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November 30, 2008
NaBloPoMo 3.30: That's a wrap!
I made it! Thirty posts in 30 days! Some of them were short and sweet, and some relied on pictures instead of words, but I posted daily through two parental visits, a monumental election, my husband going out of town, his knee surgery and a week (in Katie's case, two!) of kid vacation. Go me!
Now maybe I can get back to my life, whatever that is!
Posted by me at 9:18 PM | Comments (2)
Want
HP is giving away $6K worth of computer gear. The touchscreen is making me drool. I'd love a teeny weeny laptop. And a giant laptop. And a printer that doesn't make me curse.
Enter at Gear Live.
And if you win, let me touch your screen. Please?
Posted by me at 2:30 PM | Comments (0)
November 29, 2008
I could, but I won't
Content. Content. Content.
The word has lost all meaning.
I could write about how Owen thinks he will die if he isn't physically touching me. Or about how hard it is to get my chores and Rex's chores done with one hand. The alternative is full time baby screaming. There's been a lot of screaming this last week or two, between Owen being a bit sickly and the attachment thing. My ears hurt a little.
I could write about Thanksgiving, how my aunt, uncle, mom and grandmother joined us for a peaceful day of tv watching, puzzle assembly, turkey gorging and Wii playing. Even my grandmother Wii'd. Hell, she beat me at bowling! I might mention, for posterity, of course, that with a little help from my mom I managed to put together a nice spread, complete with perfectly roasted turkey, and got it all on the table at the same time. Owen slept through his first Thanksgiving feast, which meant I even got to sit and enjoy my meal with both hands.
I could write about my mom and uncle helping me get our tree set up, since Rex can't do the heavy lifting. How we decorated it with the kids today, and how pretty and perfect it looks, all glowing and covered in ornaments filled with memories.
I could write about how I'm thankful for my healthy kids, my wonderful husband, my parents and the mutual adoration between them and my kids, our home and financial situation and so much more I can't even begin. There's really so very little in my life I can point to as bad, in spite of all my bitching.
Posted by me at 10:10 PM | Comments (0)
November 28, 2008
Enchanted
Posted by me at 8:23 PM | Comments (1)
November 27, 2008
Happy Thanksgiving!
Posted by me at 8:18 AM | Comments (0)
November 26, 2008
clean clean cook clean clean cook clean christmas tree pizza eat company's here!
Posted by me at 9:35 PM | Comments (0)
November 25, 2008
Always with the sleep thing
Owen had what I'm starting to call a great night's sleep last night, even though technically it sucks for an eight month old. It somehow led to two awesome naps today, though, so I'm sticking with it for now. He's alternating between snotty and rattley breathing now, so I'm not pushing too hard, although when I put him down asleep and he woke up tonight I did let him cry because holy jesus, the boy needs to learn to put himself to sleep one of these days, since I screwed up and didn't make him learn before he became mobile.
I'm both determined and unsure of myself about this whole letting my baby cry thing, can you tell? It's making me less coherent than usual more than a little crazy.
Posted by me at 10:15 PM | Comments (0)
November 24, 2008
God loves me!
Posted by me at 10:05 PM | Comments (1)
November 23, 2008
Why'd we bother spending all that money on furniture?
Posted by me at 8:20 PM | Comments (0)
PSA
Snot sucks.
That is all.
Posted by me at 10:04 AM | Comments (0)
November 22, 2008
Really, I don't want to have this battle at all
I've decided that I'm going to put metal in Owen's mattress, and sew magnets into his pj's. He's become anti-gravity baby, and while I applaud his efforts at mobility during the day, he needs to lay down and sleep at night. Actually, I'd be ok with him getting up and moving around in the crib if he would do it quietly.
Last night he was walking around by the time I got up there. Later, he spent an hour sitting. There was a little crying, but most of the time he was playing with the aquarium, banging on things, or falling asleep sitting up. I was going to make him lay back down on his own, but eventually I gave in and tried doing it myself one more time. I'm a sucker. Actually, I was tired, and he got all snotty again, and I don't want to have this battle when he's sickly.
