December 8, 2001

Sometimes you have to compromise...

Taylor went to see Santa last night. As I expected, he would have nothing to do with him. Luckily, Santa and his "helper" were very patient, and the fact that we were the ONLY people in line definitely helped. So, after about 30 minutes of begging and pleading with Taylor to "tell Santa what you want for Christmas", this is what we got:

Merry Christmas everyone!

it's almost time!

For Taylor's first time Trick or Treating! I don't know if he's excited. Or even if he knows he should be. But I am. We had his pictures done at Olan Mills a couple weeks ago. Here is me NOT plugging Olan Mills. Bleh. They've really gone downhill. So, out of 38 pictures, about 10 of them were overexposed and crap, most of the rest included one of us in the side of the picture trying to get Taylor to look happy, and a FEW came out cute.

So, here's a couple. You can see why I'm not thrilled in several of them.

Yes, that's a cell phone, yes, I know he needs a haircut and FYI, he's a skunk.

One. Uno. Un

Well, after hearing from everyone over the last month that I'm having AT LEAST 2 babies, my feelings were confirmed this morning. Please pay close attention....THERE IS ONLY ONE BABY! Which is good. Since I was ready to pack my stuff and leave in the event of multiples. After the babies came home, of course. :)

So, here "she" is:





I have absolutely no clue why they are posting sideways, so turn yer heads cuz I'm too lazy to fix them.

"She" has a strong heartbeat and is measuring 8w6d, which is 1 day short of what my LMP indicates. According to those measurements, "she" is due 5/27/09. EXACTLY 1 month before Taylor turns 2!

And it begins...

So, I've heard it a million times. "Things happen faster the second time around." I dismiss it and go on about life. Until I notice this:

The picture on the left is from 14 Weeks pregnant with Taylor. The picture on the right: 8 WEEKS this time around.

Dear God. They were not lying. So, just an FYI, ladies. When someone tells you that "things happen faster the second time around", believe them. They're not lying.

gDiaper Update

A word of advice: if your kid pees more than, say, a normal kid...gDiapers may not be for you.

Upon waking up the morning of his first gDiaper night, Taylor was covered in pee. Ew. So, I did some research. What do you know? You're supposed to double it at night. That makes sense. So, keep in mind that Taylor sleeps for 11-13 hours a night. Yes, we love it. Yes, we worked hard to get there. So, on the second night, I doubled the liners. Now, picture a small child trying to walk with a pillow in his britches. Ha! Luckily, he goes to bed shortly after bath/jammie time anyways, so there wasn't much time for walking, er, I mean wobbling anyways.

I held out hope that the next morning would be clean and dry and we would be able to continue in the world of gDiapers and their cutesy covers. Nope. Soaked. Oh, and poopy. I'm happy to say that it happened to be Daddy's day to get up with Taylor. hehe

So, not only did he wake up covered in pee AGAIN, but apparently, the convenient and still sanitary process of gDiaper disposal turns into a disgusting mess when there are 2 liners to contend with. Daddy was not happy.

So, there's our update. We are no longer using gDiapers and I will more than likely be listing the pack of refils on eBay or Craigslist soon. Would it be wrong to continue to use the covers over a regular sposie? I sure do like them.

Vroom Vroom!

Thanks to Nanny, Taylor now has yet one more toy with which to break his arm. I absolutely love the "ho-hum" look on his face. Oh, and the fact that he's completely oblivious to the fact that he just might have to steer at some point.

Not quite crunchy....

But we've decided to give gDiapers a try. The fact that they are flushable first got me interested. This means no more stinky Diaper Genie. But, I must admit, I've always thought diaper covers were adorable. However, not adorable enough to all out cloth diaper. So, gDiapers seem to be the way to go.

www.gdiaper.com

They shipped super fast. I ordered them on 9/22 and even though I paid for Ground shipping (4-7 business days), they arrived on 9/24.

