Oh, and I have to brag about my favorite gift

I'm a sucker for anything to do with my kids, and especially their little handprints - I love them so.

The day before Thanksgiving, Jon told me he needed to take the kids out, wouldn't tell me where. I knew that my mom and Jamie were going out, and I knew that mom most likely knew what was up, so I tried to trick her, and asked if I could join her and Jamie. She told me "sure!", so I knew that they weren't going to be with Jon and the kids. I copped to what I was up to and received the "they are his kids too, and if he wants to take them somewhere, let it be. Leave the man alone" lecture. LOL

So... My mom handed me a box on Christmas, and in it was a beautiful round platter. The platter is blue on the bottom, and white on the top (just like our dishes!), and says "We love Mommy". It has two large hearts, one had each kids's name, and also their handprints, each set of prints forming the shape of a heart. It was from Mom, Jamie, Jon and the kids. So, not only did I receive something so wonderful and meaningful, I had the satisfaction of knowing I was on the right track all along, I just had no idea that they were going to be making me something! I thought they were just going to go shopping or something. Sneaky devils!

Christmas week

I should break this up into a bunch of smaller posts, but that would require some effort, so I'll just put it all in one. Sorry. :-P

Last Sunday (12/21) was our church's Christmas Pageant. Natalie had three roles - Elizabeth (Mary's cousin. Next year N will be Mary!), the Innkeepers wife, and an angel. She did a great job! It was a little hectic - I was one of the "stage hands", and one of the other kids played multiple roles too, which made costume changes a little hairy, but we all made it through! All the kids were so cute! It really made the parishioners happy too - I think it has been several years since they've had a children's Christmas program.

Monday, Mitz came over and we made cookies. Only one kind turned out, which pissed me off so much, I made more that night, determined to get it right. Mitz did the same at her house - this apple didn't fall far from the tree. Just as I finished one batch of dough though, my Kitchen-Aid shit the bed. More on that later. Jon and Natalie made a gingerbread house while I made more cookies that night. It turned out really well this year! When we weren't looking, Natalie stuck Goldfish crackers to the house - it was a nice addition. :-P

Wednesday we didn't do a whole lot during the day. We went to Christmas Eve service at 4, then headed to Mitz and Pops' for dinner. Aunt Joan and Great-Grandpa Carl were there. We had ham, shrimp (to appease my finicky palate), potato salad, green salad (to appease my finicky palate) and something else. Cupcakes and brownies for dessert. Got the kids home in time to rush to bed to prepare for Santa's visit! We had the kids open our ornaments to them (I get them Lenox ones every year, which is turning into a problem - we never have enough strong branches to accommodate the heavy ornaments), and also ones that Great-Aunt Lois and Great-Uncle Don sent. Normally we have Natalie open her Christmas pjs, and their special ornaments are hung at the time we decorate the tree, but since the kids wore their Christmas jammies on the Polar Express, it seemed silly to wrap them up, so we held back the ornaments this year. Natalie hung our stockings, and the Santa key on the door. We got the kids to bed, then I realized we forgot to have N help with the cookies, carrot, and milk for Santa, so I took care of that, and Santa left Natalie a thank-you note. I made a few things ahead for Christmas dinner, and as I was mixing some Focking Good Cheese dip with my hand mixer, that shit the bed too. Then I noticed the outlet (on one side of our island) was smoking. More on that later. Jon and I got to bed way too late.

I woke up Christmas Day around 5:30, go figure, and tried to go back to sleep. Too excited, so I got up around 6:10. Oliver got up at 6:45, and we had to WAKE Natalie up at 7. Can you believe that? Opened our stockings, and then hit the tree. It was so wonderful - Natalie was so excited! Oliver was all wound up too - he had no clue what was going on, but was enjoying tackling paper and rolling in it, and eating bows. Santa hid Natalie's new bike behind the tree, so it took her awhile to spy it, but when she did, she had to have it immediately. We had to call her back to finish opening gifts - she was riding the bike around the house.

Jon made breakfast - bacon and french toast. He's the french toast master. Actually, he makes a wonderful breakfast, so if we're having a full breakfast, he's the one who makes it. Unless we're having pancakes - I found a product called Batter Blaster - organic pancake batter in a spray bottle like Reddi-Whip. The kids get fun shapes, and I make curse words for Jon - might as well have fun before the kids learn to read! Anyway....

Mom, Jim, Mike and Jamie were due over at noon, so around 11, we decided to get the prime rib in the oven. The recipe I use calls for browning the roast on the stove top. Works great, if you take into consideration the amount of fat on top of your roast - which I didn't, and also this roast had a thick layer of fat. Holy crap, we smoked the house out. It was awful! Natalie was convinced the fire department was going to come, Oliver thought it was funny for a bit - he was on his knees laughing and waving his arms, then the smoke got down to his level and he started coughing and gagging. You could barely see throughout the whole downstairs. I had Jon take the kids upstairs, threw the roast in the oven, then turned on the ceiling fans, and opened all the windows. Jon came back down after I went up and got a fan from the garage, and turned on the HVAC fan too. Luckily the smoke cleared by the time my family arrived. I was shocked that none of the smoke detectors went off - they should have - so Jon is replacing all the batteries tonight.

So we had presents round 2. It reminded me of when my brother and I were kids and we'd go to my grandparents for Christmas part 2. The kids got totally spoiled this year, and I loved every minute of it. I'm a Christmas junky. Mitz had stockings for all of us too - I pulled a mini Butter Shots out of mine, then Mitz exclaimed "Where's the other one? I put two in there - one for me". LOL. I lined up the shots when we started cooking. :-P Then we all hung out for the afternoon - Aunt Joan, and our friends Sylvia and Ed, and their sons Aaron and Adam came for dinner too! While I was getting dinner together, I mentioned to Pops that I didn't think my KA crapped out after all - that the outlet was smoking when in use. He jumped up, told us to grab some tools, and he pulled apart the outlet to investigate. Thank God for him.... He found that the connections were loose, and since he explains it better, I'll just leave it at we could have had a fire - he actually said he couldn't believe we didn't - the wires had fried so badly. He got it all fixed up for us, and my mixers work too! As we took the last pot off the stove, Jon and I noticed that the top half of the right front burner (glass cooktop. I WANT GAS) was glowing orange - huge orange circle, extending into the space between the front and back burners. More on that later too.

Then, that afternoon, I had one of the breakfast area windows open because the oven heated up the house and I was dying. Oliver crawled over to the window, pulled up and stood there, waving and tapping on the window. We thought he was just having fun at the window, then when I went to pull him away, I noticed that baby beaver (you should see his crib) decided to have a little snack. He chewed the windowsill (you'll see pics in the Christmas album) - down to the freaking metal - huge spot.

For dinner we had the prime rib, horseradish cream sauce, red wine au jus, Caesar salad, from-scratch green bean casserole, mashed potatoes, rolls. Sylvia brought a fabulous bundt cake from Nothing Bundt Cakes, which was SO good, and my mom made a delicious trifle.

After everyone left, and we got the kids to bed, Jon and I started clean up. He started to clean the cooktop, then called me over. The right front burner had an enormous crack in it - went all the way up into the back burner. Then I swear, as we were watching it more cracks appeared all over the surface. It was the strangest thing. Wasn't there when we were cooking, and nothing dropped on it. Kenmore can't get anyone out until Tuesday, and we're informed that they will determine what happened. Ok, whatever. It better be replaced - we bought it when we moved in, so it isn't that old. It has to be something with heat distress, as I mentioned, nothing dropped on it, and the left front burner was never used that day, yet it developed a big crack too. We had dinner at M&P's last night and tonight. Sucks to be without a cooktop. They say the oven is safe, but it makes me nervous - if it's a heat thing - I don't know that I want to be heating up the oven and using it.

It was nice to be with family and friends for Christmas! Usually it is just our immediate/nuclear family, so this was wonderful!

Last but not least, we remember and miss those who passed this year, Jon's father Grandpa Ron (March), Jon's maternal grandmother Grandma Helen (May) and Jim's maternal Aunt Ivy (December).

I'm working on pictures tonight. If they aren't up tonight, they will be tomorrow.

Merry Christmas!

