Yuck

Seriously, I hate having to make decisions like this take the buyout/don't take the buyout decision. Chris is so unfazed by the whole thing, and I'm getting a headache, eating carrot cake, and grinding my teeth like a mad woman.

Ch-Ch-Changes. . .

Nissan announced last night the newest buyout program. It's a decent package and includes substantial insurance coverage and education reimbursement so Chris and I have some big decisions to make. He's happy at Nissan, but we need to evaluate future plans. I told him that I'm very willing to go back to work full-time if he wants to take the package and stay home for a while with the boys. He has until mid-September to make a decision.

Does anyone know of any good jobs available in the Nashville area that I might find interesting??

Tuesday 12

1. I had a dentist appointment this morning for my chipped/cracked tooth. I woke up sweating last night thinking about it. . .
2. My dentist looked at it, scraped around for a second and said, "I think this is the chip you felt" and handed me a piece of filling.
3. Hallelujah! No crown needed -- my tooth wasn't even broken. My filling was. A few shots of Novocaine and a couple zips of the drill later my tooth was refilled and good as new. And my face is still numb 4 hours later.
4. David and Henry have been getting up at 5 o'clock in the morning for the last week. That's not my favorite time to get up.
5. They're now in their room having a "quiet rest" with the possibility of a trip to the library this afternoon hinging on their quiet rest.
6. Last night was the first night in Jack's whole life that he didn't wake up one time from when he went to bed at 7 last night until 6 this morning.
7. I should have slept very soundly without any interruptions. I was up almost every hour worried that Jack wasn't waking up!
8. I just reserved Tori Spelling's book at the library. (What?) I was number 19 on the hold list! For some reason that shocked me.
9. I am currently obsessed with Fiber One bars. They are so good.
10. I can hear David and Henry in their room . . . not so quietly emptying their toybox. Henry just said, "DADID! Look what I digged out!"
11. I let D&H go outside to play this morning. At 6:15. I'm sure our new neighbors were thrilled.
12. Have you read any of Jen Lancaster's books? I just finished "Such a Pretty Fat" and it was hysterical. It was laugh out loud funny. I didn't want to finish it, but I really did want to finish it because it was so good it was keeping me from doing anything else. Check her out if you've not read any of her stuff. She's a funny, funny girl.

Heelarious

No, I'm not making this up. Yes, I would so purchase these if I had a girl. Briana, Miss Olive needs these. $35.00 for "Leopard satin heel with black satin lining for infants size 0-6 months. " If Leopard's not your thing, they've got several other color options.

Epiphany

No, I didn't have one. I met one. Yes, I'm serious. The cashier at Kroger today who checked our groceries out was named Epiphany. Good call on that one from her mama.

Weekend Highlights

• Three really good boys, all weekend long.
• A flawless, huge baby shower cake that was delivered without a problem.
• A fun day with Chris' family yesterday.
• Off-roading and playing in the creek with my boys.
• Watching David and Henry screaming as loud as they could "in the forest". Why? Because they could.
• Winning the much coveted "Lady" the train on ebay for D&H. Then listening to Chris try to explain to David how we paid for it and why it's not here yet. And having David ask (literally) every hour since Friday, "Is Lady here yet Mama?" And watching him gaze longingly out the window for the mail truck to come because Lady might be here.
• Swimming today and a nice, fun day spent with my mom.
• Hearing David and Henry scream for Uncle Clayton to "DO A CANNON BALL!" He's in his seventies. (And didn't do one.)
• Listening to Henry yell to David as he jumped into the pool, "Come to Papa!"
• Watching Jack crawl across the room to play with David and Henry. Are. You. Kidding?

Hurricane Henry

Honest to God, I haven't had a drink in four years and this child will make me drink again. I have been cursing my father's genes all day long, because Henry is my dad's personality in a mini body. The child JUST turned three. As in, was two four months ago. THREE YEARS OLD! He should not be able to dismantle two child proof doorknob covers, open one child-latched cabinet, and bust into a jar of vitamins and a bottle of Tylenol with safety covers. IN ONE DAY.