I normally don't put anything on Taylor without washing it first, but the excitement got the best of me. I wrapped him up as soon as I finished reading the directions! First off, I LOVE the covers. They're stretchy and snuggly feeling. At first glance, I thought they had sent me the wrong flushable liners as they looked huge compared to the liner insert. But, it only took a minute to get is situated in the liner and it was perfect.

I especially like that they velcro in the back, since Taylor has recently figured out that he can take his diapers off himself. Ick. So, they were very easy to load and just as easy as a 'sposie to put on. They are a bit bulkier than a 'sposie, but not enough to interfere with the way his clothes fit.

So, Taylor got to go to dinner last night in a tee and a gDiaper, which is adorable. Once we got home, i went ahead and changed him, even though it was fairly soon, so we could get his jammies on and get ready for bed.

66665
+9706399999063068086++++++++++5
3. (Taylor says hi.)

So, the first night didn't go so well. He woke up covered in pee. Turns out, you're supposed to double up the insert at night, since they are on for so long. So, we'll know that for tonight.

While in the middle of typing this blog, we had our first poopy G. I can only say that I hope as I get used to it, it will get better. The snap-in liner was covered in poop. Luckily, I ordered extra, so I didn't feel bad about just throwing that one out. It seems that the insert slipped out of place. Gonna have to figure out how that happened.

All in all, I like them. But they will definitely take some getting used to. It has, however, reinforced what I've always known. I am NOT cut out for straight up cloth diapering. But at least with the G, I'm doing a little bit to help the planet, and Taylor's room won't stink anymore.

I'll update on the G as we go. But, here's some pictures. See how cute the cover is??

Yummy yummy I got love in my Tummy!

And complete INSANITY in my head!!! I swear I don't remember being this psycho when I was pregnant with Taylor. I cried on 3 different occasions yesterday, and that's not even counting the hour that Army Wives was on. This is insane.

Maybe I was the same last time and I just didn't realize it. There is a lot to be said about the differences in a first pregnancy and subsequent pregnancies. I mean, with the first, if I didn't want to deal with life, I could just go to bed and ignore it. With this one, though, I have a whole other little person to take care of and I would never consider "going to bed and ignoring him".

I have mucho respect for all the mothers that had toddlers while pregnant. Aye!

I am happy to say that I have had no morning sickness and the worst symptom thus far was a 3 day headache. I'm pretty sure that had more to do with cutting my caffeine intake WAY down than it had to do with being pregnant. Since the headache finally went away, I've been feeling fairly decent, other than being exhausted, so I'm happy for that.

My pregnancy with Taylor was also an easy one, with the exception of the bedrest for high BP at the end, and I really hope this one goes the same. So, my hardest job right now, aside from the physical stuff, is waiting until OCTOBER 21 for my first appointment!!! Boo! Anyone that knows me knows that I am NOT a patient person, so this is difficult. It also doesn't help that I got a positive HPT before I was even 4 weeks along. So, here's to insanity and waiting. :)

Oh, we'll be taking suggestions for baby names also.

Mmm Mmm Good!

And I'm not talking about soup! I happened upon this recipe a week or so ago and tried it immediately. I have since learned that it is also known as Gooey Butter Cake and though I have heard of it before, I have never had it. Believe me, had I had any idea how good it was, it would be a regular by now. YUM!

BUTTERCRACK
Oven at 325
Crust:
3/4 stick butter, melted
1 Box Butter Recipe Cake Mix
2 Eggs
Mix crust ingredients by hand until well blended. Batter will be very thick. Press into well greased 9x 13 pan.

Filling:
3/4 stick butter, melted
1 Box Powdered Sugar
1 8oz pkg. Cream Cheese
2 Eggs
Blend filling ingredients with mixer until smooth. Pour over unbaked crust. Bake 55 min. @ 325 or until light golden brown. Cool completely and serve.

