all better

We have had the nastiest stomach bug here that I think we've ever had. Bryce started puking Friday night, and it was mine and D's turn yesterday. YUCK! I am so, so glad we are finished with that. Eww! I actually had to call-in to work, which I never do.

I went and got some Halloween crafts for me and Bryce to work on this week while he's out on fall break. I got one of those foam "haunted pirate ship" from Michael's (which are on sale for $4.99 this week!), a snap-together Star-Wars tie-fighter and a pail to decorate for trick-or-treating. He's really been anxious to get going on any of these, so I cracked open the pirate ship....yeah, we'll be waiting on D to take a nap before we finish that. He almost bit a chunk out of the foam while we were spreading the pieces out.

About the Zumba thing mentioned previously...I'm beginning to have second thoughts about it. I really, really, really want to do it, but thinking about it more made me realize that it's just going to become something that will take me away from my family more. Anyway, still mulling it over. I've got to decide something soon though!

Halloween costumes

We're good to go with the costumes this year. We bought Bryce's costume a few weeks ago...he loves to dress up and play, so he's already worn his a few times. I had a really hard time deciding on Drew's costume. He's not real keen about having things on his head, so many of the costume I loved had seperate hats, and if you didn't wear the hat then you couldn't even tell what he was supposed to be. I think the shark costume gives him no choice :)

well I did it

I've done the unthinkable! I registered for a class that will certify me to be a Zumba instructor. I have tossed this idea around in my head for a few months, and when I got wind of a class in Brentwood I just went ahead and signed up. I'm so excited (and just about as nervous). I don't see myself teaching classes on a regular basis, probably more like a substitute teacher. I did find out that if I get on the sub list at the Y then our membership is FREE! The class is two weeks from this Sunday, and I'll be looking for some students to practice with!

Oh, I almost forgot! Here's the latest with Bryce's throat...
His tonsils are still big. He's started talking weird again, so I made him an appointment to see Dr. Goco in about 3 weeks for a second opinion.

another moment

I had another mother moment last week. I really had to bite my tongue when I picked up Bryce from school. Okay, so his teacher this year is just a little different to me. I can't explain it. Bryce had such a sweetheart of a teacher last year, so maybe I go a little spoiled.

All the kids were up playing while they were waiting for their parents to pick them up for the day. There was one boy that was sitting in a chair at the table, and I really didn't think anything of it. I was helping Bryce get all of his stuff together, and the boy got up out of the chair (not sure where he was going...) and the teacher had the nastiest tone with him. It was a "Get back in that chair, RIGHT NOW!" sort of thing. Yeah, I talk to Bryce that way from time to time, but I don't expect a teacher at a mother's day out program to speak to a child that way. Really, he wasn't hurting anyone....but I don't know what he did to get in the chair in the first place.

I wanted soooo bad to tell his mom about how nasty the teacher sounded, but then talked myself out of it. It wasn't my business, but on the other hand, I would want to know if the shoe was on the other foot. I hope she was just having a bad day because I have my eye on her now.

3 days

Three very long days. I decided to give up drinking diet sodas and any drinks containing sugar substitutes. I have/had a huge addiction, and I didn't realize how bad it was until I decided to quit drinking them. I've always heard that aspartame wasn't good for you, but I read this book over the weekend called "Skinny Bitch", and it went in a little deeper about the dangers and that caused me to do more research on my own. I'm having some pretty bad headaches and pain in some of my joints (mainly my shoulders). I haven't given up caffeine completely (yet). I substitute my morning coffee with tea (no sugar) and that's been a lifesaver!

But enough about the negative stuff, let me tell you how things are changing for the good. My skin and hair are looking better each day. My appetite has really decreased. That was something else I learned about the diet sodas. Each one you drink is a constant surge of insulin. This is taken from a website when I did my "researching"


That may be just what happens when we offer our bodies the sweet taste of diet drinks, but give them no calories. Fowler points to a recent study in which feeding artificial sweeteners to rat pups made them crave more calories than animals fed real sugar.

"If you offer your body something that tastes like a lot of calories, but it isn't there, your body is alerted to the possibility that there is something there and it will search for the calories promised but not delivered," Fowler says.