Posted by me at 7:39 PM | Comments (0)
November 21, 2008
Blah blah no sleep blah blah blah
I have a weird post to write about how Owen puked in his crib Wednesday night, and not only is it the first time in three kids that that crib has been puked in, but it was also the best night's sleep I've had all week, but my mom is here, so I guess I just summed the whole thing up. The odd part is that even with the puking (and the sitting in it and playing), and getting up to nurse, he didn't cry a single bit the whole night.
Last night sucked ass. He kept waking up, and when I'd go up there he'd be on his hands and knees or sitting or trying to stand up. I'd lay him back down and he'd go right to sleep. After like five tries of that, he stopped going back to sleep. I let him cry, since nothing else was working anyway. He went for two and a half hours. In fact, he cried right through when I had to get the girls up for school. I mean, he cried the night away and right into nap time. He spent a lot of that time sitting up, and I know he can lay himself back down, but he either didn't remember or was too pissed off to care. I figured y that point that he had to figure it out for himself, because I don't want to spend the next 8 months getting up five times a night to lay his ass back down. The last eight of poking a pacifier in his mouth and rolling him back onto his tummy have been bad enough. IT'S TIME TO SLEEP.
Then he slept for half an hour and was back up.
I can't tell you how badly I need a good night's sleep. For now, though, I'm going to ignore the backup on bloglines and eat cookie dough and catch up on my shows for the week. I have company for all of next week, so posting is probably going to be pretty pathetic until after Thanksgiving. Not that anyone would notice or anything :)
Posted by me at 7:38 PM | Comments (0)
November 20, 2008
Nom nom kitty
Posted by me at 9:53 PM | Comments (0)
November 19, 2008
My husband just gave me the thank you I needed on LiveJournal. Weird how we say things to each other through the internet that we can't or won't say in person.
Now I'm gonna go snuggle up with him on the couch.
Posted by me at 7:47 PM | Comments (1)
Public Enemy #1: Cute fluffy bunnies
Posted by me at 7:32 PM | Comments (1)
November 18, 2008
When did she lose her baby face?
Posted by me at 8:55 PM | Comments (1)
I'm totally making this all about me
Yesterday? It pretty much sucked. I had about eight different things to do or be at, and I got my schedule stacked up like a nice house of cards. It was perfect. As long as everyone did their part.
Yeah, right.
I'm not sure if I mentioned anything about Rex having knee surgery. Something about his ACL and cleaning up his cartilage. I can't tell you how much I've been dreading this. Him being drugged, doing his chores along with mine, waiting on him hand and foot, him not being able to help out as much with the kids. My stomach was starting to hurt on Sunday when I realized it was really going to happen.
So Rex told me he was supposed to be at the hospital at 10, surgery at noon. I was originally going to hang out there and wait for him, but then decided it made sense for Katie and I to skip out at 11:30 for gymnastics, since by then I wouldn't be able to see him or do anything, anyway. Then we put off talking to the neighbor about picking Jamie up from school for so long that I was going to have to come home and get her, so basically I'd just pick up Rex when he was ready to come home.
Yeah, right.
Just before Katie and I took off, the nurse told me that Rex was supposed to be there at 6, so they were really working him in, and he likely wouldn't go to surgery until 2. She was guessing he'd be ready to pick up at 4:30ish. Uh, fuck. But ok, the kids and I will just hang out at the house a little longer. At least I'm not going to have to keep three kids entertained in an outpatient waiting room all day.
After gymnastics, Katie and I got lunch at Sonic, then picked up a few groceries was a seriously undernapped Owen at Target. At home, I started taking care of all the crap I needed for the next day. Making mini cornbread muffins and rolling turkey rolls and prepping dinners. At 4:30 I hadn't heard anything, so I called to see what was up. The nurse told me he was in surgery. What? It was only supposed to take an hour and a half under the knife, he should totally be done by now. I don't know why I didn't ask more questions, but I assumed he had started late, and was partway if not most of the way done.
I went ahead and fed the kids, and then at 6, we got in the car and I called the hospital. He was just coming in from recovery. Fuck. I'm supposed to have Jamie at the School Board meeting to give the pledge at 7:15, and they're telling me he might possibly, maybe, be ready to go at 6:45. I tried to get hold of a bunch of people to get Jamie a ride and/or let them know she wasn't going to make it (Sorry, Jamie's teacher. I'm sure you don't give out your phone number for a reason, but Google knows all), and then we headed out.