Stairs? No problem

Oliver has mastered the stairs (crawling up). The other day he went all the way up, but it was slow going. Just now, he made a dash for them, I was right behind him, and I mean right behind him. He was up 5 of them by the time I got to the base. He got all the way to the top (me right behind) very quickly!

Uncle (B)Ri(t)ch

Not so hidden message in the title. :-P

Rich wanted a shout-out (do people still say that?) on the blog... So here he is...

Rich is my younger brother - he's 33. He lives in Baltimore, MD, with his girlfriend Christie (who is a saint, much like Jon). No one can frustrate me or make me laugh quite like him. And he's the master at pushing my buttons - of course I would NEVER return the favor. :-P I think my fondest memory of growing up together was the time I Maced him. Or maybe how attached he was to his security blanket, Dee (oddly enough, Natalie always called her pacifiers "Dee" - we called them nin-nins, so the Dee thing was a mystery). He used to get so upset when our mom would wash Dee - he'd stand outside trying to pull Dee off the clothesline, wailing "Deeeeee Deeeee". Then when he got Dee back, he'd take a big whiff and say "Mmmmm! Dee keen (clean)". Or the Thanksgiving morning when we were watching the parade, and he had to go to the bathroom. He put Dee on the space heater while he was gone, to keep Dee warm. By the time he returned, Dee was literally smoking, and had two big scorch marks.

He and one of our neighborhood friends (at our grandparents) loved to gang up on me too. Our grandparent's house had a covered porch, and we were not allowed to go out on the porch roof. So of course, he and Keith would take my beloved doll, Margaret, and throw her up on the porch roof. As I'd climb out the bedroom window to get onto the roof to rescue Margaret (they'd throw her far enough out on the porch so I couldn't just lean out and get her), they'd turn on the hose, and soak me and the porch roof, then rat me out for being on the roof, with the water only on the roof and me as proof. Meanies.

Anyway... As little brothers go, he isn't half bad. I miss him, and wish we could see him more often.

He's missing a horn here. :-P

Oliver's latest

Skeezix continues to learn new things every day!

He gives high-fives now
He's trying to stand alone - has succeeded a couple of times
Starting to wave
Chewing up his crib. The little beaver.
AND, the best? The other day, he crawled up to me, pulled on my leg and said "Mama". About two months ago, he started saying "Mmmmmmm" when he wanted me - he'd crawl after me saying it - Jon pointed out that he only did that for me. But there's something special about "Mama".

Natalie officially turned 4!

Yesterday. I'm late. Sue me. :-P

We had a very nice day! She had presents early (loved her new cash register!), and then Mitz and Pops came over in the afternoon. More gifts - M&P scored a hit! She's been wanting this Elefun game for more than a year now (Google it and you might understand why Santa forgot to bring it last year. It is fun though!). She didn't even have it all the way out of the bag... Just shaking and jumping with joy - "It's the Elefun game! Elefun! Now Santa doesn't need to get me it". lol

After that, we went to Organ Stop Pizza - a local pizza place with an enormous organ, pipes all over the place, and tap-dancing kitty marionettes. Natalie had so much fun! She was dancing around the table the whole time. Oliver even enjoyed it - he was enthralled! Dancing in his highchair, and he clapped for the first time too! Had an ice cream cake, then went to look at a famous light display in Mesa. Except most of the houses on the block didn't have their lights on. Bummer! Called it a night, got the kids to bed.

Happy Birthday my sweet, sweet girl! I can't believe you are 4 already!

And Happy Birthday to Aunt Annie (the 15th too), Grandma Carol (today!), and Pops (the 18th).

Natalie's Birthday party with her friends.

Natalie's birthday party was at Freestone Railroad Park in Gilbert, AZ. She wanted a party at the train park, with puppy plates/decor, and a Batman cake. What a fun place to have a birthday party! They have a nice party area, overlooking a pond, and right there is a concession stand, and four rides - Ferris Wheel, Carousel, Wave Runner, and a train that goes around the entire park. The nice part about it is the rides and party area are all in the same space - much easier for the kids to run around, and also for us to keep an eye on them. A bunch of her friends from school came, our friends Stacey, Donny and their youngest son Jackson, Aunt Jamie, Uncle Mike, Mitz and Pops.

The kids started off on the Wave Runner, and they all rode that non-stop for the first twenty minutes. It was like kiddie crack! After we got them all off that, we had pizza, cake and ice cream, all the kids were given engraved wooden train whistles from the park, and Natalie and Oliver were given engineer caps. Then rides, rides and more rides! Even Oliver got to ride on the train! All of the kids had such a fun time. I've never seen Natalie so happy - just truly joyful - everything being a kid should be. I couldn't ask for anything more. Even when it was time to go (we stayed after since the ride wristbands were good until the park closed), she was happy right to the end, no trouble about leaving. We rode the train, then the other three rides, got some lemonade and popcorn, and headed to the car. Jon left after the party ended so Oliver could get a nap.

When we got home, Natalie was chattering on about her party. "I had a cool party! And a cool whistle! And a cool hat! And cool lemonade! And cool popcorn! And cool goodie bags! And cool balloons!". She also told me "I'm 4 now. I'm not 3. I like being 4". I reminded her that she was technically 3 until Monday - she told me "I know Mommy. I'm just pretending to be 4!". We let her open her presents from her friends. I had forgotten that I started stashing random things in some of the gift bags during clean-up - extra plates, napkins, blowers, etc. As she opened bags, she'd say "Look Mommy! They got me plates! And blowers! And napkins - lots of napkins!". The last bag had the candle striker/lighter in it - oops. She pulled it out, totally scandalized tone "Look Mommy. Who gave me this? I'm not supposed to have that".

So, tomorrow, our baby officially turns 4. I really can't believe it. We have a full day planned tomorrow. We'll probably give her presents early, then Mitz and Pops are coming over in the afternoon for presents, and then we are going to a place called Organ Stop Pizza (we took Grandma Carol there this summer when she visited) for dinner/cake. Whew!

Oh, I don't want to make a huge deal about this. But we couldn't keep the cat. Natalie kept reacting to her, and the allergy worsened. By Friday, she was telling me her throat hurt and was tight. I took her to her doctor to find out if it was strep, but he took one look at her and asked me if she'd been around peanuts - ruled out a cold, upper respiratory illness, no swollen glands, throat wasn't red. It went downhill from there, and he told us to get the cat out of the house immediately. We called around for three hours, and found a place to take her - they adopt out 100% of their healthy animals - and since we'd already been to the vet, we knew CG was healthy, plus she's young and great with kids, so hopefully soon she'll be with her forever family. It was heartbreaking and devastating - we all loved that little kitten, but we couldn't take the chance of Natalie anaphylaxing/stopping breathing. As it was, she woke up Friday night at midnight, choking and gagging - even after we cleaned, and totally stripped her bedding, washed and replaced. She's gradually getting better, but she, and we miss CG so much.

I've been able to come to some sort of peace about what happened. At first I kept thinking why would this happen - why would she follow N home, then make her so sick we couldn't keep her - what good does that do that poor cat or us? It just doesn't make sense. Then I started thinking, well maybe this is just part of what God planned. He knew that we would take her in, take her to the vet, get her started on what she needs to lead life as a healthy kitty, and then when it all went to shit, that we would take the time to find the best place we could for her (in the short time we had to do it), so she'd then be available for her forever family - especially since we were able to give the shelter a good description of her sweet disposition, great nature with kids. That belief is what is helping me come to terms with this, because it hurts. I hated seeing my daughter hysterical, Jon upset, me upset, and we certainly would never have taken her in had we known - but where she is is still better than roaming the streets - she was clearly happy being an inside cat.

Note - pictures are up. Shutterfly made major changes to their site, one of which included removing the option to sort pictures by certain parameters - such as in order by file name. Of all things to remove, that really sucked. So the pictures never upload in order, which is why they always jump around - I don't have the time to manually arrange them. I also snagged some my mom took too, so those just got tacked onto the end.

Natalie's Christmas Program - Pre-school

Last Thursday evening was Natalie's pre-school program! All of the classes (young 3s, pre-school, Pre-K and Kindergarten) had a little performance. All of the kids did a great job - my kid included, of course! Jon, Oliver, Mitz and I were all there.