Perhaps, Bonci says, our bodies are smarter than we think.

"People think they can just fool the body. But maybe the body isn't fooled," she says. "If you are not giving your body those calories you promised it, maybe your body will retaliate by wanting more calories. Some soft drink studies do suggest that diet drinks stimulate appetite"

I really this is something I can continue long-term. I have initially set a goal for me of two weeks, cold turkey, no diet sodas. I know this will get easier!

HAPPY 1ST BIRTHDAY DREW!!!!

I just can't get over how this year has flown. It really does go so much faster when you have two kids. Drew's birthday was yesterday, so I decided to take him and B to Chuck E Cheese for some playtime. I've done this every year for B (taken him to CEC for his "official" b-day), so I wanted to carry the same tradition over for Drew. He lasted just about an hour before we had to come home for lunch and a nap, and then preparations for today's party. We had so much fun, and are so thankful for the friends and family that we have. We've been hanging out at home s-l-o-w-l-y taking each toy out of the box for him to play with. It's been a perfect day, and a perfect 1st birthday for my boy!

down

Last Thursday night, someone very close to me let me down in a major way. I'm so disappointed in her. I tried every way to help when she needed help, only to see her spiral down the same path that, for a short time, she had come out of. I will spare the details because not only am I upset, I'm also humiliated in her behavior. All I know to do is pray for her, and hope that her night of incarceration will trigger a turn-around.

Cultures are negative

Got the official call from the Dr's office this morning that the overnight strep cultures were negative. B's tonsils are almost meeting in the middle now. Dr. Eastham said that he was concerned about his tonsil size when he saw him in January for his well-child visit, but these are crazy big. He really couldn't explain it, and really the only reasoning he did give me was MAYBE he had mono at the same time of the last strep. They didn't test for that at the walk-in clinic, but they did yesterday (which was also negative). He's on another round of antibiotics for 10 days and then we follow-up with Dr. Eastham. He said if he's not any better after this round then he'll refer us to an ENT.

Thanks everyone for the well wishes! Fortunately, he doesn't feel bad or complain at all about it.

Attack of the Kirby salesman

This past Friday evening, I was hanging out with Bry & D waiting for daddy to get home and kick off our weekend when the doorbell rang. It was a really, really nice man telling me how he and his wife just moved to the area and they were opening up their own business cleaning carpets. He was offering to clean one room in my house, the only thing he asked in return, was that if I was pleased, I would help spread the word about his business. There was no obligation to buy anything. Who wouldn’t want a free carpet cleaning?

Now I was in a perfect situation. Just last week, I had a steam cleaned the carpet in my living room. Not only that, I vacuum every other day since the D-man puts any and everything in his mouth. My carpet is not just clean. It’s very clean. So you would think that I would be in a perfect position to say, “No thanks. I’m sorry.” Close the door. Done.

He told me it would take about 20 minutes, so I figured what the heck. I'm all about supporting entreprenuers and local businesses. Twenty minutes...remember that number.

He called his "guys" and they arrived 5 minutes later. It's now 4:35. Three big boxes get lugged into my living room. I noticed on one of the boxes the infamous "Kirby" brand. At any rate, the sales guy was going on about how cute my son was, and how lovely my home was, all the while, he is setting up a display of some sort, featuring the attachments of the Kirby vacuum cleaner.


The goal of the Kirby vacuum demonstration it to demonstrate how much dirt has been left within the carpet. A "Dirtmeter" attachment is used in place of a vacuum bag, while "dirt pads" are placed inside the attachment. When the vacuum is turned on, dirt lands on the pad, and is shown to the customer. The salesmen frequently replaces used dirt pads with new ones, leaving evidence of dirt around the vacuumed area.

The second goal of the demonstration is to show you how inferior your vacuum is. He whips out my handy dandy Hoover Fusion with "cyclone" suction power and vacuums my living room.

Here's how it went from there...

“Have I vacuumed this with your machine about the way that you would have?”
It is acceptable what you have done.

“Now that I have used the Kirby, do you see all this dirt that was left in your carpet.”
I have the ocular proof.