If I were the beating sort of parent he probably wouldn't feel it, what with the mass quantity of infant Tylenol he consumed. Hard to deny that one when you have the sticky grape substance smeared across your face and the dropper in your hand, poised to drop some more of the sweet stuff in your mouth. "Henry, what are you doing?" I asked. "Um. Nofing. I'm not doing anyfing. I'm just looking at dis." Right. Did I mention that the Tylenol was on top of Jack's dresser? We're not talking a small dresser either. Henry climbed the drawer pulls to get it down. Thankfully my husband was smart enough to foresee this behavior and attached all of the furniture to the wall.

He broke into the pantry this morning, which I keep a doorknob cover on because of a rather unfortunate flour incident last year. He was sitting on the floor, happy as can be, with three half consumed snacks around himself. Just now I knew he was in the kitchen, and he was VERY quiet. Never a good sign with him. I went in and he was sitting with his back against the island. I asked what he was doing and he held up the vitamin bottle. "I opened dis." Thank God it was a new bottle and still had the paper cover on also. I asked how he opened it and he looked at me like I was an idiot. "With my hands." Touche.

Being Neighborly

Wednesday morning is garbage morning at our house. It gets picked up before Chris even gets home from work, so I put it out to the street Tuesday night. Tonight I was going back and forth from the house to the driveway to empty our trash cans and put the bags into the big cart-thingy that goes by the street. This probably took me about five minutes to get all of my food garbage from the freezer (yes, I freeze my garbage so my trash can doesn't smell), empty the diaper trash can, etc. The whole time, my next door neighbor's two schnauzers were standing at the fence yipping like rapid beasts. I. Hate. Those. Dogs. Not schnauzers in general - those two specific dogs. They are the yippiest things I've ever seen. And their owner doesn't pick up their poop. Her backyard is right next to my driveway. We live in the South where the temperature has been upwards of 95 degrees lately. You smell where I'm going with this? So I wheel my cart out to the street and the little beasts proceeded to bark the entire time. I glanced over at their dark backyard and said, "Would you bitches please shut up?" What was the next thing I heard? Not the sweet silence of the dogs shutting their yaps. Not the sound of them turning tail and running into the house. I couldn't even hear a freaking car drive by. I couldn't even get that. Why? Because I heard my neighbor say, from the black-holeness of her patio, "Maggie, come here girl." Yes that's right folks, she was sitting on her back patio when I told her "bitches" to shut up. Oops. But seriously? What the hell is she doing outside at night sitting in the pitch black listening to her damn dogs bark at the neighbor? I don't guess I'll be getting a fruit basket this Christmas.