Luckily Rex recovered fast, because we shoved him into the van and set out for Jamie's meeting. I think we left there at 7:05. We pulled into the education center at 7:29, and Jamie, Owen and I booked it inside just in time for her to pledge her allegiance. Then we jumped back in the car and headed back into town to drop off Rex's prescription. By this time I have a headache that's so bad I'm starting to feel nauseous. Get home, get Rex and the girls into bed, feed poor exhausted Owen dinner and get him to bed, and then I have to run back out and get Rex's Vicodin. If I weren't nursing Owen, I swear I would have popped one on the way home.
In my already pissed off and pained state, I figured I'd sleep upstairs where I wouldn't be able to hear Rex snore. I know it's not his fault, but listening to him snore when I can't fall asleep tends to make me want to punch him in the head, even when he's all pathetic and injured.
Today was at least as busy as yesterday, but waaay less stressful. Jamie had fun at her Daisy meeting, even though I couldn't be there, and Katie did an awesome job in her music program at school, even though it was just Owen and I cheering her on.
Tomorrow, I'm totally scheduling a nap.
Posted by me at 8:14 PM | Comments (0)
November 17, 2008
Loves a good sale
Posted by me at 8:41 AM | Comments (0)
They owe us
Last night Rex and I recklessly stayed up an hour past our usual bedtime. As punishment for our folly, the kids staged a sleep coup for the hour and a half after we turned the lights out. Owen didn't get the message, and after a brief night, resumed his attack.
Katie started off with crying (something about her knee). Then Bubba puked beside the bed (he may not like the kids, but he's always up for a fight, no matter who's being attacked). Just as I was recovering from the adrenaline surge from leaping out of bed to catch cat vomit, Owen was up. Then it was Jamie's turn, quietly coming in to tell me she wet the bed. After filling her reserves by sleeping through a sheet change, Katie was up again (pink bear was missing). Then it was Owen's turn. Then Owen again.
I'm fairly sure we earned ourselves an extra year in a nice nursing home.
Posted by me at 8:31 AM | Comments (0)
November 16, 2008
Officially a Daisy
Posted by me at 8:34 PM | Comments (0)
Woe is me
So. The boy started crawling on Thursday. He wasn't really getting anywhere, but he figured out the move hand, move knee sequence. Then he'd flop down and cry for someone to come do it for him. Cause he's lazy like that.
He's been making a little more progress every time he tries this whole locomotion thing, and he's at the point now where he he can get to what he wants within a limited space. He's not doing laps around the house yet, but at his current rate of learning, I won't be able to outrun him by, say, Wednesday.
Almost more disturbing is his ability to cruise. He would much rather locomote on his feet, and he's gotten quite good at pulling up. He easily makes the transition from one prop to the next, rarely pausing to think about the dangers of letting go. In fact, if I reach down to pick him up from standing, he'll let go with both hands to reach up to me. And the scooter that freaked him out a bit last week with it's ability to slide out from under him has become a useful tool to get from the Leap Table to the coffee table.
As much as he dislikes crawling, I'm thinking he's going to keep putting his energy and efforts into this walking thing.
Help me now!
Posted by me at 8:22 PM | Comments (0)
November 15, 2008
I'm taking Cake Balls
Tonight is our street's semi annual block party, which explains why it's so freaking cold out.
I really enjoy getting together with the neighbors, but it rarely happens. I don't know when we became so busy that it became hard to find a few minutes to go outside and play with the neighborhood kids, but it seems like you can't just go knock on your friends door and expect her to come out and play anymore. Everybody's always got somewhere to go or homework to do.
I'm finally going to appreciate summer vacation for what it is, a break from the routine.
Posted by me at 10:07 AM | Comments (1)
November 14, 2008
NaBloPoMo 3.14: Conspiring
I've been having some serious connectivity issues lately. I always thought the Mac was surfing a bit slow, way back here in my office, but lately I'v been getting about 20 seconds of surfing for every 10 minutes of refreshing. I'll admit, I like to spend time back here with my electronic babies, but not futilely hitting refresh until a single page finally loads, and then trying to move onto the next to get it refreshed before my packets get sent off into oblivion again.