The crust makes absolutely fabulous cookies and I'm thinking about using it to make my Christmas Eve dinner with the in-laws cookies. The cake will stay kind of runny and will juggle in the middle until it is absolutely completely chilled, so make sure you give it plenty of time in the fridge to set. Also, I suggest small slices...it's extremely rich. Enjoy!

101 in 1001

Well, it seems like everyone and their brother is posting about this these days.

101 Things To Do In 1001 Days

Have you heard of it? I think it's cool. I think I could do it. If I could come up with 101 things to do. I think I'll work on that. Here's the beginning of my list:

1. Have a baby

Go me! I think I'm actually going to work on this. I'll be thinking about my list and will post it soon.

Soooooo....

For those that haven't heard yet....I'm pregnant! Yay! As of right now, were thinking this will be the last one. But, we'll see. :)

According to the online calculators, I'm due May 26, 2009 (my little brothers b-day).

Still been a while...

Since I've posted a real blog. So, here goes.

First things first. A moment of silence in remembrance of those lost 7 years ago, and also for those that still suffer today.

And now, an update on my hell child. Taylor has had a cold for about a week now. i gave in and took him to the doctor last Thursday. Of course, all I got was "suck it up and give him some Tylenol", but I got some other good info also. Like, he is now 27 lbs 2 oz. Also, he is 31.25" long. A little big on the weight side, not quite so big on the length side. I've been advised that, contrary to what he tries to convince me of, he will not die without some of my sweet tea. Whatever. He still gets it, just not as much. The key is moderation, right?

So, aside from being ginormous, he amazes me constantly. He is still not talking. He much prefers to yell and point and watch me fetch. He does, however, follow directions. Ex: "Taylor, bring Mommy the remote". Next thing I know, I have a remote thrown at my head. So, it's not perfect, but the end result is the same. I now have the remote. So what if I have to track down all the batteries that fell out when the back popped off when it hit the couch. big deal.

Our night time routine is my absolute favorite! It starts with getting home from work/daycare. Taylor goes to daycare 3 days/week, so sometimes we don't get home until 6 pm. The other days he comes to work with me, so were home at 5:01. anyways, when we get home, he gets some milk and plays for a little while. If it's a daycare day, I immediately start on dinner. If it's not, I chill for a few while he plays. Between 6 and 6:30, dinner is eaten. He loves his dinner time. He's getting really good with the utensils also, which is adorable.

After dinner is bath time. So, after a quick recon mission for missing chicken and green bean pieces, or whatever he might have under his butt, he gets down and is told to "go to the bathroom for bath time". Wanna know what he does?? That's right! He RUNS to the bathroom! The boy also LOVES bath time. Mostly, he likes to fill his cup up and dump it out over and over and over and over and over...well, you get it.

After bath time, he gets to finish his milk from dinner and play. Right 'round 7:15, he starts rubbing his eyes, and will even lay on the floor on his blankie. So, I say "are you ready for nite-nite?". This is my favorite part: he gets his blankie, his binky and goes to his bedroom door and waits for me to come open it! Once I open the door, he goes to his crib and waits for me to come put him in it! It's the cutest thing EVER!! He immediately lays down and takes his blankie.

Every night, I thank all that is Holy that we don't have to fight with him to go to bed. Amen to that.

So, I guess that's about it. I'm kind of over the blogging thing for now. Heres a few recent pictures.

Been a while....

But, it's late, I'm tired and I only have one thing to say tonight.....

GO GATORS!

That's all. Have a good night. Gator Girl out. :)

Sad, sad mama.

Taylor is staying the night at Grandma's. As insane as he sometimes makes me, I sure do miss him. Which, is really weird. He'd be in bed now, for at least a couple of hours, if he were home, anyways. So, it's not like we'd be playing a game right now or anything. I guess I miss being able to just go in his room and check on him. To catch him sleeping with his hiney up in the air, or his leg kicked up on the side of his crib.


