Back to Normal.

Ah, the weather is (sort of) back to normal. Still hot for around here, but its forecasted to be only 86 degrees today. That sounds so nice when, for the last three days, the inside of my house has been 86 degrees!

Glenn got shifted onto another route for the next couple days so poor Beanie is walking around saying "Daddy home? Where's Daddy?" because she's used to him being home right about now.

She's been waking up uber early since its been so hot out and she's almost ready for a nap here at 10am. She probably would go down a bit easier, but I've pretty much stopped nursing her down so its making things a little rougher.

I'm hoping she does go down soon though so I can finish my epic blog about our trip. I only got through the first day so far and that doesn't even include any funny stuff!

85 degrees.

That's how hot it is in Beanie's room right now. Seriously. I just went and grabbed (or tried to grab, woke Glenn up and then he got all pissy and moved it himself) the portable a/c unit and put it in her room. 85 degrees?!?!? That's just ridiculous. And that's with a fan blowing through there all day long.

Its too hot. Like 100 today and forecasted to be close to 100 the next 3 days. Yikes!

If I can manage to stay up and type in this heat I'm going to try to finish blogging about our trip. But, in all likelihood, I'm going to stay in the nice air-conditioned room that isn't hot as hell.

MIA.

Eek! Sorry I went MIA over the weekend. Its been busy and I've had a lot on my mind (which I'm not quite ready to blog about).

Friday was a busy day, although I can't even remember all what we did.

Saturday Glenn set up the gas fire pit that we got and we had my sister, brother-in-law and his girlfriend over for hotdogs and smores. It was a lot of fun!

Sunday I worked all day and then crashed out with Beanie when she went to bed. I was so tired!

This morning I have been trying to get some chores done as it is hot as all get out here and the house just bakes like an oven in the afternoons and evenings. Beanie and I are headed out for a walk with my mom's group in a bit. Should be fun!

The trip -- Chapter One.

Our adventure began Thursday around noon. Beanie had gone down for a nap around 11:30 so I carefully moved her into the car so she could sleep the rest of the way down to the airport. It worked! Traffic wasn't bad at all and we drove to the lot we were parking at. We had chose to drive down ourselves because the people we would usually ask were either (1) going with us or (2) having a meet and greet with Gwen Stefani at the No Doubt concert on Sunday. Somehow I think #2 is the better option ;).

The shuttle dropped us off at the airport and we lugged everything around. Somehow we chose the skybridge to our left instead of our right which turned out to be the one farthest from the Delta check in counter. Glenn was carrying the carseat, our suitcase and a lunch bag. I had Beanie in an umbrella stroller we bought especially for the trip, the heaviest backpack ever on my back, and my purse on my shoulder. We got checked in (LOVE online check in...made it so much faster) & headed through security. The checkpoint closest to us was way backed up so we went to one a bit farther away. And a lot farther away from our gate it seemed. Actually we had to take the underground train (which I insisted didn't exist) to our gate.

Luckily our gate was close to food because we were starving and had figured a good way to kill some time at the airport would be to eat lunch. Plus, french fries make for a happy Beanie. Would've been great except for the fact that the line didn't move an inch in the ten minutes I was standing there and it was almost time to board the plane. Sigh. I let Beanie run back and forth up the aisle at the airport, hoping she would burn off enough energy to sit still for our upcoming 5 hour flight. Then Glenn walked her around and, of course, right after they leave they start boarding the plane. Not that it mattered because we were boarding in Zone 4 even though we had a toddler and a carseat. Actually, I'm glad because we boarded pretty late, the car seat was a breeze to get installed on the plane, and we only had to sit for a short bit before we took off. But, anyways, it gave me a huge anxiety attack that they weren't there. Of course they were very close by and came back with a smoothie (which sort of tasted like Pepto Bismal???) and a sandwich.

We got on the plane and as soon as Beanie sat down her feet were touching the seat in front of us. She tapped it a little with her feet and we told her no. About fifteen minutes after takeoff the guy in front of us reclined his seat all the way and Beanie started saying "No! No! No!" and kicking his seat. But, really, what did he expect? We did pretty well with stopping her from attacking his seat, although I'm sure she got her toes between the seats a few times and got him pretty good.

The flight went really well. Normally I am anxious as hell during takeoff and landing. This time I wasn't, mostly because (I think) I was more worried about Beanie's well-being during the two. I was force feeding (okay, not really) her monkey fruit snacks and making her drink milk. We had plenty of new toys for her -- a magnadoodle, a new book, a Curious George coloring book, and soem movies. She was more interested in the TV set in the back of the seat in front of her, at least until the satellite to Nickolodeon went out.