Then again, it seems like everything I do is futile, lately. I swear, I tell the kids the same things over and over, obviously without results or I'd shut up and move and nag them about something new. Isn't the definition of insanity doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result? That's also the definition of how to teach your kids manners. No wonder i feel like I'm going insane.
Speaking of insane, I got Wii Music the other day. At the time, I was hoping to interest the girls and get them off my back, and it's music, right? Can I call it culture if they learn it from a video game? They weren't too impressed at the beginning, mostly because it's a lot of tutorial stuff to get you going, and it's hard to teach them when I don't really know what I'm doing myself. They've asked for it the past couple of nights, though and will "play" some of the games with me. As in, I have a controller, and they watch.
Amusingly, I can't really tell who's playing what part and how badly in the Jam sessions (although the resulting "music" is horrific), but Jamie keeps going on and on about how good she is. Now that I think about it, she might not be half bad at the drums/percussion, since she apparently has rhythm, despite her complete lack of tune. I can't really tell, though, because the sound of six different instruments being played less than perfectly is my definition of hell. I've discovered in the last five years that I'm somewhat sensitive to sound, and that too much or the wrong kinds drive me absolutely batty,
Information that would have been useful to me prior to having kids.
Posted by me at 8:54 PM | Comments (0)
November 13, 2008
Awwww
I knew there was something cute I wanted to write about yesterday.
On our way home from Target, Katie started talking about what she wanted to get my dad for Christmas. I asked her if she had any ideas, and she said she wanted to get him a buddy (what we call the kids' lovies). Because she didn't want him to be lonely.
She wants to get him a blue bear, just like her pink bear, but, you know, blue.
Posted by me at 9:25 PM | Comments (0)
November 12, 2008
NaBloPoMo 3.12:Unmotivated
I'm in bad mood, and I don't feel like talking about it. Suffice it to say, I've been a bit touchy, and my kids haven't figured out to stop poking Mama when she's in a mood. I don't really want to complain about them, especially when of all the bad behavior today, at least half of it was probably mine.
I'm having a hard time focusing on anything else, though, so I think I'm going to abandon my computer for the night (it's not you, it's me, baby) and throw down some more mood stabilizing chocolate.
Posted by me at 8:52 PM | Comments (0)
November 11, 2008
NabloPoMo 3.11: On my own
Rex and my dad left this morning for the airport, heading off to opposite coasts.
I got left in the middle with the kids.
I've done this before, and for longer. I'm not scared this time. I know I can handle it. In fact, it should be easier this time, since Owen is in a better place, and the girls are back in school.
Mostly, I'm annoyed. Annoyed that I'm going to have to get my ass out of bed at 6:15 and get up and feed the girls breakfast, and then put pants on and walk Jamie to school. I'm a big fan of more sleep, y'all.
I'm not gettin' it.
You'll find me on the couch after 8pm all week, eating frozen cookie dough to numb the pain.
Posted by me at 8:07 PM | Comments (0)
November 10, 2008
NabloPoMo 3.10: But a housekeeper wouldn't be a bad idea
I'm not the cleanest person on the planet.
I mean, I'm no Pigpen, but I'm not exactly obsessed with dusting my baseboards, and I refuse to scrub a perfectly clean toilet just to say I've cleaned it within the last week. I vacuum, I wipe down surfaces, and when the tiny hand-shaped smears on the windows begin to obscure my views, I've been know to break out the Windex.
Yes, things have gotten away from me on occasion. But a scummy shower door isn't going to give anyone food poisoning, and whether I clean it or not, scum is going to continue to build. Cleaning just strips away the foundation. I do not, however, generally let things get so nasty and funky that they start to smell. On the off chance that something does smell, I get right on it.
Which is why I have been so confounded by the downstairs guest bath. I cleaned that bathroom two weeks ago. I know because I specifically swabbed it down before the Daisy's came. A couple days later Katie dropped a bomb in there that was ridiculously foul for one so tiny. And the smell never. went. away.
How is that possible?