Tuesday Twelve

1. Two words. Hurricane Henry. It is not an exaggeration to say that the child does not go a single day without breaking something, spilling and staining something, or sneaking someplace (read: bathroom) and causing mischief. Today while I was nursing Jack Henry snuck out of their bedroom and into the bathroom. He was looking for the toothpaste (to EAT it), but that's been confiscated. Instead, he chose to pump the soap all over the tub and rub it in. It was a brand new soap I just opened this morning, so he had a big time with it. He also woke me up this morning by gently tapping my face and whispering, "Mama? You sleeping? Mama? I spilled my bubbles." I asked him where he got bubbles. He said, "I sneaked out of my room and got dem from the bathroom pantry." He came out of his room, climbed on top of the toilet, and took the bubbles down off of the top of a cabinet in our bathroom that's taller than me. He then brought the bubbles into his room and poured them out on the floor. At six in the morning!
2. Our new behavior charts are working really well. For David. He cried tonight because he didn't get a reward for having all of his stars. Henry, in his infinite self confidence (with two out of six stars) said, "Dat's OK. Tomorrow might be a better day for me!" At least this makes me believe he hears me when I speak to him!
3. Jack tried the Stoneyfield Farms baby yogurt today. He hated it and made the most foul face. Hi, maybe that's because I got the plain yogurt, not the vanilla.
4. I chipped my second from the last tooth on the top a week ago. I've really not been concerned with it, other than knowing when I go for my appointment next month that something will have to be done about it. It's not sore, etc. and feels like a small chip. With a crack running all the way up the tooth to the gum line. I found that little gem today. Needless to say, I'll be making an appointment tomorrow to see the dentist. My least favorite medical appointment to make.
5. Henry is obsessed with using the computer. I've had to put an egg timer at the computer desk so he doesn't try to use it all day long. We have no games, so he's allowed to go to the Thomas website or Nick Jr. The child can already use the mouse and navigate the pages. David, notsomuch. He's getting better, but Henry absolutely is more skilled. But David likes to tell Henry how to do it. Perhaps he'll be a teacher.
6. I took the boys to the library today. They were so well behaved and had a very fun time. They used the computers most of the time. Big surprise. They did really, really well. They have 4 computers at child-sized desks, and the mouse is appropriately sized. That made it easier for David.
7. They were wearing headphones while using the computer, and every time Henry had a question or wanted to show me something he would scream, "MAMA! CAN YOU HEAR ME? LOOK AT DIS!" Or if he thought I said something (which I hadn't) he said about a million times, "UH, YOU TALKIN' TO ME MAMA?" The librarian and I were cracking up.
8. There are four women I see walking through my neighborhood each night, and I so want to be their walking buddy. Nevermind that I couldn't go then because Chris is sleeping and I'm definitely not taking my children, I don't know them at all, and I have no desire to walk in 99 degree weather when I could walk in the morning. I just want to be their friend because they always look like they're having such a good time. Except the one who wears those weird things right above her knees and always walks like she has Barbie legs that don't bend. She doesn't seem so fun and I don't care to befriend her.
9. I've already told D&H that we're going to the fountains tomorrow. So help me God if the stupid things aren't turned on when we get there.
10. Why does the post office employ some of the most irritating people? This one guy at our post office, whom I will not name because not many people work there and I don't have a whole lot of postal options, is SO freaking irritating. All he does is talk. I know he thinks he's very amusing. He's. Not. Seriously dude, just tell me how much the damn postage is and I'm gone. I don't want to hear about your theories on how our lives were fine without computers and that the jury system in the United States needs to be completely overhauled and maybe Obama will do that. I'm not starting a political conversation at the post office counter. Do I look like I like you? Do I look like I want to talk to you for one second longer than I have to? I know what my your-irritating-the-piss-out-of-me face looks like, and I'm giving it to you right now. The only saving grace was that I didn't have three children with me. Although if I had, perhaps he wouldn't have dragged things along. They are a very good way for me to get things done quickly.
11. I tried on all of my tighter (read: didn't fit) pants and capris this morning. They were all tight (read: didn't button) three weeks ago. They all fit! I was seriously dancing in the living room each time I came out with a pair on. Henry said, "What do you think you're doing?" I told him I was dancing because I was excited and he said, "Take it to your room."
12. My car needs to be detailed desperately. This is my husband's domain, and I would ask him to do it but I don't want to hear a lecture about how messy it is. And he takes that job seriously with a capital S. It would be an entire afternoon. I'd rather just live with it!

Six Month Man

Jack had his six month checkup this morning. He weighs 17 pounds and is 26 inches long. The doctor said she thinks he's the most active six month old she's seen. . . of course I don't have a bump on a log child! He's always moving, jumping in his jumper, playing in the exersaucer, or (his favorite) rolling around and scooting on the floor. He can get wherever he wants to go! He loves to be in the pool splashing away.