We landed in Atlanta just after ten and walked about ten miles across the airport to baggage claim. It wasn't until we were almost there that we noticed that the train was heading to baggage claim too. Oops! I figured it was good exercise for all the food I was about to consume the next few days.

Father-in-law (FIL)picked us up. He had a friend call and say his car had broken down and he needed help. FIL had some many stories he had made up to trick mother-in-law (MIL). We got to the car and he said we could just throw Beanie's car seat in the trunk and she could use her cousin's. I was not so okay with that. First off, cousin's car seat was front facing and it wasn't a convertible one even (at least it didn't look like it), it was a booster. Totally didn't make sense to me because Beanie's cousin is almost 6 months younger than she is. Anyhoo...Glenn installed our carseat and I squished my butt into the backseat between the two.

FIL asked us if we were hungry and we were. He took a different exit than usual so we could drive thru somewhere. So we pull up to the exit and it is way backed up. Then we see the police lights. FIL didn't think we could even head the way we wanted. Well, we could. We got waved ahead by a police officer. Glenn noticed that there must be a big accident because there were a bunch of cars on the side of the road. That's when we realized there were about two dozen police vehicles on the shoulder of this off ramp. There were about six cops checking the cars as we came up to the stoplight on the exit ramp. Like checking FIL's driver's license, shining a flashlight all over the inside of our car, asking if the carseat was belted in, and then telling us to have a good night. As we drove away Glenn noticed that there were K9 dogs out too. Um scary!! I still have no idea what was going on that night. I tried to look online and the only thing I found was that they caught a murderer who had fled to Villa Rica on July 12th, but this was the night of the 16th, probably early the 17th by the time we were there.


So after that whole ordeal we stopped at McDonalds. Yay for gut bombs at midnight. We were parked behind a van that was sitting at the ordering thingy forever. We told FIL what we wanted to order & Glenn had to assure him about 5 times that, yes, you could order a 2 cheeseburger meal even though it wasn't on the menu. After waiting for what seemed like way too long, we decided to try the Wendy's across the way. Of course, the van pulled away from the ordering thingy as soon as we pulled away so we ended up turning around and getting back in the drive thru. Good thing to because Wendy's was closed. So the McD employee says "good night what can I get for you?" FIL orders and (very cautiously) asks if there's such a thing as a 2 cheeseburger meal. The McD guy says "you can order now." Apparently he hadn't heard anything so FIL ordered again and again asked about the 2 cheeseburger meal. Pulled through after ordering and waited forever again. The employees were arguing about something inside. Finally get our food and head on our way to the house.


I share some french fries with Beanie who, amazingly, has yet to fall asleep on the ride home. After about two or three french fries she says "No french fry" and hands it back to me. I look over at her. She fell aslpeep mid-handoff.


We get to the house where we are all tired beyond belief. On the way home we were told that sister-in-law had "comandeered our bedroom" and we were stuck on a futon. For the three of us, I asked. FIL had bought a pack and play (which he kept, to my amusement, calling a play and pack) for both Beanie and her cousin. Problem is, Beanie sleeps on a twin bed and spins around in her sleep. There was no way in hell she was going to sleep in a pack and play. I know he was genuinely trying to help and make things work out and I totally appreciated it. I told him we'd figure it out. Well, figuring it out meant Beanie and I slept on quite possibly the most uncomfortable futon in the universe and Glenn slept on the floor. Honestly, I think the futon wasn't really any more comfortable than the floor. Maybe a little tiny bit, but barely.


As soon as we got into the bedroom I heard Beanie's cousin coughing up a lung. Seriously, he sounded horrible. Then I knew we were all going to get sick. Amazingly, I slept. I think it was pure exhaustion and staring at the ceiling that did the trick. Glenn slept too, although he woke up every morning with a horrible back ache.


We were woken up god awfully early by a 19month old banging on the bathroom cupboards. The bathroom was adacent to our room. Okay, seriously, I don't care if you wake up super duper early. And I don't care if you bring your kid into the bathroom with you. But, for crap's sake, at least once tell him not to bang on the fricking cupboard doors because people are sleeping. Just a little common courtesy I would think? But, no, we woke up to banging cupboard doors every morning. Luckily they never woke up Beanie because that would've really pissed me off.


So, its Friday.....