My sadness aside, cousins Michael, Charlie and Samantha are there too. Not to mention the ducks, the pond, the fish and the 4-wheelers. So, I know he's having a blast.

But, oh Taylor gone to Grandma's makes for sad Mommy. :(

The Junior Museum!

This past Saturday, my husband, my mom, Taylor and I took a trip to the Junior Museum. Yes, I know it's not really called the Junior Museum anymore, but sometimes I'm resistant to change. So, that's what I'll be calling it.

Technically, it's now called the Tallahassee Museum (here) and has been host to bazillions of school field trips over time. I made several trips there myself while in elementary school, but I don't think I'd been since then. Keep your snickers about my age to yourselves, please. Yes, I'm aware it's been 2394862349 years since I was in elementary school.

Surprisingly, it's exactly as I remembered! The guest Animal right now is 2 Patas Monkeys. Ugly monkeys, so don't get excited. Taylor got a kick out of them...especially the one that really seemed to enjoy scratching himself.

It had to have been about a million degrees out, but since most of it is in the shade, it wasn't that bad. We spent about 3 hours there, total, including a lunch at the new Trailbreak Cafe where the ever efficient staff must do things in this order:
1. ask you what you want
2. write down what you want
3. ring up what you want
4. get your drink
5. ask what the other person with you wants
6. write down what the other person wants
7. ring up what the other person wants
8. get other person's drink

and so on and so forth. I don't want this to turn into one of my rants, but someone correct me if I'm wrong. Wouldn't it be more efficient to write it ALL down at once, then get all the drinks at once, so on and so forth?? Maybe it's just me.

Anyways, Taylor loved all the animals. The hawks especially caught his eye flying above us. He also seemed to enjoy the snakes. Ick. I don't think I mentioned the snake encounter we had at work. I should post about that. *note to self*

Pictures now....

Checking out the itchy monkey

AHHHHHH! Budgeting sucks.

So, we've recently began "budgeting". I use the term budgeting lightly, because by budgeting I don't mean that were using a bazillion envelopes every month, or even have a written plan for that matter. However, we did take some money out of savings to pay off all of the credit cards and put them in the lock box.

Now, if you're like me, you're thinking "I know all the numbers.". Well, I do. But to be honest, I like not having the extra 6 or 7 bills each month. I will say, that we put some on our Home Depot card to get some stuff for the house. And with 1 year no interest and all, no harm no foul, right? I'm anal as hell about paying those off in time. So, we have an awesome new patio set. I think investments in the house are justified. We were more looking into cutting out all the useless crap. So far so good.

Now, on another note. Have you ever grocery shopped on a "budget"? Again, I use the term loosely. Last week, I surfed the weekly ad papers for both Winn Dixie and Publix and made a shopping list that was MOSTLY stuff that was on sale. Boneless skinless chicken breast is an awesome buy when it's BOGO.

So, after $92 at Publix and $77 at Winn Dixie, there's enough food in the house for at least 2 weeks, probably more. I was sooooo excited and proud of myself. I actually planned meals around the stuff I bought and didn't go crazy and buy a bunch of random crap. Not to say that I didn't stock up on frozen pizzas for those nights where cooking just isn't happening. But seriously, at least 2 weeks of food for less than $200 for 3 people? AWESOME. Now, you're probably thinking..."but that doesn't include feeding Taylor." Yes it does. Hell Child eats what we do. Amen for teeth. So, aside form the random jar of Gerber meat sticks, he's included in our grocery "budget" now. Have I mentioned the boy loves ground beef?

So, the credit cards have been locked up for about a month now, and though I'm seriously tempted to go check out the sales at Old Navy and Baby Gap, I'm not. Although, filling up my shopping cart and then just closing the window does help some. Anyways, I thought it would be harder than it is. But I certainly don't want to jinx myself, so I'll say that I'm doing well....for now.

I shall post a picture of the new patio furniture when I remember to actually take a picture of it.

