A Post About Nothing

Just to give you something to read.

I realized that it has been two years since I first started this blog. Can you believe it? It has become a real part of my life. I think in terms of posts now, which is pretty funny. I feel like I get so much out that I never would otherwise - as far as my thoughts and feelings and questions.

We leave for FL in 3 days, people!! Our clothes are packed, but that's it. I still have to get together all the baby stuff and bathroom stuff, etc. I can't wait for Saturday to get here already.

Laila is still fighting a nasty cough and I'm praying she's fully recovered before we have to travel and we all have to breath in that canned air. It's like a cold in a box tied up with a pretty ribbon. Someone is bound to get sick from the airplane.

I've been going on Facebook quite a bit lately. Why is it I went for, what, 15 years without giving a crap about so-and-so from freshman year biology and now I pop in just to see what he/she is "doing right now."??

When we go to FL next week I told Bill I wanted to go to the beach and he immediately responded with why I would want to drive 2 hours each way to go to the beach and not even swim. Do any of you see the value in showing your children the OCEAN for the first time, letting them collect seashells and running their feet through the sand?? I love my husband to death, but sometimes we just don't see eye to eye.

What else?

Oh, I'm sort of at a crossroads with my daycare right now. As it stands, I will be losing 2 out of my 3 families this year and am seriously wondering if I want to start all over with new families or just keep the one little girl and have more free time for my own self/family.
Why can't I just win the lottery. Or, I guess, just live within my means.

I missed most of Idol last night - was it good? I did see the end of Biggest Loser and was pretty sad about Dan getting voted out. Real Housewives of Orange County was pretty interesting too - Jeana's sons are in need of a big reality check when it comes to treating their mother with respect.

Anyway, I hope that's enough nonsense for you for one day.

Have a great humpday!!

What A Man

Even though I didn't get "tagged" to do this I decided to do it anyway.

1. Who is your man? Bill
2. How long have you been together? A little over 9 wonderful years
3. How long did you date? We dated for 4 years before getting married over 5 years ago.
4. How old is your man? He's 32 - I'm a cradle robber (I'm 11 months older)
5. Who eats more? I think I can safely say Bill does :-)
6. Who said "I love you" first? He did. I waited for it.
7. Who is taller? Bill is - he's about 5 inches taller.
8. Who sings better? Haha....that would be me and that's not saying much!
9. Who is smarter? I would say Bill
10. Whose temper is worse? That would be me.
11. Who does the laundry? Yours truly. Bill does it sometimes.
12. Who takes out the garbage? Mostly Bill.
13. Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? Bill, next to the alarm.
14. Who pays the bills? That would be me too.
15. Who is better with the computer? Totally Bill
16. Who mows the lawn? Thank goodness Bill does.
17. Who cooks dinner? Mostly me. He definitely does his share though too.
18. Who drives when you are together? Bill. I drive from the passenger seat.
19. Who pays when you go out? Bill. He's sort of old fashioned that way. (even if I have to hand him the cash before we go)
20. Who is most stubborn? I would say Bill - he would probably say me!
21. Who is the first to admit when they are wrong? Bill. I'm working on it....
22. Whose parents do you see the most? I guess Bill's since they live in town. But my parents make a great effort to see us as often as possible.
23. Who kissed who first? He kissed me!
24. Who asked who out? He asked me at Chumley's.
25. Who proposed? Of course Bill did! Great proposal story too.
26. Who is more sensitive? Hmm...that's a tie.
27. Who has more friends? Me - but don't girls usually have more friends?
28. Who has more siblings? Me! Do I win anything?
29. Who wears the pants in the family? I like to think that maybe I do - but I'm really working on being the good submissive wife I should be.

Inaugural 6 Month Old

Not to step on the President's toes, but SOMEONE turned 6 months old yesterday!

This is one of my very favorite infant ages. There just seems to be such a transition from little baby to little person.

Don't get me wrong, she is still just a teeny, tiny little nugget - but with so much more to offer.

She likes to smile like that (in the first picture) with her lip under her gums like an old man. It is SO cute and she'll do it to engage us or get our attention instead of crying.

She knows she's cute.

Laila's rolling all over the place, sleeping through the night, playing with toys, engaging with the older kids, jumping in the jumparoo and most recently, eating a little rice cereal.

I can't believe it's already been 6 months since her birth. Even though it is grossly cliche to say, time really does fly.

Happy 6 Months Miss Bee!

Things Could Definitely Be Worse

For example, I came across this blog just yesterday and it put everything in to perspective for me.