Okay, to be continued....if tonight is anything like the last three nights I'm totally going to crash out on the bed with Beanie while she's falling asleep. If so, at least you can be entertained by chapter one. If not, I'll start writing chapter two :)

The Dirty Thiry: 30 things you may (or may not) know (or even want to know) about me.

So, in honor of my 30th birthday & in no particular order....


30. I bite/pick at my fingernails incessantly. When I was a kid my mom offered me one dollar for every fingernail I grew out. I grew them all out, collected my winnings, and promptly bit them all off.

29. I graduated magna cum laude with a Bachelor's degree in Business Administration. Shortly after I graduated I realized I wanted nothing to do with a career in marketing.

28. Glenn and I hated each other when we first met. About six months later we started dating, 3 years later we were engaged and a year after that we were married. I guess first impressions aren't always everything.

27. I have a third degree brown belt in kung fu. I was getting ready to test for my black belt when Glenn and I both quit (blog post coming someday...I promise Bri!!)

26. I have seen Gone with the Wind (all 3 hours and 40+ minutes of it) over 30 times. I've read the book 4 times and had collected over $1500 of memorabalia when I was younger.

25. I have two middle names, but, no, I'm not going to tell you them. If you're really curious, send me a message!

24. Up until the last couple years I've always gotten along better with guys. Maybe because they aren't all fake and crap (most of the time) and maybe because most of my girl friends when I was younger turned out to be whore-ish and liked to sleep with my boyfriends/love interests. Now that I'm a mom I've found it a lot easier to get along with other women.

23. I danced ballet for eleven years.

22. I gave it up to run track and field in junior high.

21. I used to smoke a pack and a half of cigarettes a day. (Eeew, gross I know!) I first tried cigarettes when I was fifteen and I liked the buzz. My friend said if I liked the buzz I should try weed too.

20. I tried the weed too. Okay, I did a lot more than try.

19. I wrote a comprehensive literature review on the anti-depressant effects of exercise. Its probably one of the accomplishments I am most proud of.

18. I had a natural childbirth with Beanie. It was an amazing experience.

17. I was diagnosed with bipolar disorder at age eighteen, later another psychiatrist concluded it was cyclothymia. My third pyschiatrist concluded I only suffered from depression, with some anxiety. I've been off meds for almost 5 (?) years and doing great!

16. I hate talking on the phone. I'd rather text or email. Its nothing personal. If we're talking in person I'll probably talk your ear off, but, on the phone, not so much.

15. I still nurse my almost 25 month old daughter.

14. I don't believe in God. If you do, great.

13. I lived in the same house from age 2 - 18. I never really realized how nice that probably was until I met Glenn, who moved a dozen times before the age of 8.

12. I hate rollercoasters. You might be able to warm me up to them after a few days at Disneyland, but, really, I'd rather not.

11. I didn't get my ears pierced until I was in my twenties. I passed out. I think the little 16 year-old piercing them for me probably about peed herself.

10. I did Running Start my senior year of high school. If I hadn't I think I might've dropped out.

09. I was one of the top performing dairy managers for my company. I took a lot of pride in my work even though I was just slinging milk.

08. I have an uncanny ability to remember number sequences, like order numbers or old phone numbers. Or my inlaws zip code.

07. I was a huge Civil War buff when I was younger. I went to Atlanta when I was 14 years old to check out old historical sites and Gone with the Wind stuff.

06. I'm a huge nerd. I was over the moon sitting in the university library reading peer reviewed journal articles for hours on end.

05. I've never had cream of celery soup. Okay, not so weird I think but its a joke between Glenn and I. I think it stems from the fact that my mom only bought Home Pride wheat bread when I was younger. I was floored when I started working at the grocery store and learned how many kinds of bread there were.

04. I used to write a lot of stories. When I was in 3rd grade I won a contest at school and had one of my stories, The Biggest Hamburger in the World, bound and put in the school library.

03. I was an avid journal-er in junior high and high school. I wrote pages and pages every day. I think I have about 20 journals that chronicle those years of my life.

02. I had a Barbie room when I was growing up. That's right...be jealous...an actual freaking ROOM devoted to my (and my sister's) Barbies. Probably because we had close to ninety of the damn things.

01. I don't really like my house. At least not as much as I should considering its our new house and we're going to be here for awhile.

Eek! I'm 30!