He is blowing raspberries constantly, loves to look at himself in the mirror, and is always happy and laughing. He loves to read books, play with his toys, and go for walks. He's eaten tons of food -- cereal, apricots, apples, peaches, pears, plums, prunes, avocado, pumpkin, sweet potatoes, squash, carrots, green beans, peas, spinach. . . I'm certain I'm forgetting something. His favorites so far are prunes, pumpkin, and carrots. He's not a fan of the green beans. At all.

He sleeps pretty much all night, but he does get up for a quick feeding. I know if I stopped going to him he would stop waking up, but I don't mind. And he sleeps until almost 8 in the morning, so I see it as a small sacrifice to make! He has the best personality -- smiling and happy all the time and only crying when he wants something. He's so much like Chris in his personality. He's very laid back and go with the flow. I'm so glad two out of three got Chris' very easy going manner! He's such a great boy, and we're so lucky to have him.

Here are some comparison pictures for you. Think they look alike?

Jack at Six months

Henry at Six months

David at six months

Some things that have kept me busy

Baby shower cookies that went with the cake below.
Baby shower cake. Love the leopard!

Lily June's 1st birthday.

Ice cream cone cupcakes for LJ's birthday.

Birthday cupcakes!

Free Starbucks?

I saw this coupon for free Starbucks on another cute blog I read. It appears legitimate -- if you try it, let me know. I'm going to take one today and see if it works! (OK, I tried to print it and it's enormous and doesn't print on one page -- how do you fix that??)

Love this!

Monogram Me is such a cute spot for monogram goodies. And she's offering free shipping through the end of July -- check her out. She's also the blogger of The Pink Clutch , one of my favorite blogs. She's also a mom of three children and tells hysterical stories about them. Check her goodies out. And feel free to order me one of everything.

Five for Friday

1. David and Henry are spending the night with my in-laws. YAHOO!
2. I went grocery shopping this afternoon. I do one BIG grocery shopping each month, and it was today. I was so excited when I saved $94 and change using my Kroger card and coupons. The majority of that (over $50) was coupons.
3. It seems it's physically impossible for me to birth a child without an incision complication. With David my incision reopened a week later and took about a month to fully close. With Henry the incision wouldn't close in the hospital and I had to stay an additional day. Then a stitch didn't dissolve, encapsulated, and worked its way out through my incision. 10 months after I delivered him. This morning I noticed a very sensitive, bruised area about 1 cm below my incision. I suspect it's another stitch trying to come out. 6 months later this time.
4. I went to Weight Watchers today and lost 2.2 more pounds.
5. A Betty Crocker mini bowl chocolate cake is only 3 points. . . that makes me want to eat both of them!!

Overheard

• Today in the car the boys were watching Spongebob. (I hate that show.) Spongebob said to Patrick, "Patrick! Your genius is showing!" You can guess what that got translated to and was repeated over and over and over again. . . "David! Your {insert body part that sounds like genius here} is showing!"
• We had Lily June today while her parents and brother were at the hospital searching for a quarter. She was playing with David and Henry in the living room and it got suspiciously quiet. I came into the room and they were gone. I looked down the hallway and saw the door closed to the boys' room. We don't play with the door closed. Trust me, it's a bad idea. And hello, we especially don't play in a bedroom with a GIRL with the door closed. So I stand by the door and hear David grunting saying, "Wiwwy June, my gosh! You sure are a vewy heaby giwl." I could only imagine. I opened the door to see him with his hands under her armpits half carrying/half dragging her across the bedroom to try to put her on Henry's bed. Thankfully Henry has the bottom bunk!
• David and Henry were eating lunch. They had peanut butter and banana sandwiches on hot dog buns. Henry said, "Dadid, this lunch is so spectaculous. I can't stand it for another minute." And proceeded to kiss his sandwich about 9756 times. Where on earth did he hear something like that?

On the Mend

Thankfully, Henry is feeling much, much better. His rash is starting to clear up, and he's made a full recovery. Thank God, because changing a diaper on him was NOT fun. He really was feeling well yesterday, until the evening, and today he's been 100%.