The Young 3s sang a couple of songs with motions. One of the little girls was a total ham. Before they started, just after they got on-stage, she must have noticed her mother go near the stage to get pictures. Thatfast, she had her fingers pulling her cheeks, tongue out - but in a cute, mischievous way. Then her skirt went over her head! Too funny!

Pre-K went next, and had Mary, Joseph, Wise Men (on of the boys had his crown fall over his face, and couldn't get it up - we got a picture of that. He tried to fix it, then valiantly carried on), angels, and shepherds.

Kindergarten was third. They recited pages of scripture - really amazing. They did that for Bible Days (Halloween), and Thanksgiving too. Their teacher is incredible - she's able to get them to memorize all that, and teach them other things as well - some of the kids are already doing 2nd grade math!

Natalie's class was last. They were all angels, going to see the baby Jesus. Every child had a line. Natalie was first, she was the Guardian Angel. Her line was "I will protect the angels" - she said it nice and loud! Then they sang a couple of songs.

It was a very nice evening, and so much fun to see all the kids dressed up and doing their thing!

Now we just have to get through her Sunday School program on the 21st. She has three roles - none of the kids have to speak, but a couple of them have multiple roles. They've been champs at rehearsals!

I'll get pictures up later on... Have to recap Natalie's bday party next!

Another tooth and first haircut

Bet you think I'm going to talk about Oliver's first haircut? Haha! Guess again. I'm talking about first unauthorized haircut. Natalie snuck her kiddie scissors into another room. Jon found a clump of hair while he was sweeping after dinner. *shocked face*. She cut a chunk off the front, and fortunately, since she has an asymmetrical bob like mine, she cut it off the longer end, so it blends pretty well. The stinker!

Oliver's right canine finally broke through yesterday!

Christmas Grey went to the vet. She's about 6 months old, and a Diluted Tabby (whatever that means), appears to be in good health, although we are waiting on Feline Leukemia and AIDs tests. She gets spayed and de-clawed (yeah, I know. Mean, but we didn't want a pet to begin with, so if she's to stay, the claws have to go. They do it with a laser now, which seals the nerve endings, she's supposed to be pain-free the next day) on the 19th - Merry Christmas! LOL

And on a side note... Some people are just sick. I noticed a lame Siamese behind the vet's counter. Beautiful cat. Back legs completely slack, along with her hind quarters, although she drags herself along remarkably well on her front legs. Apparently someone shot her with a BB gun. Cruel, cruel, cruel. The vet took her in, and is giving steroid treatments, in the hopes that she might regain use of her back legs - one leg can kind of move a little now. She seems like a sweet cat too - not like the Siamese that my Great-Aunt Joan had - Sam was MEAN. Although that might have had something to do with my cousin Peggy and I carrying it around like a baby. Sam didn't like that so much. :-P

First night away from home

Skeezers had his first sleepover with Mitz and Pops yesterday! We had a party to go to, and since he needs to be in bed by 7, or he's a wreck, Mitz offered to take him overnight, so Jon, Natalie and I could go to the party.

He did very well! Slept the whole night, just like he does at home, and wasn't any trouble at all! We picked him up after church today, so he had a nice long visit with his grandparents!

I missed him terribly, but am glad he had some alone time with Mitz and Pops, and that all went well!

Thanks, Mitz and Pops!

We've been adopted

Introducing Christmas Grey (Natalie chose her name. I was angling for Noelle, but CG it is).





I first noticed her about a month ago, while driving home one evening. Stopped the car and tried to get her - she was tiny and clearly a stray - but she wouldn't come near me.


Last night, Jon and Natalie took a walk. On the way back, they saw two cats, CG and another white and black one (who is too big and well-groomed to be a stray), stopped to pet them. I went to bed around 10:30, heard something outside, opened the door and both cats were there. CG would have walked right in the house, and every time she heard us inside, she started scratching the door and meowing.

This morning, I didn't see her when I went out to walk. I got home, and Natalie woke up - I was telling her about the cats following her home - we heard meowing outside. CG was back again. She walked in as soon as we opened the door. I put some baby food and water outside for her, while we debated what to do. Once she walked in a second time, we knew. She chose us.

She's very sweet, appears to be an older kitten. She lets Natalie cuddle with her, pick her up, all that. She hides a little at times, but she's just getting used to her new home. She goes to the vet on Monday.

So much for no pets. Thank God she didn't find a dog.

Just like that....

The cyst is gone. No sign of it at all. Huh. That's a good thing, but surprising!

Busy boy!

Skeezix is on a tear. Yesterday he attempted to stand alone twice (he can now stand at the dishwasher by using his belly to balance, which to his delight, leaves both hands free to grab whatever he can), crawled up the stairs (Mitz and Pops came by, Mitz was on the stairs, and Oliver crawled over to see her, then went up three stairs. Oy), and is cruising along the furniture now. He's quite proud of himself - with each new trick, he gives the most delighted, pleased with himself laugh. And I sprout more white hairs.

He also has a unique little issue. We've been waiting for his right canine to join his other three upper teeth, and thought for sure he'd get it this week. The other morning, his gum was immensely swollen in that area, and you could see white at the edge of the gum. Didn't check closely yesterday. Today, after his nap, I noticed something hanging off his gum. It looked like gum tissue, in the shape of a large skin tag, or like a small ulululululua (too lazy to Google the correct spelling) thing that hangs at the back of the throat. Freaked me out. Called his ped, who referred us to a pediatric dentist. Went to the dentist this afternoon - it's very uncommon, but it is something like a cyst that is caused by the gum swelling because of a tooth, but when the tooth recedes, the gum can get irritated and form this cyst type thing. The dentist has only seen that one other time in the front of the mouth - and that was with his own son. They do commonly happen with the 6 year molars. It's harmless, and should go down a bit as the irritation subsides. And once the tooth officially breaks, it should go away within a week or two. If it doesn't, it will need to be clipped off. Just the thought of that makes me want to vomit, so send good thoughts that it goes away on its own. Oh, and the thing bleeds a little bit at times too. Good times.

Oh yeah, I keep forgetting his other favorite trick. Our DVD player in the family room is a combo receiver, DVD, something else. It was a little wide for the shelf, so Jon took the doors off that area so it would fit. Oliver has enjoyed crawling up to it for ages now, and pressing buttons. Cute, right? Now he's learning which buttons do what. So if he fancies hearing a little mariachi music, he presses the button that turns it on, and the default is the FM station that plays mariachi. He knows what he's doing too - he presses it, stands up and starts dancing a little. If you turn it off, he just looks down, presses his button and gets his groove on again!

A trifecta of teeth!

Skeezers cut three teeth last Wednesday! He'd been working on the front two (central), but it looked as if the canines (lateral incisors for you specific types) were going to come in first. I was kind of hoping for that - I've never seen a baby vampire jack o' lantern, but alas, three came in at once! He got the centrals and the left canine. The right one will be in any day now - you can see white just under the gum, and it's hugely swollen!

That makes 6 teeth so far!

Happy Thanksgiving

A little late.

We had a nice day, and I think Oliver had a happy first Thanksgiving! When we all got up, Jon made breakfast (His eggs are better than mine, but don't tell him that), and Natalie watched the parade while we got ready.

We headed over to Mitz and Pop's house around 11. Natalie and Mitz finished watching the parade, so they could see Santa come to town. Mitz kept on in the kitchen, and we all visited and ate (I brought crab dip) until dinner. Uncle Mike and Aunt Jamie (my step-siblings) were there, as well as our friend Cindy, AKA Auntie Cindy, AKA Auntie Lush (I came up with that. Not sure why, it just came out. She doesn't even drink all that much).

Dinner was fabulous - Mitz is a great cook! We had turkey, mashed potatoes, sausage stuffing, corn/squash/carrot succotash, green bean casserole, gravy, cranberry sauce and rolls. In keeping with tradition, I had an all-white plate - turkey, mashed potatoes and a roll only. For dessert, we had pumpkin pie, real whipped cream, apple pie, and Gooey Pumpkin Cakes. Oliver tried turkey, mashed potatoes, squash and a roll - he couldn't shovel the squash in fast enough. I don't think he's going to be eating baby food too much longer. He's back to getting angry when we eat - this time because he wants some of what we are having!