I was telling my friend Ann how when I was little my aunt threw a surprise over the hill party for my uncle's 30th birthday. Full on with black balloons and streamers and everything. When I was little I thought 30 was so old. Now, not so much! Not at all. I really feel like I have grown as a person in the last few years (thanks I'm sure to Beanie) and even more in the last few months (thanks to a stronger relationship with Glenn). I feel like the best is yet to come. Thirty doesn't seem bad at all :)

And, sorry, I was going to start blogging about our trip last night but Beanie took quite awhile to fall asleep and I just sacked out with her. I think she's got a bit of a bug from being around her cousin all weekend (who was sick and coughing up a lung and his mom not once told him to cover his mouth. Sigh. Anyway, I've been writing it in my head so I'll try to get some of it down while she's napping this afternoon....

We're home, safe & sound.

Beanie did surprisingly well on both flights. I was a little worried when before takeoff today she was already saying "No airplane!! All done airplane!!" but it went well nonetheless. She took a super long nap on the plane, so, while I am completely and utterly exhausted, she isn't ready for bed at all yet.

I have lots of stories to tell about our trip and I promise you they are funny. Um, how can they not be when you are staying with your inlaws??? I'm hoping to get it all into a post tomorrow, but I may have to break it down into chapters (heehee).

Just a snippet....

When we were on the shuttle (I almost typed shittle, see I am tired) to the parking lot today, one of the other passengers (a young girl about six) said "Oh, I hope no birds pooped on our car!" Everyone laughed. Another (adult) passenger said, "I think we all hope that!"

Hmmm....it was funnier in my head? Maybe you had to be there? Anyway, if you want to hear about angels & the shrine, spinach nuggets, GPS, super creepy guy and more just check back soon.

Good night! I missed you ;)

Bummer!

I'm sort of bummed that the craziness that is about to ensue over the next few days might disrupt my whole blog-a-day thing for July. Lame :( Oh well, I'm sure I'll have tons of stories come Monday!

"M & M"

So, for the last few weeks or so Beanie has shown no interest in the potty. After going every morning for about a week-and-a-half, all of the sudden one day she woke up and said "No potty, Mommy!! No Potty!!" I didn't push it. We're not in a rush or anything. Well, the last few days she's started showing an interest again. Basically her interest is to sit there and squeeze out the most miniscule amount of pee you've ever seen and then say "M n M." Smart kiddo knows all she has to do is pee a little and she gets a reward. The other day she peed a tiny bit, got an M & M, and then went to the potty again so she could get another M & M. I think we'll start really giving it a go again early next week after life settles down a bit.

Funk.

*Vent*
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Eh, I'm in a serious funk right now! There are so many things I need to do but I just don't feel like doing anything. Just sitting here and staring at the computer. Glenn & Beanie are playing in the playroom. I've had enough shovel-bucket, ball pit, and dinner time for the morning.

Blah blah. I just feel like there is a big dark cloud over my head. I wish it would go away.

I could at least do the dishes but I don't even know where to start. This stupid kitchen is about one hundred times smaller than our old one and once it gets out of hand it just seems overwhelming.

So, yea, if you read this thanks. And, can you come do my dishes?

Flashcards.

The other day I made these flashcards for Beanie. I've been having lots of mommy guilt lately about the amount of TV she's (or we've) been watching and I'm trying to change that. I've been trying to make sure the TV she does watch is more, um, educational. I've been drastically cutting the TV time down in the morning. Same for evenings. During the day we've been trying to do more activities. Now if I could just get Hubby to turn the TV off during the day too. I know he is winding down after work (and after work is 10am) but still!!

Okay, off that tangent. I made these flashcards. Beanie has been counting to ten, although for some reason she almost always skips seven. She has been counting meaningfully (and by meaningfully I mean actually counting objects) up to 3 or 4. That's why I made the circles on the cards (I just traced dimes), because I want to help her understand that three is more than two, four is more than three, etc etc.

I'm not really worried about teaching all this to her, but she does seem to like numbers and counting so I thought it might be a good activity for her to have fun with.

I do want to laminate the cards. I'll probably just cover them with contact paper so she won't rip them, but the job of getting the contact paper on there cleanly and without bubbles will probably be a difficult one for me! Haha. Anyone want to help me out???

My night.

Beanie finally went to bed around 9. That's pretty late for her. I finally stopped dorking around online around 10 or 10:30 (gosh, is it bad that I can't really remember???) and went to bed. Now I have to put the baby gate up because when Beanie wakes she doesn't just pop right into our room (which would totally make sense because it is right across the hall). No, she books it down into the living room saying "Mama! Mama!" and then getting all upset because Mommy isn't out chilling in the living room. Now, she's only done this twice, usually I wake up before she's up enough to be taking off around the house. But twice is enough that I feel like we have to use the baby gate. And I have a cat, Sam, who is lazy as all get out and won't jump over the stupid gate for anything. He just sits there and whines and meows.