I went back into the bathroom searching for a stray dollop. I put my (not unskilled) nose to work looking for whatever rotting chunk of detritus was creating a stench strong enough to waft out of the bathroom and accost me every time I walked back to my office.
I found nothing.
A week later, and I have had my husband and father both sniffing around, looking for what I obviously missed. Nada. Not the cat water, not the trash can, not the potty ring.
Tonight, I went back into the bathroom with cleaning supplies. It's time for the Daisy's to return. I took the potty ring off the toilet and sprayed a killing layer on it's underside, and set it in the tub. And that's when I noticed the smell got stronger.
Apparently, we use that tub so infrequently that the p-trap dried up and funky sewer air has been making it's way into our home.
Posted by me at 8:58 PM | Comments (0)
November 9, 2008
NabloPoMo 3.9: Breakthrough
Jamie got a two wheel bike for her 5th birthday. Rex and I debated whether we should let her start out with training wheels (can ride from the get-go, less whining/work for us) or suck it up and make her learn to ride right off the bat (more work at the onset, but won't have to overcome the dependence). After talking with a friend (Hi, Becky!), we decided to go big-girl style.
Anyone who knows us or has read this blog for a while can probably figure out why we were a little apprehensive about going this route. Jamie doesn't take direction well. She can be whiney and wussy and just a wee bit argumentative.
And she was.
But she was also motivated. Even though lessons often ended in crying fits (sometimes for both of us), and progress was slower than I expected, she kept on trying. After a minor spill that resulted in frustrated tears, I asked her if the ride was worth the fall, and she surprised me and said that it was. I fully expected her to give up, but she got back on and tried again.
We haven't been very consistent about getting her out to practice. Life is busy and it seems like a lot of things have to happen just so to have the time, temperament and available bodies present at once. First she mastered pedaling in a straight line. Dismounting, braking and finally big sweeping turns followed. Today, out with my dad, she figured out starting off on her own, and can do tighter turns and figure 8's.
She's so proud of herself, and I'm so proud of her. She's falling without crying, trying without fighting, proud of her accomplishment without a single "but." The breakthrough has nothing to do with riding a bike, and everything to do with finding out who she is and what she's capable of.
Posted by me at 10:19 PM | Comments (2)
November 8, 2008
NabloPoMo 3.8: Anyone else noticing a theme?
Another quick post, because I got almost no sleep last night, and I want to get in bed now so Owen can wake me up sooner.
Owen is congested. Not so much that he can't breath, just enough that you can hear him snurgle sometimes when he's sleeping. Apparently, this translates into an inability to let me sleep. He made up for his restless night by napping about 20 times today. Let's hope that doesn't keep him up all night tonight. It's Rex's turn, but the crying still keeps me up.
Katie got to wear her sparring gear and spar for the first time today. Cuteness abounds. She's so tiny and cute, it's hard to take her punches seriously.
Posted by me at 10:03 PM | Comments (0)
November 7, 2008
NaBloPoMo 3.7: I need a nap
Last night was good, Owen only got up the one time. I no longer feel like I got punched in the face today. I feel more like I got punched yesterday or maybe even a couple days ago. My blood donation bruise is surprisingly small considering the way my arm felt yesterday.
And yet I'm pooped. Wiped out. Ready to sleep for days and days.
My dad, Katie, Owen and I ate lunch at Jamie's school today. Dad and Katie decided to be brave and buy a school lunch. I've seen the school lunches, and I'd rather not think about my kid eating that kind of food. Sure enough, the meat in the burger didn't really taste any different from the bun.
There wasn't enough room near where Jamie was sitting for all of us, so I got to sit with Jamie and her friends while Dad and Katie ate at the other end of the table. I think the other kids talk to me more than Jamie does, most of the time. It's sort of odd. Also sort of cool, since the other kids treat me like a rock star. Quite a change from how my kids treat me!
Posted by me at 7:45 PM | Comments (0)
November 6, 2008
Berries and barbs
Posted by me at 8:29 PM | Comments (0)
NaBloPoMo 3.6: Mustn't give in to the pain
I've taken a bit of a beating today. It started with a lot less sleep and a lot more crying that I prefer in the middle of the night. I have no idea why Owen was so awake, but I'm fairly sure I still had the crib rails imprinted into my forehead midmorning. It's hard to hum on key when you keep falling asleep in the middle of the song.