After dinner, Aunt Jamie and Auntie Lush took Natalie and the dogs to the park. We hung around for another couple of hours, then Natalie and Auntie Lush got out the Poker set. haha! As we were leaving, Natalie announced she was staying at Mitz's, and fortunately for her, Mitz and Pops thought that was a good idea! Apparently after we left, Natalie was using the poker chips to "buy" things around the house (this should bode well for the cash register she's getting for her bday) - I hear Mitz needed lots of new lamps and rugs. Mitz started teaching Natalie the card suits, and then she and Pops taught Natalie how to play Go Fish (and she won!).

Had a pretty quiet weekend. Natalie and I got our hair cut. Jon hung lights. He did such a nice job - this is our nicest display yet. We had one minor snag - we use transparent red C9s over clear icicles, and ran out of C9s. Between the two of us, we hit every conceivable place that could have them, and no luck - the only red C9s I found were opaque. So Jon went out, bought some strands of clear C9s, and spent a lot of time switching out every other bulb - so we have red and white C9 strands. It looks great! Our neighbor really liked it, and actually thanked US!

I decorated the house last night (we'll get a tree next weekend). You'd think Natalie had never seen our decorations before - she's in awe. And driving us both crazy. The year Natalie was born, Mitz went a little crazy and bought us a bunch of singing animals - Rudolph, the Abominable Snowman, Santa and Frosty. Natalie has always been scared of them, but not this year. It hasn't even been 24 hours, and I'm ready to pack those things away. I called Mitz to "thank" her, and got her voicemail - I set off all of those suckers over and over again in her VM. :-)

I'll get pictures up a little later.

Pre-school program

Natalie's pre-school Thanksgiving program and feast was last Tuesday. Mitz watched Oliver so Jon could work, and I could help out at the school prior to the feast and program. Then Jon, Mitz and Oliver met us at the school. Each class sang a couple of songs (the kindergartners memorized a Bible passage and recited it). Natalie and her class were dressed as Native Americans. They were all so cute, and did such a great job! They sang two songs, complete with motions, and took a bow after each number. The still pictures turned out blurry, but we got video for posterity.

The feast was nice too. Lots of families there, and the kids all made special placemats for themselves.

After the feast, Mitz was holding Oliver, and he throat-punched her. LOL. And I miraculously captured it in a picture.

I can't believe my baby is old enough to be in school programs!

The little girl on the left is one of Natalie's favorite friends.

Lost and found

So, Jon's wallet went missing yesterday. The last time he had it was Sunday, when he went to my parents's house to help get down their Christmas decor (AKA brownnosing before Christmas.. I kid!), and then stopped by Lowe's to get some clips for our lights.

He thoroughly searched the house and car, still couldn't find it today. Mom had to drive him and Oliver to Natalie's pre-school program today (LOL and more on the program later), since he didn't have his DL.

This evening, after I put Oliver to bed, I had Jon call Lowe's, check our accounts in case he lost his card and someone decided to go shopping, made Natalie some popcorn and told her to sit tight while I helped Daddy search the house/car for his wallet.

N -"OH! His wallet?"
Me - "Yes, Daddy lost his wallet, and I have to help him find it".
N - "I know where it is!"

Damned if she didn't go running into the living room, right to one of the end tables, and came back with his wallet. *stunned* We praised her for finding his wallet, then put 2+2 together (his wallet is kept either on the island, or on his desk).

Me - "Did you take Daddy's wallet?"
N - "I did, I just wanted to see"
Me - *started to say something*
N - "I promise I didn't take his cards! I just wanted to see."
Me - "That's fine, just don't do that again. It's like Mommy's purse, you are welcome to see it, but you have to ask first".

That little stinker!

Captain Natalie

Oliver just crawled under my desk, in search of some wires on which he could chew. Natalie took the opportunity to start yelling:

"Seize that boy! Seize that boy, Daddy, and tie him up and put him on the pirate ship!".

Email to Santa

Natalie is very worried that Santa won't bring her Whoppers in her stocking (I've got her covered), so she asked me to "send a letter in the 'puter". Here it is:

Dear Santa,

Would you please make sure you bring Natalie some Whoppers in her Christmas stocking? She loves them, and she loves you.

Love,

Jennifer Z

The following is Natalie's contribution

I love you Santa.

Love,

Oliver, Jon, Natalie, and God and Jesus

The addict and the enabler

My children. :-)

Oliver is addicted to these Gerber snacks called Veggie Dips - like mini-Cheez Doodles without the cheese. As an aside, they have onion powder and give him horrible breath. He will start fussing in the middle of his meal if he wants them - you think he isn't hungry, then give him some Veggie Dips to keep him in his chair, then he's happy as a clam.

While I was getting ready this morning, Jon said Natalie kept going off to the pantry; Oliver was in the highchair. After a couple of trips, he realized what was going on... She was getting him Veggie Dips.

They are already in cahoots!

Natalie had a special helper in class today

Mitz took one of my volunteer shifts in Natalie's class today! Natalie got to spend the night with Mitz and Pops last night (and we all got treated to Mitz's wonderful fried chicken), and then Mitz took her to school and stayed with her.

It sounds as if they had a great time! Mitz got to see Natalie go about her day - she had Show and Share today, and was the Calendar Helper. Mitz also helped me by getting a picture of the class, so I can put it on mugs for the teachers this Christmas. She also had all the kids at lunch convinced that there were monkeys under the table, trying to eat their food.

Natalie told me Mitz was more fun at school than I was, so I'm going to have to kick it up a notch the next time I volunteer. Humph! :-P

Polar Express

We went to Williams, AZ this past Friday to go to the North Pole! Natalie and Oliver went on their very first train rides!

We boarded at Williams (Grand Canyon Depot) and had a quick trip to the North Pole. The train was very old, which was cool, decorated with garland and Christmas lights all throughout. Each car (we were in the first car, which was neat!) had its own Elf and Chef, who served cookies (hard as a rock) and hot cocoa. They piped in a narration of the Polar Express, and the Elf walked the aisle with the book so the kids could see the pictures. As we approached the North Pole, we saw lots of lights - they had an area set up with one-dimensional lit buildings, to look like a Christmas village. Santa was on his sleigh (complete with realistic reindeer, an enormous bag of toys, Naughty/Nice list and another elf) waving to us as we came in. Then he boarded the train, and gave each child, including babies, a beautiful sleigh bell. Natalie was in awe! Oliver fell asleep on the way up (after having his nose plastered to the window for a bit!), but woke up when Santa arrived.

On the way back, we had a carol singalong, which was great until one family took over the mike. All four of them screamed Deck the Halls. And I do mean screamed.

The whole Depot area was really nice too - all lit up for Christmas. It was a wonderful trip, and one we are sure to repeat! OH! Before we boarded, I took Natalie up to the front of the train so she could see the engine car (I'm sure there's an official name, but whatever). The engineer rolled down his window and said hello! She was thrilled!

On the way home, we stopped at Montezuma's Castle and Montezuma's Well, so you'll see those shots as well. We also stopped in Flagstaff so we could see Aunt Jamie's apartment, and go to lunch with her. Natalie loved seeing Jamie!

I'll get pictures up in a bit.

We have such a thoughtful daughter

Seriously.

For the last week or so, I keep noticing the flip-flops I keep by the sliding door, piled on top of one of Natalie's play chairs. Last night I asked her if she was doing that, all set to tell her that shoes on chairs and tables are bad luck (they are!), when she told me she does that so Oliver won't find them and suck on them. Is she not the sweetest big sister ever? I don't even notice her doing it - just now I noticed my flip-flops and the shoes I'd been wearing earlier on one of her chairs - she just quietly does it.

Busy past 24 hours!

Natalie had her crab challenge yesterday afternoon. She sailed through with flying colors, so we can add crab back in her diet. Let me tell you, the poor kid missed her crab. I brought too much with us, and we took the remainder home. She asked for it as soon as we got in the car. By the time we got to the end of the block, she had scarfed down all of it, and drank the juice (gross, but whatever floats her boat!). Then we went home and I made crab cakes. :-) She's allowed lobster now too - we were going to do a separate challenge for that, but since she had a few bites not too long ago, and did well, her allergist is comfortable with that. Natalie loves "yobster" too!