So, of course, last night right before I'm ready for bed he mozies out into the living room. Like, can't he just chill in the master for longer? Nope. So I wait a bit so he walk around and then I pick him up and toss him (not literally) into the master. Put up the gate. Yea, then the stupid cat decides he's hungry so I get out of bed and throw him (again, not literally) over the gate so he can eat. Beanie is stirring around and kicking the wall between her room and the master. Glenn is stealing all the blankets and the pillows. The cat chills out in the rest of the house for a while only to return to the gate and whine and meow and create a stir. Seriously. I've even tried to put a little stool next to the gate so he could hop up there and then over the gate. But no. Sam is the laziest cat ever. So I go out, hurdle over the gate, pick up the cat and bring him into the master. Again. Finally get a pillow and some blankets. Beanie finally stops kicking the wall. I finally (barely) fall asleep when Beanie decides to wake up again.

What a night. After all that I finally got some sleep in. I swear I need to figure something out for the laziest cat ever though...

Sleep Beanie, Sleep.

Why is it that when I go to work Beanie decides to nap super late and then, in turn, stay up late too? *Sigh* Its on these nights that I feel so unlike reading bedtime stories and everything. I just feel like doing nothing. So Beanie has been watching The Good Night Show on Sprout. I hope she goes to bed soon. I'm zonked.

Bubbles.

Isn't it funny how something as simple as dish soap and water can keep a toddler entertained for hours? Okay, honestly, I buy my bubbles although I'm sure they're easy as pie to make.

We got this totally awesome bubble machine at Target. For the second time. The first time around either I put too much solution in or Beanie carried it around (un-level-ly...and, yes, I know that's not a word!) and the bubble solution killed the motor. This thing blows out more bubbles than you can imagine. It is so cool! Beanie loves chasing the bubbles all around the yard. I have been trying to make sure that she only plays with the bubbles, not the machine, so (hopefully) we can alleviate the chance for dead bubble machines again. She was super bummed last time!

I'll try to get some pics later and add to the post. I was going to take some this morning, but my camera battery crapped out so I had to charge it :(

Cookies.

You know, the invisible kind ;)

Tonight after dinner Beanie ran into her playroom and put on her chef hat. Then she wanted the hot pan holder that came with really cool stainless steel pot & pan set her friend got her for her bday. I couldn't find it. Anywhere. So I gave her a couple of mine. She's playing over in her kitchen while I clean off the table. Then I hear, "Mommy. Come. Food. Cookies." I tell her to be patient because "Daddy is in the potty" and he wants come cookies too.

So, after Glenn gets out of the restroom we walk over to the playroom. She has 4 of her pots and pans set up in a nice little row. She says "Mommy, sit. Food. Daddy, sit." So we sit and have some cookies for dessert. They were delicious.

Its so cool watching her learn and develop every day. She amazes me.

Today is grocery day. And other somewhat interesting updates.

Well, today I'm set to go to the grocery store. I've made a list, complete with dinner ideas. Just to satisfy your voyeuristic tendencies *wink wink* (and because I'm hoping maybe you'll share some dinner ideas since it seems we always cycle through the same few dinners) here is what we're having for dinner in the coming week:

--Tacos
--Chicken Cacciatore
--Crisy chicken strip wraps
--Chicken and stovetop
--BBQ Ribs

I don't profess to be doing anything fancy here. The Chicken Cacciatore is in a jar from Trader Joe's. I'm going to fancy it up a little with celery, carrots, zuchini and yellow squash (sssh...don't tell Glenn, he shys away from cooked veggies). And chicken and stovetop? Yea, super fancy. But add some veggies and mashed potatoes and its sort of like Thanksgiving dinner. Just with chicken.

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Beanie has been doing better sleeping on her own. There have been a handful of nights where she's slept in her own room by herself until 3:30 or 4am. Yay! Most nights she rustles around and wakes around midnight. I usually end up falling asleep with her then, although I've been trying harder to stay awake and head bcck into the master. And I can actually fall asleep, usually pretty easily, in the master now. Progress.