Henry had been talking about going to the Discovery Center "to sell food" (in their pretend grocery store) for DAYS, so I took them yesterday. They had a really fun time, and were very well behaved. It was a fun day. I had to chuckle to myself when Henry, who needs to explore, take apart, press buttons, etc. climbed onto the fire truck and, instead of sitting in the seat, got on the floor to examine the pedals. SO typical Henry!

Here are some pics from the past few days.

Ugh

Ever tried to change a nasty diarrhea diaper on a 45 pound crazy strong three year old with a terrible diaper rash? It's not fun. Henry has gotten some sort of stomach virus. It started Saturday afternoon (sorry if anyone from LJ's party gets sick!) and he had four accidents in three hours. Of course we were at someone else's house. Yesterday and today he's literally had diarrhea constantly. I am not exaggerating when I say CONSTANTLY. While he's sleeping is his only relief. And mine. His bum looks so terrible and he's so uncomfortable. I hope tomorrow is much, much better for him, because he's so miserable.

I have a sinus infection and have felt like a truck ran me over. I'm finally feeling better this evening.

Jack has started blowing raspberries, sitting up for (very) short periods of time, and is creeping all over the place. He needs to slow down!!

David is David. Silly, dramatic, and fun. He's been saying very funny things lately. I wish I could remember some, but right now I'm too tired!

Photos to come soon. . .

Praise the Maker!

Yes, that's what I said at Weight Watchers today when the girl who had the pleasure of weighing me told me my results this week. . . I lost 3.4 pounds. Let's all say it together, loud, and with your hands waving in the air. PRAISE THE MAKER! I can't believe I'm doing this, but the photo below (sorry for the extremely poor quality and weird spacing -- I had to scan it in.) is the "before" inspiration photo I have hanging on our fridge. Lovely, huh? And I'm sure I thought I looked cute. The one at the bottom of this post was 10 days ago, the most recent photo of me. I know you can't really see much other than my face, but that's enough. And that old photo is going right back up on the fridge!!

Mommy Math

(1 baby + 2 big boys) x all napping at the same time = Bliss

In case you were wondering

A roll of toilet paper, fresh off the roll, will not flush down our toilet. Neither will two rolls. And a three year old isn't any good at plunging the toilet. Trust me, because he tried. And fishing the two rolls of sopping wet toilet paper out of the toilet and into the trash can sucks.

I want a nanny.

Tuesday Twelve

1. Hurricane Henry was racing to the door that goes to our garage so he could follow Chris out. Chris didn't know that and shut the door behind him. Henry got there just as Chris was coming back in. The doorknob and Henry's nose are exactly the same height. He had a bloody nose and was so freaked out that he ran into their room, hid in his tent, and covered his face with his quilt. By the time everything was over, his tent and quilt looked like the scene of a homicide!

2. It's steamy here! I don't even want to go outside it's so hot, and I like the heat.

3. My car desperately needs to be vacuumed. See number 2 to understand why it's not.

4. I have 4 cake orders, a doctor's appointment, Weight Watchers, a birthday party, and a repair person coming to look at the stove this week. I love busy weeks, because it makes me be more organized about everything.

5. I got up at five this morning so I could get up before everyone else and before Chris came home. I rode the exercise bike, emptied the dishwasher, baked blueberry muffins, folded two loads of laundry and started another, and cleaned my bathroom before 6:30. Seriously, that's more than I accomplished all day yesterday.

6. David ate part of a tortilla this morning then handed it to me and said, "That smells like pee." He was right. I don't think I'll buy that brand again.

7. I'm starting behavior charts for David and Henry. Trust me, they need them lately. I'm not sure what the rewards will be, but I'm damn sure they won't be trains. I'm thinking more along the lines of a trip to the movies, going to the library, splashing in the fountains, etc.