Oliver got a new tooth sometime between last night and this morning! He was up a couple of times last night, which is unusual, fussy but not screaming in pain. Jon and I had just been talking about how his upper teeth are coming down - you can see the outline in his gum, but nothing's broken. Then I noticed a flash of white on the bottom! He got #2, the left lateral incisor!

He's extraordinarily fussy right now, clingy, spitting up a lot, and screaming (which is how he was the night his first two broke through), so I think more are on their way. I hope they break through soon, for his sake. The poor kid is miserable.

And when I picked up Natalie today, she had me in stitches, although I shouldn't have laughed. We were walking out to the car from her school, and she asked where the car was. I flippantly told her I gave it away. She stomped and yelled (with this guttural inflection that made it even funnier) "OH DAMNIT".

Oops. Halloween

Completely forgot to link pictures. I'm going to do that after I type this out!

We had a great Halloween! Natalie was Snow White, I was the Evil Queen, Jon was the Magic Mirror, and Oliver was an apple. Natalie and I hit our 'hood for some trick-or-treating, and had a nice time! Jon and Skeezix stayed home to pass out candy. There were tons of kids around, which was nice! After ToTing, we headed over to see Mitz and Pops. They hang out at their neighbor's to pass out candy (and Mitz had some booze in a cooler :-P). We're going over there next year. We live on a wash, and are kind of isolated on our street a bit - one block over was rocking, but not so much our street.

Other than that, not too much else is new. We're taking the kids to Williams this weekend to the Polar Express (!!) - I'm so excited. I'm going to be a crying fool, I think. Jon saved a news clip on DVR for me, and I was all teared up at that. Better get some waterproof mascara. On the way home, we'll stop in Flagstaff to see Aunt Jamie! I'm sure I'll have plenty of pictures!

Oh, here's a Natalie funny. Her nap was a little shorter than usual today, not too bad, but I said to her "That was a shorter nap" - just to make conversation. She very seriously told me "I wanted to spend time with you". Awwww! And how the hell does she think of this stuff?

Skeezix PULLED UP

Hold me. I'm not ready for this! He pulled himself to a standing position twice this afternoon. He's very wobbly and fell over after a bit, but he did it! Damn, he's doing this stuff faster than Natalie did - she crawled and pulled up at 7 months.

Time to drop the crib.

"Barack Obambambama went to the rainbow"

"He plays Candyland just like me. We are the winners".

So says Natalie this morning.

We are thrilled about Obama's win over here - I've been in tears off and on since last night - what a momentous, historical occasion for this country. I can't describe the hope I feel for the future - that goes beyond just being happy that my particular candidate won. Obama is inspiring.

The elation is tempered with disgust and sadness that hateful legislation such as Prop 102 (called the Marriage Amendment until after the election, how convenient) and other similar measures in states across the nation, were passed. I hope I live to see the day when bigotry and discrimination against anyone, regardless of race, color, creed, or sexual orientation comes to an end. Call it what you want, but anti-gay marriage/civil union legislation is discrimination, period. And it makes me sick.

And how cool that my children will grow up thinking having an African-American president is no big deal - nothing new under the sun.

Torture

Last night, Natalie wanted me to snuggle with her for a bit, after Jon put her to bed, so I did. We allow her to listen to CDs or classical music while she is falling asleep, and we just realized her CD player has a repeat function. We usually put her story CDs on repeat so they lull her to sleep.

Last night, she wanted to listen to a CD that her Great-Aunt Lois and Great-Uncle Don sent her a couple of years ago - it's a personalized CD of songs about "Natalie". I put the CD in, hit repeat, and left.

Half an hour later, I heard her scrambling about in her room, then thought I heard her door open. I went up to investigate, and found her crying in bed, thoroughly traumatized. I asked what was wrong, and she said "That song won't stop. It's making me crazy". Oops. I forgot that the CD player has two repeat functions - repeat one track and repeat all. I forgot to repeat all, so the poor kid listened to the same song for half an hour before finally cracking.

I had an immediate flashback to something I learned in Psychology in HS. If I remember correctly, in the early part of the 20th century, experiments were conducted on some unfortunate souls. Apparently, they were put in all white rooms, no window, no pictures, decor, nothing. And "Happy Birthday" was piped in continuously. And it did indeed drive people insane. I guess it's a good thing her room is painted bright blue, with lots of stuff on the walls!

Natalie's class

Natalie's school does something called Bible Days around Halloween. Today was the day! I signed up to help in her classroom, and it was so much fun! While it wasn't a typical day, it was so cool to see Natalie in her class (this is my first time) - she's learned so many songs (with motions), follows directions nicely, and it was so cute to see her engaged in play with her friends. She's very outgoing with her classmates, and likes to suggest games (like house or tag), or play games suggested by others. Her class is small, 9 students total, which is wonderful - it has really fostered a sense of closeness with the kids, and they all look out for each other. I'll be volunteering in her class more often. Her teachers, really all the staff there, are just wonderful people - I can't think of a better place for her to begin her education!

So, Bible Days is her school's Halloween celebration. The kids can dress up as an animal from Noah's Ark, an angel, or any character from the Bible. Natalie went easy on me and went as a sheep (she has a sheep ear headband, I blackened her nose, and made her a tail out of a piece of elastic and one of Oliver's socks - hot glued cotton balls to it, then strung the top through the elastic). They went from class to class hearing stories and doing crafts, having snacks. The Kindergartners were really impressive - they did the story of Creation - the full thing - and most of the kids had memorized the first two chapters of Genesis. Then Natalie's class went back to their room, and their teacher told they story of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abendigo (that's totally phonetic, I'm too lazy to look up the proper spelling). She asked for some volunteers to act it out, and Natalie was one of the first to raise her hand. She was Shadrach, and did a great job with her role! After all that, the kids went trick-or-treating through the church office.

And one last thing...

Jon just took Natalie up for bed. She wanted a shoulder ride, but he said no because his back hurts. She told him "I'm calling a police officer". After they went upstairs, I heard her through the monitor, saying "Hello, police officer. Daddy won't give me a shoulder ride. He's a bad boy". Stinker.

Watch out world....

Oliver's crawling! He crawled several "steps" on several occasions today, so I think it's safe to say this milestone has been achieved.

What a big boy! I can't wait until he starts chasing Natalie around - something tells me he is going to give her a run for her money!

Warning - poop talk ahead

Natalie just went to the bathroom, and wanted me to come wipe her. Since it was #2, I delegated that job to Jon.

N - There's a poopy stuck in my butt
Jon - *inaudible*
Me - Is there still poopy stuck?
N - No - see?! Then she came out of the bathroom, totally naked, turned around and stuck her butt out at me, so I could see.

Thanks, kid!

Then she ordered Jon to flush it.

Jon - It's your stink
N - No, it's yours
Me - *laughs*
N - You think I'm funny? Do you? I'm not.

"I'm going to get a tummyache"

Natalie's seafood challenge is coming up in a few weeks. I promised her if she doesn't react to crab at the challenge, we'll take her to a seafood buffet in town (it's supposed to be really nice).

N - "I'm going to eat a YOT (lot) of crab. I'm going to get a tummyache. For* you burp, you say excuse me, then run away".

She makes me laugh every day!

*She gets her "fors" and "whens" mixed up.

My kissing spot is gone

:-( As most babies do, Oliver lost all the hair he was born with (except a tiny fringe at the base of his head, just like big sis when she was a baby!). His started coming back quickly, except one small spot on the back of his head. That sweet little spot was just the right size and shape for kissing. I just noticed tonight that he has the tiniest dusting of hair growing in "my" spot. It wasn't there yesterday! Just another little reminder of how quickly they grow and change.

Of course he's kissable all over, but I'll miss my special little kissing spot.

Some Natalies

I forgot to post - last week she had another note sent home from school, thanking her for "a wonderful week, being a good helper and a great friend".