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She is still nursing, usually just once or twice a day. Her nursing sessions are very quick, making me wonder just how long our nursing relationship is going to last. Really I'm okay if she weans right now if that's what she wants. I'm also okay with nursing before naps and bed for awhile if that's what she wants. We'll see. I'm sort of taking it day by day right now. Yesterday she didn't want to nurse before her nap, just fell asleep. The same thing happens at night sometimes too. She's been horrible with her latch and a bit chompy (molars maybe?) so I've been cutting her off at night sort of. It takes her longer to fall asleep that way, but I told her she can only nurse if she's going to nurse, not if she just wants to play. She seems to understand. Sort of.

Okay, that's all for now! I've felt like with this whole blog-a-day thing that I haven't really been writing about any Beanie stuff, so I wanted to make sure I actually blogged about some parental stuff too :)

Dresses.

*Sigh*

Big ol' freakin sigh.

Today I went shopping for some dresses for mother-in-law's surprise birthday shindig next week. I found two that I liked (sort of) and ended up buying them. Glenn said they looked great. Me? I'm not so convinced. I've been having a horrible case of bad body image lately. Like everything I put on just doesn't seem to fit right. I had to bust out the box of jeans from the fall after I had Beanie. I'll admit some of them are a little big, but one of the pairs is all I've been able to fit in lately. All of my shirts seem to tight around the belly. I'm just feeling down about it all so it definitely isn't the optimal time to go out and buy some new dresses.

And, logically, I know I'm in pretty good shape and I'm relatively thin. Okay, yea I'm pretty thin. I *know* I'm not going to look like I did three or four years ago when I was training kung fu for 10+ hours a week and I was all muscle. I know that, but sometimes that little voice in my head still beats me up about it. It probably doesn't help to have a mother who, at 55 years old, 5'7" and 125 lbs, thinks she needs to lose weight and weighs herself every morning. I don't really remember her saying anything about my weight/body when I was younger, but I'm sure some of her unhealthy views have someone pervaded my unconsciousness.

So, dress shopping totally sucked. I'm not in love with either of the dresses I picked out. The one I really like feels a bit too tight around the belly for me. Well, not feels too tight but I'm just too damn hard on myself so I think it looks too tight. Plus, it doesn't really seem ideal for a hot Georgia summer day. I might still head out and try to find another. I know I'm already going to be all anxious for this party thing (which I found out today is at a mansion that my father-in-law rented out) so I don't really want to add stressing about how I look in my dress to the equation.

So you know the whole saving money thing??

Yea, didn't go so well last month! We only spent 20 bucks less on groceries (so still an ungodly amount) and spent waaaay too much eating out again too. Admittedly I wasn't really trying at all, so I'm not too disappointed. We did make great strides in saving money on espresso though, we went from spending over 100 bucks to spending less than 40. Woot! Woot!

Our plan for July is to go grocery shopping once a week and to have a list & a plan for dinners when we go. Also, we are only allowing ourselves to go out to eat 4x this month. And everything counts. Like if we want to drive down the hill to DQ for a burger that is one of our dining out times. So far so good on that front. We went out once for breakfast. But we went out with brother-in-law and his girlfriend so it was well worth it. And planned. Not just an on-a-whim-I-don't-feel-like-cooking going out to eat.

Not invented by parents.

You know those insanely huge monstrocities that pretend to be shopping carts? You know, the ones that are cleverly marketed to children and have a big ass car on the front? It is pretty obvious to me that someone who has never been a parent invented those stupid things. I mean, they are a true pain in the butt to drive around the store. Can't take tight turns. Barely fit down the aisle with all the aisle stacks that stores have nowadays. I know Beanie can't be the only child who has the car cart radar on as soon as we get out into the parking lot. I swear I can try to steer her clear of those darn things, but she'll spot them from across the lot. And then all I hear is "Vroooom!! Beep!! Beep!!" Oh and, "No Mommy, why??!?" when I walk past them and strap her into a regular shopping cart. Sure, there are the instances when I cave and drive that idiotic thing around. But every single time? No freaking way! So thanks to whoever invented those silly things for making my trip across the parking lot a little more ninja-like.

And then there's the case of so-called family checkout lanes. You know what the family checkout lanes should have in them? Nothing! Absolutely nothing. Not coloring books and watercolors and snacks. Um, hello??!? That is exactly what Beanie wants when we're at the store. Heck, I'd rather have her eyeing the black & white cover of some trashy newspaper that is trying to tell me that Barack Obama and Michael Jackson had a 2 headed baby alien. I mean, that she isn't even going to give the once over. But coloring books?!?!? Who exactly invented the family checkout lane anyways? Not a parent, that's for sure.

Sorry Bethlehem Pennsylvania, I'm sure when you searched "big ass" late last night you weren't expecting to see a picture of a grocery cart. LOL.