Really? Is it really necessary???

To blast your thug music so ******* loud at 10:45 pm?? Not that I'm old and trying to sleep (although, on most nights I would be), but I have a child that generally sleeps at night. WTF is wrong with people?

I'm a fan of thug music myself, so I'm not pissed that they're playing shit that I just don't like. I'm pissed that I get woken up by it at 2 and 3 AM! AM!

So, here's what REALLY pisses me off. We've called the Sheriff's Dept several times. I wouldn't have said a word ever if I didn't have a kid, really. So, the Sheriffs Dept will come here and talk to us about it, then come back and say that they "can't find the source". ******* cops. (Sorry Jenna) But seriously. YOU'RE THE ******* SHERIFF!!! Isn't it your job to, oh I don't know....FIND THEM???

So, here's what I've decided. I'm calling them EVERY TIME from now on. I don't care if they've just left. I'll call the bastards back. I'm sick of this shit. As my mama would say, "have some ******* cooth." For all you non-southerners, that means brains/smarts/integrity/respect. Kind of a mixture of it all.

So, I think if I follow this plan, that it probably won't take them long to actually do something about it so I'll quit calling...right?? We're going to find out.

It's called GRAMMAR, people!!!

It absolutely drives me insane when people don't know the difference between "your" and "you're" and "there" and "their". Is it really that hard? If you think about it for more then 1 second, it might come to you. So, here's my brief grammar lesson for the day.

*The term "you're" is a contraction of the words "you" and "are", as in "you're a moron". Get it? YOU ARE a moron. You're a moron.

See? Simple. :)

Here's another.

His vs. He's
I've only seen this once or twice, but it's so rediculous that it begs for it's own lesson. So, here goes.

*His: possession/ownership
*He's: Contraction of He and Is

Here's the difference:
His dumb ass shouldn't be here.
He's a dumb ass.

This is WRONG: He's dumb ass shouldn't be here. AYE!!

See the difference? His ass is dumb vs. He is a dumb ass. Easy, no?

Ok, that's enough for today.

Grammar Nazi out. :)

P.S. First person to comment and tell me how many grammatical errors in this post about grammar is no longer my friend. :)

The Great Birthday Surprise

So, I began Saturday as instructed. I slept in until after 10am. Yay! Daddy & Taylor left early. After I got up, I lounged around and watched some tv and hung out until about 1, when I gathered myself and packed a small bag for scalloping on Sunday.

I got to mom's house around 3. Mom was getting Taylor down for a nap, and it was pretty obvious something was up. A few minutes later, I was told that I needed to go check on Taylor for a couple minutes. So, I did. What do you know....he was napping. At which point, Robert came and got me and told me there was something on the back porch that I needed to go get and that I would have to feed it and give it something to drink. *gasp* He certainly wouldn't have the nerve to buy a pet...would he??

So, when I get to the back porch, I find.....MONIQUE!!! One of my bestest friends EVER! He really went all out and I was sooooo excited. Then I find out that there's more to it, but I wouldn't find out what until later. Michelle, Tommy, Nanny & Bill and some others were there for a surprise party...YAY! We had steaks, kabobs, baked potatoes....the works. It was an awesome dinner to say the least.

After dinner, I got to open "gifts". The big ones weren't wrapped. You know you're getting old when you ask for and are excited to get a garbage disposal and a DustBuster for your birthday. :) Then there were cards. Some had money, some had gift cards. One in particular, was good for one whole weekend of babysitting. Yay again!

Then there was another card. A card from Mom & Dad. This particular card held something very special. It held 2 THIRD ROW CENTER tickets to the Brooks & Dunn concert in Jacksonville!!!! Monique and I were to leave early Sunday morning! I was soooo excited!