8. We're having roast chicken for dinner tonight, which is potentially my favorite way to make chicken. Or my mom's chicken salad, but I don't make that. And it doesn't taste the same when I do.

9. I really want to run a 5K to say that I have done it. But I don't run.

10. Jack is sitting up by himself for short periods of time now. (Not getting himself into the sitting position, but staying there when I put him in a sitting position.) Shouldn't he still be acting like a newborn? He needs to stop this continued development business, because it makes me want another little tiny baby.

11. Why is pooping in the toilet such a difficult thing to learn to do? Henry was doing a great job for so long -- not wearing diapers at all unless it was to bed. Now he's having major poop issues. The same thing happened last year with David before he started school though, so I'm not making a big deal out of it. David did, however, say to Henry, "You know Henry, nobody in mine school wears a diaper or a pull-up. You have to cut that out before school starts because Ms. Frankie isn't' having it." WHAT?! "Isn't having it"? That child cracks me up.

12. Why would A-Rod hook up with Madonna? She has gross man arms and I think is really creepy. She scares me.

Are you kidding me?

And then I dropped a jar of baby food onto my smooth top stove. And it cracked. A huge crack, extending over two burners, which makes them unusable. From a freaking jar of baby food? The replacement cost of the cooktop? $248. And that's to replace it ourselves. Seriously?

All before 9 o'clock

Before 9 this morning, Henry did the following:

• Took off his underpants and peed. Next to the toilet.
• Had a meltdown about drawing on the dry erase calendar in our kitchen.
• I told him no and got out their easel, which has a dry erase side. He happily drew on that. For about 3 minutes.
• Then wanted to paint. At this point, I still had not even had a cup of coffee, and I was trying to stall the inevitable painting. I gave in and got out the paint, brushes and paper.
• He painted on his paper for about 5 minutes. Then decided to try the splatter method. He "painted" all over the kitchen -- the floor, the table and chairs, the highchair, the island, the wall, the pantry door, and the refrigerator. And a very small corner of his paper.
• I moved the easel to the patio to hose it down, and while I did that he broke the child proof lock off of the doorknob to the garage door and went out to the garage.
• I came in from the patio and was washing the paint off of the kitchen floor while he rode his bicycle in the garage. Until I heard the loud glass shattering noise. He picked a glass canister (thankfully empty) up over his head and threw it on the garage floor. When I asked him why he said, "Because so I can see what it would do."
• While I cleaned that up, he and David went out on the patio to paint. I figured that would be a better idea, because there would be less mess. Wrong. I came in from the garage to find that he had painted each pane of glass on the window to the backdoor, painted the door frame, painted the lock, painted the patio table and one chair, and had his brush poised to paint the fabric on the gazebo.

I am not exaggerating when I say he accomplished (?) all of that in less than 35 minutes. We don't call him Hurricane Henry for nothing. . .

Summer Squash Casserole

I love summer squash, and this is probably my favorite recipe for it.

Ingredients:

• 2 lbs. squash, sliced (6 cups)
• 1 small onion, sliced
• 1 cup shredded carrot
• 1 can condensed cream of chicken soup
• 1 cup sour cream
• 8 oz. stuffing mix
• 1/2 cup butter, melted

In a saucepan, cook the sliced squash and onion in boiling water, until tender. Drain. Combine the cream of chicken soup and sour cream. Stir in the shredded carrot. Fold in drained squash and onion. In another bowl, combine the stuffing mix and melted butter. Spread half of the stuffing mixture in the bottom of a 12 x 7 1/2 x 2 baking dish. Spoon vegetable mixture on top. Sprinkle the remaining stuffing mixture over the vegetables. Bake in 350 degree oven 25-30 minutes, or until heated through. (Serves six.)

My Weight Watchers variation:

If you use fat free sour cream, 98% fat free condensed cream of chicken soup, and margarine instead of butter it's 19 total points for this recipe. With six servings, that's just over 3 points per serving, and this makes six very generous servings.

Wordless Wednesday