Big Plans.

If you know me, you know I always have plans. Plans of how I can do this or that better. The thing I have trouble with is following through. Right now my plans include (1) Eating better & getting more exercise, (2) devoting more time each day to crafty and/or learning-type activities with Beanie (and turning the damn TV off), (3) saving moola on groceries, and (4) finishing up settling into the house.

Seriously, was I a project manager in some previous life? And why didn't I specialize in that when I got my business degree?

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Work just sucks lately. I mean I used to sort of look forward to my "break" each week. Lately my shifts have been getting longer and my work has been getting more "do this, this and this," which I don't mind too much as long as I'm given time to finish "this" before I have to do "this and this," you know what I mean? I am very thankful that I only work one day a week. I know its a blessing to be able to stay at home with Beanie almost full time. I just am wishing more and more that it was full time full time. I am so exhausted when I get home and I'd just rather sit on the couch and watch some boob tube than be an attentive parent. Seriously working moms, how do you do it? It has given me a greater understanding of how Glenn must feel when he gets home from work (and, at the same time, I think he understands more how I feel too). So, yea, my other "plan" is hoping that Glenn's job gets ironed out and we know what his permanent route will be and that I can quit my job. I miss that time we have as a family and want it back. It doesn't seem like my "break" anymore. And, really, how sad is it that my "break" was going to my paying job? lol. Anyway, instead of sort of looking forward to Sunday each week, now as the day approaches I find myself dreading it more and more.

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Well, onto my plans. Numero uno of the day...a healthy breakfast!

Bleh.

Ugh! I was up LATE last night as the neighborhood seemed to be alive with fireworks until well past the 4th. I got up early and worked all day. Now I feel sort of woozy and just plain yuck. Bleh. I hope its nothing too much. If Beanie goes to sleep at a reasonable hour and I don't fall asleep with her I'll be back later to actually write something meaningful....wanted to write quickly though just in case. I'm not ready to break my streak yet!

Happy 4th of July!

Have a good holiday all my U.S. readers :). Honestly, it barely feels like a holiday for us. Glenn had to work yesterday and worked his down-day today. I work all day tomorrow. Bleh. We are going to a BBQ this afternoon which should be fun.

You know, I must be getting old. And lame. Since we live in an unicorportated part of the county we are in one of the few places where private individuals can legally set off fireworks. My worrying behind thinks some idiot is going to set a firework into our beautiful back yard and light it up. Okay, not really, but it is possible, right? See when I was younger I always thought Man, its so stupid we can't set off fireworks!!! Now I keep thinking I wish people couldn't set off fireworks here. See? Old. And lame. I rest my case ;)

Have a good weekend!!

Book Review -- The Vaccine Book

Today I will review The Vaccine Book by Robert W. Sears, M.D., F.A.A.P.

Let me start off by saying I'm not anti-vaccine. I'm not pro-vaccine either. Beanie is fully vaccinated, save MMR and chicken pox. She'll be getting the MMR shot soon and we're still deciding about the varicella vax. I know whether or not to vaccinate your child is a controversial and very personal decision, so let me say this. I don't really care whether or not you vaccinate your child; that is your decision. I do think that every parent should be informed about vaccinations instead of just going along with them because their pediatrician told them to. That's where I stand. I *wish* I had known more about vaccinations before signing off that Beanie would have the Hep B shot at birth, not because I definitely wouldn't have given it to her (although likely I would've delayed it a little) but because something was being injected into my daughter and I knew pretty much nothing about it. Knowledge is power. So, yea, that's where I stand so on to the book review...

While arguably Dr. Sears leans towards the anti-vaccine front (or at least pro delayed vaccine front), he does an excellent job of providing non-biased information in this book. He starts out with the AAP recommended schedule for vaccinations and then each chapter discusses a vaccine, from HiB to the new HPV vaccine. Each chapter describes the illness and whether it is common, serious and treatable. He then discusses when the vaccine is given and how the vaccine is made. He talks about the ingredients used to make the vaccine and whether or not any of them are considered controversial. There is a section titled Should you give your baby the x vaccine, but Dr. Sears never tells you yes or no; he states the reasons people choose to (or choose not to) get the vaccine and tells you the way he sees it. This thorough discussion ensues for every vaccine he goes over.

The last few chapters go over vaccine research, the ingredients, myths & questions about vaccines, and more. Sears also provides his own alternative vaccine schedule, which does result in full vaccination of your child but splits the combination vaccines up and spreads them out over a much longer period of time.

