have rushed him to the ER.

Wednesday, July 05, 2006

Independence Day


Hope everyone had a great independence day. I did. It was spent with my family, eating WAAYYY too much junk food and having fun.

Monday, July 03, 2006

Weight loss secrets

Wow the response to my weight loss has been great, not just from you guys, but from people that really know me. I barely have any clothes that fit me, because they are all too big. I went shopping yesterday and bought a size 10 pants! WOOHOO for me. I have not been a size 10 in probably about 3 or 4 years. When I got pregnant with my sweet little angel baby I weighed 170 lbs., the heaviest that I have ever been in my life! When he was born I weighed 192 lbs! Now he is almost 8 months old and I weigh 140 lbs!

I had gestational diabetes when I was pregnant and had to REALLY watch what I ate. It kindof took some of the fun out of being pregnant. I did not get to eat what I wanted, when I wanted. I had to keep a food journal, count calories and carbs and take my blood sugar 4 times a day, OUCH! Anyway I had to go to a class to learn how to do all of that and to learn how I should be eating for the health of my baby. I certainly did not want to have to take insulin shots for the remainder of my pregnancy. So I did everything that the doctor recommended, most of the time. I still ate Mexican food on occassion, which made my blood sugar skyrocket, but I made up for it the next day by walking a few extra minutes and not eating as much. Anyway, long story short, I really learned how to eat.

I did not gain any weight the last 3 months of my pregnancy. My baby got bigger, but my actual body lost weight, not in pounds, but my face, legs, arms, etc all lost weight. So 2 weeks after I had my c-section I was back in me pre-pregnancy clothes. Anyway fast forward to now. I do NOT exercise, oh how I wish I had time to exercise. My little boy keeps me so busy that I just don't have time to exercise and when I am not playing with him, I am cleaning the house or doing laundry.

About the only thing that I do to keep the weight off is drink water, and plenty of it. I don't drink tea or soft drinks, except on occassion. I do however drink at least 8-8ounce glasses of water a day. I start out my day drinking water and keep a water bottle on my desk all day long. Anytime I get the urge to snack, I drink some water first and wait a few minutes, then I have my snack.

Something else that I think has really helped is the breastfeeding. My boy is a booby baby! Of course he doesn't breastfeed as much as he did because he is eating baby food now, but that is still his main source of milk.

Another thing that I think has helped me is the fact that I am constantly running, it seems. Not physically running, but 5 days a week, I am up and out of the house by 7:30 and it is off to work. Then at lunch I eat my sandwich while I am driving to my MIL to see my sweet angel and I spend my lunch hour playing with him, not eating. Then I eat an afternoon snack. Then I leave work, go and pick him up, head home. Rush to get supper on the table. Hurry to get through my meal and make sure everyone else is fed and then I have to get the little one ready for bed. After he is down for the night, it is time to get everything ready for the next day. After all of that is done, I am ready for bed and usually pass out from sheer exhaustion!

So you see there really is no big secret to my weight loss. Maybe I should invent some bogus reasons and write a book. I could be a millionaire!!!!!!!!!!!!!