“If you had a chance to get this remaining dirt out of your carpet, would that be something you’d be interested in doing.”
The remaining dirt is upsetting to me and its removal would be most welcome.

“Wouldn’t you feel better if your son wasn’t crawling around near all this dirt?”
That’s an affirmative.

“If your machine is missing this much dirt, and you bought it to do precisely that very job, to remove dirt, then don’t you think it’s time you fired it and got something that will do the job.”
Can one really fire an inanimate object?

“You know what I mean. Get rid of it.”

He then leaned in for the final sales pitch. “Look, your machine isn’t getting the job done.” He then went on to talk about “superior suction power” and how the dirt in my carpet was going to destroy it by midnight unless I made some drastic changes, and that if I really, really loved my children, I would do this. For them. For their future.

Frankly, he had a point. I wondered "How much does this thing cost?"

It was now 5:45

“Would you like this Kirby in your home,” he asked.

“It depends,” I said. “How much does it cost.”

Now I knew that Kirbys were expensive. But when he handed me the flyer telling me the price, I honestly had to keep myself from laughing out loud. Want to know what the price was?

$2,049

Over two thousand dollars. It was at this point that I knew I was going to have to turn rude on him.

I did apologize for wasting his time, but I did let him know that there was absolutely NO WAY I was going to pay that price for a vacuum cleaner. Dude brings out the financing sheet. He told me I could afford to pay $30 a month (for the next 4 years), that he knew I could spare a dollar a day.

It's now 6:30

6:30 is feeding time around here, if not earlier. After I put my foot down about not purchasing the vacuum, I went into the kitchen to start cooking our dinner. He sat in the kitchen packing up his things. He had to call for a ride (just a little freaky), but finally got loaded up and stood outside by the mailbox waiting for the van. I told Chris he was gone, and how much he came off the original price to try to make a sale. We decided we would yank his chain for some giggles (since our Friday night was now shot) so we went outside and offered him $100 for the vacuum. He had to call his "boss", but it is unbelieveable what just happened....He sold it to us for just a little more than what we offered! Holy crap!

He came back in to do the paperwork (his ride still hadn't arrived...hmmm...) and finally left us with our new Kirby at almost 8pm. What a ride!

Back to the doctor

I'm taking Bryce to see Dr. Eastham in the morning now matter what. These are his tonsils...taken just a few minutes ago. He doesn't have a fever or even act sick. The only reason I thought to look at his throat was because he was talking weird today. His tonsils have been this big and red since atleast the end of May. They have big pits in them, which from what I've read, means that is scarring from chronic tonsillitis. He also has about 8 or 9 enlarged lymphnodes in his neck that have also not gone down since May. I'm afraid of what the doctor will say, but I think they should definately look better by now.

Hip Hip Hooray!

Bryce went back to school today! Hey, that rhymes :)

He's been very anxious to get back since the open house Thursday. I took a few pics, but my card wasn't in the camera and I'm not talented enough to pull them off. Luckily Lisa took somee for me, so I'll post those when I get them.

TGIF

Oh.my.goodness.

What a week. Well, what a crazy two weeks.

I'm about to throw a bunch of info your way, so beware. Lots of stuff on my mind, and I'm not really wanting to seperate it all into different posts.

Last night was the open house for Bryce's MDO. We got to meet his new teacher, and let me tell you...I really think she's going to make them toe the line. Which is a great thing, especially since Kindergarten is right around the corner! Bryce is a good kid, don't get me wrong, but he gets out of ALOT of things by batting his eyes and turning on the waterworks. He knows what it takes. I think this year will be a great experience for him, and hopefully he will learn lots! I pulled out his Kindergarten workbook yesterday just to get him going again. We colored shapes and worked on writing the letter "A". At the end of the lesson, you're supposed to go through and quiz them things that begin with the letter "A". Well, there was a train on the page. An "A"lligator was conducting the train, and hauling "A"pples. Bryce KNEW this, but here's how our conversation went....

Me: What's in the train, Bryce?

B: bananas

Me: bananas? Are you sure?

B: yep, bananas

Me: who's driving the train?

B: A Crocodile

Me: Does Crocodile start with "A"?