Today she had a little star sticker on her shirt, when I asked her what it was for, she rattled something off, and since I was expecting her to tell me how she earned it, i.e. "I helped with blah blah blah", I didn't quite catch what she was saying. She repeated herself, and I realized she said "Love one another. John 13:34"., complete with hand motions. She memorized their Bible verse for the week! Her teachers haven't been sending them home, so I had spaced on that. So cute!

And Oliver's still working on crawling. He scoots, or army crawls quite well, does the rocking on all fours bit. He starting to go after toys, and Natalie's getting a little territorial. We're working on that.

Dumb ass. Literally

Seriously. Thanks, Sarah! "Vote" "Yes" Democratic donkey. I wonder how much that cost!

The last bit was added for Jon. He's a guy and didn't think it obvious enough. *eyeroll*

Six month stats

Weight - 20 pounds, 13 oz. 97th percentile
Height - 29 inches (same as four months, so I think he was measured incorrectly last time, he's definitely longer, you can tell by how his pants and shorts fit). Off the charts
Head - 18 inches. 97th percentile. Was 75th two months ago. LOL

Happy Six Months, Skeezix!

My baby turned 6 months old today. It doesn't seem possible. Oliver has to be one of the happiest babies ever - he just smiles and smiles. He's very close to crawling these days, gets up on all fours and rocks back and forth - sometimes he launches himself forward, but does a face plant. It really bothers the little guy that he can't crawl, so every chance he gets he tries, and gets so frustrated, very vocal about his displeasure. He was like this when he was trying to roll too. Bottle time is a challenge, as he'll take a few swallows, then try to flip over on your lap so he can try to crawl. Hopefully he'll master this soon. The other night, I peeked in on him before I went to bed, he was sound asleep, on all fours (head on the mattress though), rocking, so even in his sleep, he's trying to crawl!

He's been through all the Stage 1 foods, except prunes (little man doesn't need encouragement in the pooping department. Applesauce was bad enough. Oy.), and we're onto Stage 2s. His six month check-up is Monday, so I'll report back with his stats. He's just about out of 6-9 month clothes already.

Onto the pics! I cannot print to save my life, excuse the handwriting.

Just hatched:

1 month:
Today:

Trying to crawl:

Neil Diamond

Mitz and I saw Neil Diamond in Glendale last night. Fantastic concert, no lie. Everyone should see him live. He seems like such a nice, down-to-earth man, who truly appreciates his audience. One of my favorites is "Holly Holy", and hearing it live was incredible - it really lends itself to a live perfomance. The only song he didn't play that I would have liked to have heard was "Song Sung Blue". Even some of his other songs that aren't my favorites, such as "America" and "Forever in Blue Jeans" were undeniably great last night.

Could've done without the drunk hen party in front of us (when did I get so old? Except they were older than I), but there's some in every crowd. :-)

There's an elevator in her belly

Conversation in the car today:

"God lives in my heart. Jesus does too. Sometimes they go in my belly. They take an elevator. Mmmhmmm, yes, I have an elevator in my belly. It goes up and down. My belly is a door for God too, and the circle (her bellybutton?) is a window. They take the elevator and God presses the 2 button and Jesus presses the 1 button".

Post Turtle

A friend relayed this....

While suturing a cut on the hand of a 75-year-old Texas rancher whose hand was caught in a gate while working cattle, the doctor struck up a conversation with the old man. Eventually the topic got around to Sarah Palin and her bid to be a heartbeat away from being President.
The old rancher said, 'Well, ya know, Palin is a post turtle.'

Not being familiar with the term, the doctor asked him what a post turtle was. The old rancher said, 'When you're driving down a country road and you come across a fence post with a turtle balanced on top, that's a post turtle.' The old rancher saw a puzzled look on the doctor's face, so he continued to explain.

'You know she didn't get up there by herself, she doesn't belong up there, she doesn't know what to do while she is up there, and you just wonder what kind of dumb ass put her up there to begin with.'

And on another note - Natalie now says "My mama is for Obombombomba". Last night during the debates, when McCain was answering a question, she jumped up and said "That man is talking again, Mommy. I'll cover him so you can't see him", then jumped in front of the TV. LOL

We're back!

We spent the weekend in Overgaard, and initially, couldn't win for losing. Check this out.

We went up there to go to an annual festival. It used to be an Oktoberfest, but apparently, they decided to stop serving alcohol at it (buh?), and changed it to something else that sounded fun. Yeah. People got pissed about the booze ban, so they canceled it outright. We didn't find out until we got there.

The property where we stay has horses and a bison (it is called Bison Ranch, afterall!). They have pony rides for kids - Natalie loved her pony ride when we were there earlier this summer. Yeah. The pony rides closed for the season the weekend before we were there.

We decided to go to Holbrook on Saturday to check out the Painted Desert/Petrified Forest State Park. I was there 8 years ago, right before I moved to CA, and it was just incredible, and I wanted Jon to see it anyway. It is only an hour from Overgaard. Someone at the front desk told us there was a dinosaur park we should check out, near Holbrook. I looked at it online, and Natalie wanted to go. We got up to Holbrook, saw the sign for the dinosaur park, got onto 40 and saw two of the dinosaurs at a truck stop. We drove for a bit and didn't see the park, turned around and went back to the truck stop. Yeah. The Dinosaur Park closed a year ago due to declining business, and those two dinos at the truck stop were all that were left. So we stopped so Natalie could check them out. The funny part was, as Natalie and I were going back to the car (as an aside, I thought Jon was honking at us. Nope. He had Oliver in the driver's seat with him, and I think O was doing the honking!), another mini-van pulled up and started unloading kids. The father looked at us and said "Please tell me this isn't it". Sorry dude!

Since Holbrook is only about 20 minutes from Winslow, I insisted that Jon take us there so I could stand on the famous "Standin' on a corner, in Winslow, AZ" corner and get a picture by the mural - I think there was supposed to be a park or something dedicated to it. Yup. You guessed it. A year ago, there was a fire. The only thing left was the front facade of the building, but luckily the mural was still intact. There isn't much to do in Winslow, so we got the shot and left. :-)

All in all though, it was a nice weekend! Friday I had the kids out all morning at the playground, throwing rocks in the pond, checking out the shops on the property while Jon got some work done. Then we hung out all afternoon. Saturday was awesome - the Painted Desert/Petrified Forest is just incredible. There are petroglyphs in part of it (see the pictures I'll be posting after this) that are 600-800 years old. When we got back to Overgaard, we had dinner at this awesome Mexican restaurant we discovered on our last trip, Casa Ramos. It was good to get away, and the weather was refreshingly cooler. Could have done without the rain, but hey, that's ok!

And on a sadder note... There was a lizard that lived on our property - liked to hang out on the concrete block fence near our honeysuckle and palms. When Jon's family was visiting the weekend prior, Dude was in the yard, looking a little worse for wear. I kept moving him back to the shade under the palms, and we hoped he'd pull through. He died sometime over the weekend. Fortunately, I don't have to tell Natalie. Right before we left on Thursday, I noticed another Desert Spiny (a friend helped me ID him online) about the same size, hanging out in Dude's old spot. There's also a much smaller Desert Spiny and two geckos that live on our property! So, that brings our lizard total to four.

I'll be posting pictures in a bit - check them out! You'll notice there's a picture of a train station. That's the train station in Holbrook that Geronimo boarded to go to a reservation.

Oliver's baptism

Oliver was baptized this past Sunday. It was a lovely day, and a beautiful service. Our priest gave such a wonderful sermon - he had me in tears. He's going to give me a copy of it, and I'll try to remember to post all or part of it here. Oliver was a little fussy leading up to the baptism part, but as soon as he was handed to Fr. Nicholas, he looked up at Nicholas and gave him the most beautiful smile. Then smiled every time the water was poured on his head. We had a lunch/party afterwards, and despite a couple of snafus (cake wasn't ready on time, then the damn deli tray dropped - Safeway replaced it at no charge, and had the new one ready in 15 minutes, great customer service), it was everything we could have hoped for, with our families and friends. Have to give a shout out to my good friend Sylvia too - as she has always done in all the years I've known her, she helped me keep it together. She took me to Safeway to pick up the cake and sandwiches, and helped me get the cake home, then went back to pick up the new tray, and somehow kept me from totally dissolving into a puddle of tears in the process. She rocks.