So we left around 9:30 and headed straight for the mall. We had an appointment at 2:30 to get our makeup done at Mac...which is always fun. After 2.5 hours (quite an ordeal) with the makeup chick, we went and checked into the hotel. Monique got us an awesome room at the Hyatt Regency right next to The Landing on the river. After some hair prep time, we got dressed and went downstairs to The Plaza III for dinner.

After a few drinks, appetizers and an awesome dinner, we got a cab (scary ordeal) and headed to the Arena. Due to the makeup ordeal, we were 45 minutes late and missed part of Rodney Atkins. We still caught about an hour of him, and it was GREAT! Did I mention that he's hot?? :) Who knew?

Brooks & Dunn finally came on about 9 and the seats were AWESOME!!! For the next hour and a half, we danced, sang and had sooooo much fun!!
Caught a cab back to the hotel and had a drink at the bar before going up to the room. It didn't take long to get into some jammies and crash.

As part of the whole package, I got Monday off, so we took our time getting back. Monique's flight didn't leave until 6pm, so we headed to Lake City once we checked out of the hotel. We had lunch at a very good mexican restaurant called El Potro...YUM! Then we hit the Lake City mall, which, on account of it's size, didn't take very long. From there, we headed back home to get Monique to the airport.

So, that concludes the Birthday Surprise. It was awesome and I had so much fun. I love you, babe. I love Mom & Dad too!

This is the only picture I've gotten the "ok" on so far to post...
Before the show:


Rodney Atkins:


Brooks & Dunn

A birthday....surprise?

So, my birthday (eek) is next Tuesday (eek again). Big 2-9. Not that it matters, I can't stop it and it's not like I'm....30. :) Yet. Anyways, I've been given very unspecific instructions for tomorrow and I have no idea what they'll lead to.

For starters, I get to sleep in. Daddy & Taylor will be leaving around 10am. That's right...I'll be alone. Holy crap. I won't know what to do with myself. So, I have to busy myself (or sleep) until 3:30 when I am supposed to be at my mom's house. We are eating there, then Taylor is staying the night with Nanny. From there, we are leaving.

That's about all I know. At some point Saturday night, we will end up in either Panacea at the condo, or in Carrabelle at the in-laws house (alone - woo). On Sunday, we are planning on scalloping.

So, does anyone know what I'm doing Saturday??? Oh well. I'm excited. Happy Birthday to me. :)

Updates!

In case you haven't noticed, I've made some updates. I gotta say, I'm in love! Yay for a new layout and a clock! I'm a blog genius! OK, maybe not a genius, but thanks to Cheryl, I'm doing pretty damn good!

Check it!

So, I know I'm not the only girl around that would actually dedicate a full blog to a purse, so here goes.

I bought this when we were in the Bahamas. It was a cute little shop called Iggy Biggy. Turns out, there are several of them scattered among several of the Abaco Islands, but we hit the one on Marsh Harbour.

Anyways, the brand is Dakine (www.dakine.com) and I'm in LOVE!

For less than $100, I got the purse, the wallet and the cute little accessory bag.

I must admit, that as I age, I become more and more of a control freak and at first sight I thought, "I couldn't possibly use that...it doesn't have the divider in the middle". You know, the one that makes it into 2 separate compartments?? Well, I must have those these days so I can keep things separate and neat. On second look I thought, "there's no way all my crap will fit in there!" On third look I though, "screw it, I'm buying it".

So, I've had some doubt since we got home about whether or not I would use it. Last night I decided to try it out. Much to my surprise, it's awesome! All my stuff fits, and thanks to the cool accessory bag and yet another accessory bag, my stuff stays separate! So far, I'm diggin' it. Check it out.....



I love the cute little wooden flower button...


The inside:


The accessories have the cool green gingham fabric inside also.


And now concludes my blog post entirely dedicated to my new purse.

The Bahamas Trip

I just want to say that the trip to the Bahamas wasn't exactly the best vacation ever. Though it was stressful, it was also beautiful and we had a lot of fun. Here's some pics...