B: nope, but it's a crocodile

Alright, I could still be confused by an alligator and a crocodile, but apples and bananas? He thinks he's clever ;) Just another reason why I would NEVER homeschool.

We're off today to the land of Wal-Mart to get a few necessary things. I only make a Wal-Mart trip about four times a year. I try to steer clear of that place as much as possible. I think the crowds of people mixed with the size of the place just don't sit well with me. I'm definately more of a Target girl. I'm sure I'll have a story when I get back...I always do.

I got an e-mail FINALLY that "Fearless Fourteen" is available at the library!!!! Right when I'm in the smack-dab middle of "The Choice" by Nicholas Sparks. Oh well. I had to pass on "Fourteen" the first go around because when I had planned on picking it up Chris had left with my library card And my wallet. It was the last day to pick it up, and they had closed by the time he got home, so I went back on the HUGE waiting list...and now I'm so EXCITED to finally get to read it!

On the custody front...
Our first home visit was last Monday. It was weird. That's about the only way to put it. She came wanting to "observe" our family, so we're all hanging out in the living room playing. Bryce is doing his usual, "Hey, watch me do this" stunts, and Drew is being pretty good. Then she starts an interrogation process of sorts. She's asking about drugs/alcohol, arrests, criminal activity, financial status...basically things I felt just weird letting Bryce hear her ask us. Luckily there's not much to tell, but I couldn't believe she did that infront of the kids. Anyway, she was nice and all. I tried to make her feel welcome. She snooped in the pantry and refrigerator, and toured the house. That was really it. We don't know anything at all yet, but she did say that she has to come by two more times. Oh boy!

We're really doing some soul searching about this entire situation. First of all, can we financially afford to go on? This first gig cost us just a little under $5K. O-U-C-H! We just got that statement a couple of weeks ago. There's tons more legwork to be done for the final hearing, which in turn means more moulah. Secondly, what are our odds that we could get custody now? We shot our wad the first time. The biggest thing we had on her really didn't make the judge flinch! Chris called the atty and he said "Factually we have enough for custody, but judicially you never know." Our atty was so PISSED after the first hearing. It really was ridiculous how it was handled. I think we really had our bubble busted after that and now we're contemplatig our next move. I don't put a price-tag on K's safety, but if the judge saw him in any immenent harm, I feel like he would have acted on that day. We just don't know what to do or where to go from here.

My 11 month old

Well, as of yesterday :)

Only one more month until my baby has his first birthday! I can't believe it!

Yesterday was Bryce's first soccer practice. It was short and sweet! Made momma real happy since I had to get to work. The coach worked real well with the kids, and I think he's finally at an age where it's not complete chaos. All the kids followed directions so good. He learned how to stop the ball with his foot and kick it back. Games start a week from this Saturday :) I took some pictures, but they sucked...I guess from being in the gym.

If you had a couple of hours.....

If you had two hours at home alone, how would you spend your time? This actually happened to me yesterday. It was sort of an impromptu daddy-take-the-boys-to-Chuck-E-Cheese day playdate yesterday, so I didn't have anything "planned" to do. I thought about soaking in a bubble bath, but it was the middle of the day. I thought about working on my scrapbooks, but couldn't find the motivation. I thought about power cleaning the house....nah!

I ended up putting on my bathing suit, grabbing my book, and laying out by the pool. It was extremely relaxing. I never get to just LAY there. It was such a beautiful day and I'm glad I got a little "me" time!

Just had to end today with this.....

Members

Chris and I officially joined church yesterday. I transferred my membership over to Fellowship. It's so nice to belong!

Happy Birthday Hubby!

Happy 37th Chris!

We've been celebrating his birthday all weekend :) He took off from work Friday and today and it's been sooo nice having him home! Poor guy was trying to help out by doing laundry yesterday, and I was in the kitchen and heard a horrible clanking in the dryer. I pulled everything out to find his ipod in the bottom. It's toast now. Too bad it didn't happen BEFORE I did birthday shopping. We got him a new drill (that he picked out), a hat, some XBOX points and aftershave. I got the yummiest (rich, but yummy) cake from Julia's homestyle bakery. It's over by Pei Wei, and I highly suggest checking it out. They have cookies, pies, cakes, coffee....oh my!