Then this morning I had to put off my blood donation appointment to have a partial crown put on. A few days ago, a big chunk of one of my fillings popped out, and the hole was causing me some trouble, in spite of the actual break being painless. That hole was a food attractor, and the resulting pressure and overflossing were quite bothersome. The repair itself only took and hour (although I was at the dentist for almost two and a half) and was fairly painless, but now that the novocaine has worn off, the side of my mouth is a bit raw and sore.
After coming home and acquiring both kids, we took off to finally give a pint of the good stuff. The techs kept asking me if I was ok, which I know is standard procedure, but they seemed to ask a little more than usual. One of them finally told me I looked like I had had a hard day. Until she said that, I hadn't really thought about it that way. Of course, now that one side of my face hurts and my opposite elbow pit burns a bit from the pressure bandage, I'm starting to feel a bit pitiful. I think I'm going to go sit on the couch and veg a while.
Posted by me at 7:55 PM | Comments (0)
November 5, 2008
Stacked
Posted by me at 9:05 PM | Comments (0)
NaBloPoMo 3.5: First time all day I've had a minute to myself
This will be short, because my dad is here for a visit, and I want to watch him learn to play the Wii.
My neighbor's kid locked herself out of her house for half the day today. She was in tears when she came over. Of course we invited her in. She's really sweet kid, totally offered to help me make dinner, played with my kids and was just generally better-than-well behaved. We finally came up with a way to contact her mother as we were putting our girls to bed. Three and a half hours and her mom didn't even know she wasn't home.
I'm at a loss for words.
No, I'm not. But I'm not going to go off on a rant here, because I think what I have to say is more properly said to the mom, first. And I'm not sure I'll take it up with her, but I'm sure to rant about it here if I do.
Posted by me at 8:55 PM | Comments (1)
November 4, 2008
NaBloPoMo 3.4: Where I avoid talking about politics
Just a quick update so I can get back to watching the votes trickle in. Why I can't just watch a movie and get all the results in few hours is beyond me.
Owen has been cruising for a week or so now. I mean, totally wandering around as long as he has something to hold onto cruising. He tries to pull up on everything, but up until recently he most often ended up on his knees instead of is feet. He's been purposefully going from sitting to his belly (although more often going *mostly* to his belly, then returning to sitting), but until today had only gone from flat on his belly to sitting once or twice. Today, I watched him do that trick deliberately a few times.
The one thing he won't do? Crawl. He gets up on his hands and knees. Sometimes he straightens his legs and gets up on his toes. He cries and screams and screeches unhappily. He does not, however, move.
It's been a few weeks now that I figured he could crawl any day now, or he could wait a month. Apparently, he's going to wait a month. But it's looking dangerously like he's going to walk soon after.
Posted by me at 7:30 PM | Comments (0)
Glisten
Posted by me at 6:06 PM | Comments (0)
November 3, 2008
NaBloPoMo 3.3: It's a wonder I can even blog on this thing
Rex is having knee surgery later this month, so he's dropped out of TKD for the foreseeable future. This has the unexpected benefit of buying me some free time tonight, since he's able to take Owen along for the show.
Being left with surprise free time is strangely stressful for me. What to do, what to DO? Do I fritter the time away on me, watching DVR'ed shows and vegging on the couch? Spend two hours busy on the computer getting absolutely nothing of value done? Clean the kitchen, weatherstrip the air intake vents, declutter? Get some actual work done? Blog?
My to-do list is so long, it's hard to pick any one thing. Also, I've taken care of all the easy stuff, so what's left requires actual effort and/or brain cells.
Tonight, I decided to be responsible and do actual work for my friends site (that I actually get paid for!) As usual, completing this simple task has turned into an epic saga with no end. How hard can it be to crop six pictures and upload them to an established gallery?
Nearly impossible, since I'm still unfamiliar with my Mac. First, I accidently moved my downloads stack into a folder. A folder that I thought was empty, but either wasn't, or I accidently moved a whole shitload of other stuff into it by accident as well. I just left that alone and went on to import the pictures I needed to work with into iPhoto. Modified, exported, easy peasy. Next step, going to the site, logging into gallery, and uploading. Except the upload window refuses to show up. I allowed pop-ups, went to another subalbum and confirmed that *some* pop-ups work. WTF?