Don't get me wrong, I wasn't actually feeling that sorry for myself, just a little tired and worn out - we can't all be rainbows and sunshine 24/7.

Difficult times are like dark clouds that pass overhead and block the sun. When we look more closely at the edges of every cloud we can see the sun shining there like a silver lining.

I was thinking about that last night and came up with the following:
1) At least I have a home that is not in forclosure.
2) We have a laundromat blocks away to dry our clothes - and quarters to put in the machines.
3) I have blog friends, and phone friends and real live friends and family who are ready to listen and care and help out in any way that you/they can.
4) Most importantly. Bill and I and the children might be sick, but not with something that isn't curable. We have, generally speaking, healthy and happy children who all got to come home from the hospital with us and haven't had to go back except for the usual well-check here and there.
I would live under a bridge, ride the city bus and not bathe for years and it wouldn't matter as long as my family is together.

On that note, I am truly looking forward to another crazy week!!

...and better....

Laila is feeling better, thank God.

Yesterday morning was very productive. We managed to clean the upstairs top and bottom (didn't want anyone else getting sick) and even packed up our downstairs and made it "liveable" until we get the time/money to paint and carpet - with no thanks to our insurance, once again.

But all was not to be well. At 4:00 I told Bill I wasn't feeling well. Being the headstrong person I am and fully believing it as mind over matter I took CeCe and Laney with me to the movie store and grocery store.
Let's just say I barely made it in the door without an "accident." The rest of my night consisted of having either my rear or face down in the toilet. What fun! And just to make this even more gross I would like to share the last thing that I ate - Chippers from my aunt Jill. (That's chocolate covered chips if you haven't heard of them). I will be lucky to ever eat a piece of chocolate again - which is maybe a good thing.
I digress.....
6:00 am Cecelia throws up in her bed and Laney is burning up. We give Laney some tylenol and throw CeCe's sheets in the wash. Alas, when Bill puts the wet clothes in the dryer the knob completely falls off. Can't use the dryer now until that gets fixed as well.
So, here we are in a house involuntarily under construction and 3 out of 5 family members sick.

I told Bill it would be totally awesome if something else went wrong. I'm practically begging here.

There has got to be a silver lining here, but this week I have decided to just feel sorry for myself.
I'll keep you posted on that lining....

It Just Keeps Getting Better.

Okay, so, here are the pictures of the holes in my basement floor from yesterday. The guys were chasing the rotted pipe trying to find a good piece on each end to cut off on. They were worried that they might have to start digging in through the bathroom tile - but luckily they did not!

I had to do daycare on Wednesday at my friend Jen's house (thanks Jen!) because of the jack hammering and concrete dust. What I wasn't expecting was the TOTALLY FOUL smell that would come from the hole in the floor and the dirt surrounding it. People, I change dirty diapers all day long, have dealt with every kind of vomit you can imagine, but nothing could have prepared me for this smell. When I walked in the door I had an instant gag reflex - for the first time in my life.

By the end of the day, though, we burned some oils and candles and managed to sleep in our own beds.

However, there was no way I was going to subject my daycare families to my stinky house. So, yesterday we had daycare at Clare's house (thanks Clare!).

That brings us to this morning.

Laila wakes up to eat. As I'm changing her diaper Bill walks in with an exploded can of caffeine free Diet Coke which, apparently, exploded all over the car. Great.

Then, I lay Laila in bed with me to nurse. She eats off one side, has a little cough, and projectile vomits it all up.

I put her in the Jump-a-Roo, change the sheets and throw them in the wash.

Laila starts to fuss. I grab her and smell her - yep - dirty diaper.

Wait for it........

Pooptastrophie.

Get her in the tub all while smearing poop all over myself trying to not make a mess.

She is worn out and already back asleep.

Oh, did I mention it's -20 degrees?? (that's negative twenty for those of you not used to seeing a minus sign in front of your temperature).

I was going to try and pick up a shift at the restaurant tonight to make a little extra cash so we're not eating Ramon noodles on our vacation but will have to wait to see how my pukey/poopy baby does today.

I mean, come on already.

Basement Update

We have been denied an insurance claim on the issue with the busted pipe in our basement. We were also denied a claim to replace the flooring.

If you ask me, these claims adjusters are a bunch of crooks.

Their reasoning: the pipe isn't technically a part of our house because it's under the concrete.

Of course it's a part of our house. If you want to play with semantics than you could also say that our entire house isn't our house because it's built up from dirt and since the dirt isn't a part of our house than our house isn't our house. Great logic.

Thanks alot Mr. Claims Adjuster. Technically, about $4,000 worth of thanks.