My mom was trying to fish for ideas on what to get Chris for his birthday. I cleaverly suggested that they just BABYSIT for us tonight so we can go out and have a "grown-up" dinner at Bonefish or something like that. I know it's a tough time for everyone right now financially, so I would rather spend time with him (and he definately feels the same way). That's been a big downer for me lately. It's been like we have been running on our track and not really getting to be "husband and wife". The kids are pulling us in opposite directions these days, but we managed to have a little "time" this weekend.

finally!

Finally...I'm getting around to blogging a little :) Nothing extremely exciting has been going on with the family lately, hence the lack of blog entries. Add to the mix Mr. Drew, and that really leaves me with pretty much no time to be on the computer. I'm not at all complaining though. I have been quiet with so many people lately and sort of a "shut-in" because I've been savoring the moments with my babies. Drew is almost 11 months now and the reality of "my last baby" is hitting me hard. He's growing up sooooo fast. Everyday he does something new. He's walking all OVER the house now and just babbling his head off :) So cute!

Bryce is starting MDO in less than two weeks, and the soccer season starts next week! It's his first organized sports team (well, if you want to call it organized). I was glad to hear that they don't keep score. It's not a competitive league, it's just to teach the fundamentals of sports and group play. We're going to Dick's today to get a soccer ball and shin guards. I will definately shed a tear when I see my little Becks all decked out for his first shoe game.

Bryce said the cutest thing last night....I'm a huge Big Brother fan, so the POV comp was on last night (and being such a big fan with the After Dark show, I already knew who won) and I got up to get a drink. I came back and sat down on the couch with the fam. Bryce raised up and said, "Momma, Jerry won the power. The power of veto!" Awe!

So, I can't say how often I'll post over the next few weeks...it may be tomorrow, it may be the next day...it may not be for a week. I'm soaking it all in right now.

Tag, I'm it

I've been tagged by Rachel and Shannon


Here are the rules:

a. Link to the person who tagged you

b. Post the rules on your blog.

c. Write six random things about yourself.

d. Tag six random people at the end of your post by linking to their blog.

e. Let each person know they’ve been tagged by leaving a comment at their blog.

f. Let your tagger know when your entry is up..



A)
Shannon and Rachel each tagged me :)

B) done

C) Six random things about me
-I have naturally curly hair that I battle with a flat iron after each washing.
-I am double-jointed in 4 fingers and all of my toes.
-I know every word to Jay-Z's "Big Pimpin'"
-I don't like ice cream.
-I still hang out with my high school friends.
-I love to fall asleep with the tv on.

So for (D) and (E), I think from reading all the blogs that I read...everyone has already been tagged :)

Off to do (F) now!

bye bye Sprint

Hello Verizon!

I've been with Sprint for about 6 years. After numerous dropped calls and lots of dead air space on the interstate, I was ready to switch to another company. Originally I had wanted to go with AT&T. We have Dish Network, AT&T landline and internet. I thought we could get a pretty good discount with one of their widely advertized "bundle" packages. Wrong! You only get a 5% discount for bundling your junk. I had my heart set on an LG Shine phone, picked out the plan and everything. I had gone in earlier in the week and spoke with a salesman. I took Chris back with me the second time so he could ask any questions I may have forgotten. This sales guy threw something out like, "to get this phone for $49.99 you have to purchase unlimited text messages for $20 a month for the next six months." Ummm, no thanks. Do you really get a discount at that rate?

We thought we would be better off just going back with Sprint then. We decided to stop by the Verizon store first, just to make sure, before heading to Sprint. The Verizon store was SO FREAKING PACKED! It was insane. Chris put our name on the list, and we "tried" to look at phones. Luckily, I knew I wanted a slider so that narrowed it down a little. I was really turned off while I was looking at the prices posted on the phones. The kids were cranky, since cell phones are the FORBIDDEN toy that they are only allowed to play with in the most desperate of situations, so we were ready to bail. A manager/bouncer-looking guy stopped us at the door. So, to make a long story short, they made us very happy customers!