I boot up my poor belabored laptop and test uploading there. No problems. I still have no idea if this is a setting problem, a Safari issue, a Gallery glitch, or user error.
I need to get this done, so I'm going to end up emailing the pictures to my laptop and uploading them from there. This whole process makes me feel like a moron.
Any clues?
Posted by me at 7:48 PM | Comments (0)
Suburban repeat
Posted by me at 7:47 PM | Comments (0)
November 2, 2008
NaBloPoMo 3.2: I'm putting a hit on whoever came up with Daylight Saving
Last week I heard some news person mention that this weekend everyone would get an extra hour of sleep.
That person obviously doesn't have kids.
Owen was up at 5:20 this morning. At 5:45, Katie started crying. I think she smacked her knee into the wall. Of course, she's usually up before dawn no matter how much she needs more sleep, so I didn't hold out much hope of her nodding off again. And naturally, her crying woke Jamie up, and she's not so much a sleeper in, either.
We have this rule that the girls have to stay in their room until 7. In Rex's mind and mine, this also means staying in bed and being quiet. I'd be ok with quiet whispers if they're both awake, but the key here is that everyone else in the house should be able to sleep. The girls are either completely unaware of that part of the rule, or they just don't give a damn. I'm going with not giving a damn. On rare occasions, we can convince them to stay in bed until 8, bribing them with the promise of a "special breakfast."
So the girls have been upstairs squeaking and chattering and giggling for an hour. If I were actually getting to sleep in, I would totally be laying in bed fuming, plotting their demise. Then, Katie tried to come downstairs at 6:30 saying she slept in, can could they have a special breakfast. HA! I sent her back upstairs for another 30 minutes of not sleeping.
Naturally, I got Owen back to sleep about five minutes before the girls came downstairs.
Extra hour of sleep my ass.
Posted by me at 6:59 AM | Comments (1)
November 1, 2008
The royal family
Posted by me at 9:45 PM | Comments (0)
NaBloPoMo 3.1: And so it begins again
It's the first day of NaBloPoMo, and I'm already speechless.
I know, right?
Aren't y'all in for a treat. Thirty days of forced writing.
I guess I can start with a little Halloween update. We had a good time last night. We hooked up with one of Jamie's classmates and her family. It was great, because the kids took off in one big herd and I got to talk to their mom, who is someone I really like (so far. I mean, I'm not a stalker or anything, but I'm totally ready to go to mommy third base with her.) We had gone a bit farther than I really planned before we hooked up when Owen started getting tired and hungry, and the littlest kids were pooped, too. I think they had totally been running on herd adrenaline, but they were running out of steam. I took Owen, Katie, and D's littlest home, and Jamie got to beg for candy a while longer with her friends.
We made it through the entire evening without any crying, whining, or tantrums. Amazing.
Apparently, we live in a much nicer neighborhood than I thought. The candy was all first class, primo, don't wanna give that shit away high quality. I'm glad we gave away the good stuff, too. I don't want to be the trashy house that gives away the nasty generic mix! We had lots of kids, too, and gave away every bit of the candy I had bought, minus the 10 pounds I ate before Halloween, of course.
The house is covered with sparkles. I got sparkle hairspray for the girls' costumes, and it's on everything. Kind of makes the whole house feel special. I'm fairly sure we'll still be finding glitter the day we move out of this house, be that in 10 days or 10 years. It goes nicely with all the cat hair.
To top off our evening, Owen only woke up once last night, for his usual feeding. I can't remember the last time one of us didn't have to get out of bed to repacify Owen, or get up early early early and spend an hour trying to get him to sleep until a decent time, only to get him back to sleep as the girls wake up. In fact, I think he's slept solid from his feeding on for most of the last week, which means Rex should be feeling rather refreshed. Of course, Owen's been off all day, so who knows what tonight holds.
Stay tuned for tomorrow, when I'll expound on topics like cleaning, cooking, and children who need more sleep!
Posted by me at 9:44 PM | Comments (0)