All in all, I think its a must read for every parent. He discusses vaccines in a manner anyone can understand and, like I said, knowledge is power. At the least, you should know what is recommended medically for your child before you go along with it. Just my two cents.

Park Playdate.

In a little bit this morning we are headed to the park for a playdate with my mom's group. I'll admit I've been feeling a little ambivalent about hosting things lately. One, we've been so busy trying to get ready for Beanie's birthday and, two, I just hate when people RSVP yes and change last minute. Of course, as a mother of a toddler I realize that things come up and sometimes last minutes changes are necessary. As a host of an event though, its a little lame! Last I checked five people were definitely coming and there were 6 maybes. Should be a good group! A lot of Beanie's friends are coming too, which will make for more fun for her (and me too).

Mom's groups are sort of funny. At the beginning they are very intimidating. They can feel clicque-y. The rewards are great though if you put yourself out there. I admit it took me a long time to find a few people in the group that I really meshed well with, and that had kids Beanie's age. I feel like we've found that little niche in our mom's group now and it is very nice!

I've decided to try and get more involved in my AP mom's group too. Thus far, I've only really participated online, but next week I am hosting a park playdate for that group. Good times!

A blog a day...

...keeps the doctor away. Or, in my case, maybe the psychiatrist. LOL. I've decided to try and blog every day for the month of July. Multiple that by 2 blogs and that's 62 posts. We'll see, but I think I'm up to the challenge!

I have a lot of random things going through my head right now, a lot of posts half-written (at least mentally), and a lot of books I want to review. Should make it easy, right? As for Beanie's blog, I'm hoping that a blog a day will rekindle my interest in posting there. And, bonus points, I know the grandparents will eat it up...and probably leave lots of comments that I roll my eyes at.

But, for tonight, I really don't feel like saying anything too important or noteworthy so I think I'll leave you with some random tidbits and updates...

Beanie's carseat arrived yesterday. We had purchased the Britax Marathon from Traveling Tikes and, as talked about in this post it was stolen by some super lame UPS employee. Well, Traveling Tikes shipped a new one to us right away (although I was a bit confused as they said it would come from CA in order to get to us sooner, but it was still shipped from the same east coast location). But, the most important part is that its here! I LOVE it. After learning more about carseats, I don't think I would ever purchase the ones we had before again. I really like that Beanie can be rear-facing longer in the Marathon (important for my 25lb two year-old) and that she can be harnessed forward facing up to 65lbs (which is probably more than enough allowance weigh-wise). Anyway, I would encourage any new parent to really research the car seats out there before just buying any old one. Its something I wish I would've done.

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You know the whole Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus thing? Is it really true? I say yes! I know the anxiety over our upcoming "vacation" is seeping into my every day life. How can it not? I admit my patience has been super thin with Beanie lately and that I haven't exactly been peaches and cream with Glenn either. And I haven't wanted to talk about it with him either. Well, today we finally talked. I just feel like he could really help out a little more and maybe I could have a little space (like even 5 minutes) to myself each day. I know there is the evening after he and Beanie have gone to bed, but (as I tried to explain but don't know if it made too much sense) even at nightttime I feel like I'm "on call." Actually, Glenn used those words so I guess I must've made some sense. As we were talking I gave him an example of something that had made me mad. The other night my friend Jill called. I was mad because my phone must've gone straight to voicemail or something and I missed her call. I was so excited she had called and called her right back! I had just started the bath water when she called. So, I thought saying Oh my gosh, its Jill! I gotta call her right back was enough to let Glenn in on the fact that it would really be great if he gave Beanie her bath so I could talk on the phone. So, imagine my confusion when he motions to me and says "the bath water is ready." Um, yea? So plop her in the tub! Apparently I needed to say "Oh my gosh, its Jill! I gotta call her right back and could you please give Beanie a bath since I'll be on the phone." So, I'm working on being a little more explicit and asking for exactly what I want/need/etc. Mars? Venus? Whatever. Can't he just read my mind?

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I got my first birthday present today! Well, actually the second....my mom brought my presents when they were up in April. But, I got a new phone!! I am so excited because my old phone was really starting to crap out and it was so frustrating. So, yay! I got a fancy new phone with a touch screen and a QWERTY keyboard (which will make texting so much easier!). It was BOGO, so Glenn got one too. Hmmm....if he got a present too can he still count it as my birthday present? Haha!

Well, check back soon. If you don't, you just might find yourself way far behind on my life ;)