We were fortunate to have all of Jon's siblings and his mother fly in for the weekend! It was nice to have everyone together. Natalie loved having her aunts (she's Aunt Elizabeth's stalker), uncles and cousin around. She refers to Will (our nephew) as "Cousin Will", and was sad to see him go this morning. We're looking forward to seeing him again soon - he's a cool little dude. He has a wonderful smile and laugh.


Grandma Carol and Aunt Jamie got to see Natalie have a soccer lesson on Saturday, while Elizabeth and I went to Costco to stock up for Saturday night (we had a big BBQ with all of our out-of-town visitors, my parents, and Fr. Nicholas and his partner Rex), then we just played in the pool until cookout time.


I'll be posting pictures after I get this posted. We're heading to the mountains on Thursday, so I probably won't update again until early next week.


Here's Oliver smiling up at Fr. Nicholas.



Oh, and in other happy news... We heard from Sara and Kyle this morning - she is ten weeks pregnant and had an ultrasound this morning. They got a great shot of Baby H, which they shared with us! Nice strong heartbeat, and baby was moving and grooving! Can't wait for April '09, so we can meet the newest member of the family!

Building a strong immune system - one "step" at a time

Lame pun intended.

Me: Natalie - get your shoes - we have to leave for the dentist.
Natalie: I can't
Me: Yes, you can. Just get your Crocs.
Natalie: I can't. Oliver is grabbing my feet.
Me (looking over): You shouldn't have your feet near his face anyway.
Natalie: Well, he needs something to suck on.

*shakes head*

First visit to the dentist!

Natalie had her first dental check-up today, and was a champ. Unlike her mother. I'm phobic about dentists - even ones I trust. I've had a lot of work done, and a very bad experience at the dentist in my early 20s. Luckily, since we moved back to AZ, I was able to take us to my wonderful former dentist, who I found through Mitz (she's a long time patient, thanks for the shitty teeth genes, Mom! :-P) So, as per usual, even for a cleaning they had to gas me. And crank it up as high as it would go - the assistant was incredulous that I needed gas for a cleaning, then once she got underway, she asked me if she should turn it up. :-)

Anyway, when I came out of the lovely gas fog, I asked where Natalie was and if Jon was with her - her appointment was an hour after mine, and it was 45 minutes past her appointment time. Jon came with us because I didn't want her to see me panicking while I was being worked on. They told me she was one cube over, and all by herself! I went in there, and she was lying in the chair, clutching Oliver (her teddy bear) and two stickers, and wearing bright green sunglasses with stars shaped frames, just as cool as a cucumber! They told me she did very well - they got to do everything they needed, minus X-rays (they don't usually do them on the first visit with a young child - too much for the kiddos), and I was there when Dr. Rush examined her - no cavities! I was so proud of her - I can't believe how well she did, and all by herself! Jon offered to go with her, but she wanted to go on her own. The staff, and Dr. Rush were just wonderful with her; I'm so glad her first experience was so positive, and with them!

Let's not even talk about how much work I need done, including three crowns that need to be replaced. Oy. Unfortunately for the kids, this office only uses porcelain for all their work - so they can't even rob my mouth for gold to sell when it comes time for college tuition. :-P

Bunny sheets

Little Miss and I were out running errands yesterday, and we stopped in Ross to see what was there. We were in the sheet aisle, when I noticed that they had a bunch of Playboy brand sheets - another customer and I were cackling over them. I mean really. Playboy sheets?

Then I hear Natalie saying "Mommy, I want some bunny sheets!". Naturally, she was pointing to a set of bronze striped satin sheets, with Playboy written in black script all over them, complete with the PB bunny logo. The lady with whom I'd been laughing started laughing even harder, managed to get out "Good luck with that" and went around the corner. I could hear her laughing two aisles down.

Daddy's girl....

*heart*

Natalie and I had the following conversation today:

I heard her moving around in her room this morning, and went up to investigate. She had rearranged all of her framed pictures in a line on her dresser, which was fine, and put a little bottle with colored sand in it next to the line of pictures. Then she picked up this little card my mom gave me at my baby shower, with her name and its meaning on it. She started "reading" it to me, imagine her smacking her lips every other word too, for emphasis.

"Dear pictures, I love you. You are going to get a lollipop. Yes, a lollipop."

Me - trying not laugh

Natalie - "Don't laugh Mommy"

"Then you are going to get treats because you make me so happy, like, Cheetos, candy, Goldfish, another lollipop, fruit, and a beer. Yes, a beer". (at this point I lost it, and we were both laughing). Points to the bottle - "this is my beer, mommy, you like it?"

Ahoy, mateys!

Oliver wanted to celebrate International Talk Like a Pirate day. We were happy to oblige. :-P




Shiver me timbers!

And if you look really, really closely, you can humor me and pretend you see his new teeth! I see them!

Holy moly

Oliver weighs 20 pounds! I think Natalie was just 16 at this age. I took him for some shots today (we're getting monthly shots, and no more than two per visit) and had them check his weight. He gained two pounds in the last month! If he keeps this up, next month he'll be half Natalie's weight - she's been holding steady at just about 42 pounds this year. Buy stock in Similac, he's not even a teen and he's eating us out of house and home. Skeezix has the most delicious rolls, and I had to laugh today. Jon had him up on his shoulder, asleep. Skeezix's shirt rode up, and all you saw was a big tummy bulge, with a roll at the end. Delicious!

First note sent home from school

Natalie had a note from her teachers in her backpack today. It said:

To: Natalie
From: Mrs. B and Mrs. S

You made me happy today when: you were a good friend to our new student. *heart*

I saw Mrs. S. when I picked Natalie up, and she told me that Natalie had been very sweet and helpful to the new girl. The note in her backpack was a pleasant surprise! That's going in her baby book! I'm so proud of my girl!

Open apology to fellow patrons at Obsession Nail Spa this afternoon

My mom and I just can't behave. We try, but something always goes awry. So even though our fellow patrons from this afternoon will likely never read this, we apologize for interrupting your relaxing nail treatments.

Mitz very kindly lent me her toenail polish, as I was tired of mine. Her generosity didn't come without strings though. She decided to write on both of my feet with hot pink polish. Phrases that should not be repeated in polite company, big letters. We took pictures with my phone, but I'm not sure I'm going to share them. Suffice to say, she had me laughing so hard, I was crying and almost wet my pants. Of course she blames it on me daring her to do it (I really didn't think she would). I pointed out that she doesn't have to do everything I tell her (sound familiar, moms?), but if that were the case, I'm telling her to vote for Obama. That got a big, fat no. I'll keep working on her. *evil grin*

I got home and told Jon, and he started laughing, shook his head, and told me that we are both a-holes. :-) Nothing fazes him anymore.

Two-fer toofer

While watching Natalie at soccer today, Oliver was chomping on my thumb, as usual. This time though, I swore I felt something sharp. Had Jon check, he agreed, so then I held his mouth open.

Two teeth! *tears* His bottom lateral incisors (I only know the real names thanks to his baby book chart) came in sometime overnight - both are clearly through the gum, and completely through. We went out to dinner with Mitz and Pops last night, and they weren't in then - he was alternately chewing on my thumb and Mitz's. He had a couple of screaming fits at the pub, which threw us off, but we didn't think his teeth were actually breaking through!

I'm so excited for this milestone, but at the same time it is bittersweet. To me, there's something so endearingly sweet about toothless grins in infants, and since we're "two and through", I wasn't in a rush for Oliver to get teeth. Now, of course the jack o' lantern grins are every bit as sweet; there's just something about that milestone that really drives home to me that he isn't going to be a baby forever. And Natalie is quickly closing in on four. It doesn't make me regret our decision to stop at two, it's more like I wish (most times, haha!) the two I have would just slow down a little.

I also promise not to become freaky-deaky like the mother in the kid's book Love You Forever. If I do though, please do us all a favor and put us out of my misery. :-P Seriously, there's something just wrong about a book that has a woman driving across town, climbing into her grown son's bedroom window and rocking him. If anyone reading this actually likes this book, no offense intended, different strokes and all that. :-)

Oh, no pictures of the teeth either. I have to hold his mouth open, and hold his tongue down to get a one second peek at his pearly whites - forget trying to snap a picture!

Squash meets with his approval

So much for holding steady with cereal for a while. The boy just wants to eat, and he wants some variety. We've had him on baby oatmeal for a week now, and today I tried squash for lunch. He loved it! So, solids.... Here we come!
I have a video, but it's from our new camera, and blogspot can't recognize the file. Damnit. I'll see if I can do something else with it.

Oliver is 5 months old today!

Happy 5 month "birthday", Skeezix! We couldn't imagine life without you, and nor would we want to!

He's growing like a weed. In some ways, I wish he'd slow down. Time passes so fast, and I'm so proud of every new thing he learns, but I'm also in no rush for him to grow up either. Natalie is almost four, and I just can't believe it.

He's rolling all over the place now - he will often roll himself across the floor to get somewhere, much like Herself did. He sleeps in the funniest positions - his favorite seems to be a backwards C curve - can't see how that's comfortable, but he sure seems to think so! He LOVES baby oatmeal - we can't shovel it in fast enough, and is still working on his bottom teeth. He's rashing on his cheeks and nose, so I think it won't be long until those teeth come in (he chomped on my arm so hard and for so long this afternoon, he gave me a hickey!). Oliver is a jumper, again like big sis - he loves the Jumperoo, and will jump in your lap. He has the best laugh - just an unabashed delighted squeal - and Natalie can really get him going! He loves to watch her, and if she's nearby, he always reaches out for her. O loves when you go in just below his ear, where his jaw meets his neck and either nibble loudly, or give lots of kisses - that almost never fails to get a belly laugh. He reaches out for toys all the time now, and is really showing quite the interest in everything around him.

Here's our guy!

Compliments

Had to go to Safeway the other day to pick up some prescriptions for Natalie (no, she's not sick, it's time to start phasing out her old, unused Epi-pens). As I was leaving, some guy of questionable looking character yelled "GodDAMN homegirl, you SMOKIN'". Looked around, and I was the only female out there.

5 years ago I would have flipped him the bird, said something smart, or ignored him. But you know, being 35, the mother of two (and only being 5 months PP with the belly flab to prove it), I'm not going to lie. That put a bounce in my step.

And I couldn't wait to get home to tell Jon how hot I am.

:-P

Youder, youder!

Natalie speak for "louder, louder".

Sometimes the drive home from pre-school can be so entertaining! Today, Natalie was in a dancing mood, and the radio cooperated. She had me blare "You're the One that I Want" and "Wooly Bully", and rocked out in the backseat. At one point we were stopped, and she had the car shaking! I will say, I could have done without having to blare "The Long Way Home". The child has some odd musical tastes. :-P

Weekend stuff

I haven't updated in a couple of days, not too much has gone on, but here's the latest.

Natalie contracted pinworms at pre-school. Gross, but I guess it's just the first in a long line of fun stuff she brings home from school! When I took her to the doctor, she noticed this rash that Natalie has had on her rear for a while. Since she has so many skin issues, we thought it was due to still having to wear nighttime diaper-type pants to bed, but apparently it is Folliculitis. Teens get it a lot too - it's a contact/sweat type thing. She was given Keflex for it, and I swear that shit is made by Satan. She has been markedly different since taking it - so bad that we stopped it today and I'll be calling her pediatrician tomorrow. When she gets a dose, shortly after the poor kid is just out of control. All over the place, can't sit still, can't concentrate on anything, she's a hot mess at bedtime. I asked her how her medicine made her feel, and interestingly, she told me it made her feel like this: - she started jumping all over the place, shaking her arms and legs out. She's still having some trouble today, but not quite as bad, so hopefully it will get out of her system soon. I read online that an adverse effect is agitation.

Yesterday I attended my first ECW (Episcopalian Church Women) meeting at our church. It was nice getting to know some of the other women, meeting those who attend the 8:00 service - we go at 10, and learning more about what the ECW does. It reminded me quite a bit of the old American Legion meetings that I used to go to as a kid - my family was heavily involved in the AL. Our priest joked to me today that I brought the average age in their ECW group way down - our parish is just starting to get some younger families in.

Today our church launched their new Children's Ministry - Sunday School starts next week. I've been helping the director, and will continue to help with crafts and corralling children during class, and in other capacities as needed. Our church has been without a children's program for a while, due to there being no families with little kids, but that's changing! The Sunday School program will be great for the kids, and I'm very excited to be a part of it. All of the families and CM helpers processed in this morning, and the whole service was very kid-oriented. During his sermon, Fr. Nicholas had all the children come up and sit with him while he spoke about children in the church, then he showed them around the altar, the baptismal font and other things. It was really nice for the kids, and very welcoming. He told a little story about Natalie too. We had him and his partner over for dinner a couple of months ago, and when we told Natalie that Fr. Nicholas was coming for dinner, she asked us if he was "bringing God with him", so he used that in his sermon.

Other than that, not too much else. Mom and I got out for a couple of hours yesterday. Jon did yardwork this afternoon - I can't wait until we kill the grass and get rock. Seriously. Grass in the desert is just asinine. Not to mention, our lawnmower broke, so I'm especially bitter. :-P

Pops is home!

Pops was discharged this afternoon. He needs to take it easy, and will have many doctors appointments for the time being. We're glad he's out of the hospital!

Mini-me

Jon's out of town on business, which makes dinner and bedtimes kind of hairy at times. Tonight was no exception. I was trying to get dinner going to where I could leave it simmer, then feed Oliver. He was having none of it, and was carrying on in his piano/exersaucer thing. I turned around to find Natalie, hands on her hips, lecturing him.

N - "You are screaming. You don't scream in this house" (yeah, she got that one from me)
O - *screech*
N - "That's 1"
O - *screech*
N - "That's 2"
O - *screech*
N - "That's 3. You get a time-out".

If only she practiced what she preaches!

And then at dinner (tacos, so messy night), she looked at me at one point and out of the blue said "Little girls make big messes. That's what little girls do".

It's amazing what she comes up with!

Lots o' stuff

Natalie's bloodwork came back - checking for blood disorders that could possibly be causing her nosebleeds (hasn't had one in a week though *knocks wood*). Everything is normal, so it's most likely the heat and/or dry climate causing them.

We also met her new allergist yesterday, and like her a lot! She told us that 20% of children outgrow peanut allergies by age 6, and she means completely outgrow - clear on the RAST and skin tests, do fine with peanut challenges. Since Natalie just reacted to peanuts, either by inhalation or coming in contact with a tiny amount, that doesn't bode well for her outgrowing them, but it doesn't rule it out either. We'll keep our fingers crossed! Her doctor also feels that we didn't necessarily need to remove shellfish from her diet - she tested very low on those and that could just mean that she's sensitized to them, but won't necessarily react - and given that she never had reacted, we probably could have kept giving her crab. Since we stopped giving it to her six months ago, we run the risk of shocking her system since we stopped her steady exposure. So, in a couple of weeks, we are going to go back to the allergist's office and do a shellfish challenge there. We'll start with a gram of crab, watch for 15 minutes, if no reaction, we'll keep upping the amount until she has a full serving. They have a challenge room, with a TV for her to watch while we wait, and they'll obviously be able to quickly help her if there is a reaction - which makes me feel better. That's not something I'm really willing to attempt at home. Small thing, but she does love crab, and knowing how much I love it, it killed me to take it out of her diet. She doesn't know what's she's missing with peanuts.

Oliver seems to object to rice cereal, period. The stinker. Not that I blame him - that shit's nasty in its blandness. I think Natalie wasn't fond of it either. We were at the hospital visiting Pops last night, and Natalie wanted to eat dinner at the cafeteria there. I think she just likes being able to load up a tray with all kinds of stuff (wait 'til she's old enough for Vegas, and the buffets there!). Anyway.... We were sitting eating dinner, and Oliver got angry. I grabbed a tiny bit of Mitz's mashed potatoes and fed them to him. He was in love, and no problem with the spoon. I couldn't get them in him quickly enough - every time my hand came near him, he'd grab it and shove the spoon into his mouth. It was so funny! We finally had to cut him off.

Pops is hanging in there. He may be home tomorrow! He has a long road ahead of him - multiple doctor visits a week, probably light duty at work, but we'll just be happy to have him home!