Getting To Know YOU!

I'm joining in on Getting To Know You over at Keely's blog today. I saw a few people on my reader had taken part, and now I am too! So, if you're interested, head on over and see what it's all about!

1. Would you rather bungee jump or sky dive?
I would rather do neither. I'm a fan of keeping my feet on the ground and staying inside of moving airplanes. Not only that, my uncle's cousin almost died from a skydiving incident gone awry. They like to tell me that little diddy to keep me from EVER thinking about skydiving.

2. When using a public restroom to you squat over the seat or sit?
I use seat cover followed by a little bit of toilet paper. Public bathrooms are just so gross.

3. Favorite flower?
Roses, in any color. Is that cliche? Oh well..

4. Pedicure or manicure?
I've never had either. I've had the french tips put on, but man they really grind on your nails to get those things on.

5. How many siblings do you have?
I have two brothers. Justin is 23 and Michael just turned 14 on the 24th. I also have a step-sister named Francine. She's 22.

6. Do you pee in the shower? (gasp!)
I did when I was little, but I don't anymore. I'm the one that cleans the showers. I like to keep them clean for as long as possible.

7. Bikini, tankini, or one piece?
I avoid bathing suites.

8. Where do you hate to shop at, but go there anyway?
Wal-Mart. I hate shopping at Wal-Mart. I wish there were other grocery stores around me, I really really do.

Either I'm Losing My Hair Or My Shower Is Trying To Grow It

Grayson will be 4 months old in a few days. To celebrate that, my head has decided that I no longer need hair. To be fair, it isn't rejecting all my hair, but it might as well be!

I have the loveliness known as postpartum hair loss. You're hair gets super thick during pregnancy. After pregnancy, it falls out. I got this with Ethan. They say it's supposed to last 6 months. It lasted 3 years!! THREE YEARS!!! It was horrible. I'd wash my hair, and my hands would get covered in hair. I'd rinse my hair, and huge clumps of hair would fall out and into the drain. When I was done showering, I'd have to dig all the hair that fell out of my head out of the drain. SO GROSS!!! It wasn't so bad after Claire, but then again, I was pregnant again when Claire was 8 months old. Now maybe my hair is just playing catch up and falling out double time to make up for the little hair loss from Claire.

So, I've been trying to figure out if this can cause baldness or whatever, because I am really losing a lot of hair here. I got my Parenting (I think it was in Parenting) magazine the other day, and it had this math equation in it. Something like, count all the hairs in your brush everyday for blah blah blah days and then divide that by blah and multiply that by blah.....WTF? Look, I don't have time to be standing over my bathroom sink pulling hairs out of my brush saying, "One, Two..Okay, divide that by..What am I multiplying? Is there a dry erase marker around here so I can figure this crap out on the mirror?" It's just not gonna happen. I can barely pee alone, I don't have time to count my stray hairs.

I figure that right now it's not much to worry about, but if I start getting super thin hair or going bald, I'm going at a full run to my doctor. The only other bad thing about this is that I need a haircut, but I really don't want to get one. When Ethan was 4 months old, we went to get haircuts because we were going to a wedding. My hair was falling out all over the place when the hairdresser was cutting my hair, and she kept mentioning it. When my she was done cutting my hair, she took me to the wall where all the shampoos and stuff were and started talking to me about this hair loss system for women. I was so embarrassed. I looked her in the eye and said, "I'm not balding, I just had a baby. Thanks for making me feel crappy about what's happening to my body post birth." David refused to tip her. I wish I could cut my own hair.

Flashback Friday: 1986 Was A Year For Chains

Well, I remembered that my grandmother sent me some photo albums not too long ago. I dug through them, and came across this gem. The year? 1986. The month? June. That makes me 3. The leg with the 86 on it belongs to my brother, who at this time was 9 months old. Why am I wearing chains? Well, I'll tell ya.

My grandfather had taken them off of something or other and brought them inside. Me, being my observant 3 year old self, demanded to play with them. My grandfather, never one to deny me, wrapped them around me. My grandma said I wore them until it was time for me to take a bath. Apparently they were the perfect jewelry to match that awesome red outfit and rockin' white sandals. Don't forget that mop of hair. Oh yeah..My style was SLAMMIN' at 3. Thanks mom.

Now, I'm off to nurse a baby who has woken up demanding food over the baby monitor!

Ten Buh-Bye's To You!

Hey, it's Writer's Workshop day. Head on over to MamaKat's to take part. Link up. Read around the blogosphere. HAVE FUN!

Today, I chose the prompt 10 Reasons why you’re better off without him….or her….or it. Let's begin!

When David and I met, he was driving a super fabulous 1991 Ford Tempo. It was 2001. The car had no AC. To roll down and roll up the driver's side window, you had to push it down and pull it up, the windshield wipers had a mind of their own, you had to have the brights on for the headlights to work...It was super. The best part about this car? One of the doors wasn't fond of closing. We had a rope tied onto the door handle and then wrapped around the center console. On the outside, we had duct tape. Jealous? When Ethan turned one, David's dad bought us a new car. It wasn't BRAND new, but it was new to us. Guess who got the tempo? Me. I drove that bad boy for 4 years. In those 4 years I drove it, it was broken into 3 times. Nothing was stolen. Seriously, does it sound like you would want to steal anything from it? It wasn't worth anything. In fact, if I ever wanted to get rid of it, I probably would have had to pay the person taking it! So, here's my 10 reason's for why I'm better of without it.

1) On rainy nights when it rained and I would be driving to work, my windshield wipers would stop working. I would actually have to get out of my car and wipe the windshield down in the rain. I would be soaked when I got to work. It's a good thing I worked nights and didn't have to talk to guests leaving Target.

2) When I would take corners sometimes, I would catch the turn just right that the taped door would lean a little bit and the light would turn on.

3) The trunk had to be held open with a broom. You had to make sure the broom was in there really well, otherwise the trunk would SLAM on you. We always made sure Ethan was NEVER around when we were taking stuff out of the trunk. He was always in the car when we put stuff in.

4) There was no AC, so it was so hot in the summer, and every other month. It was Arizona.

5) If you had to put oil in the car, you could easily open the hood of the car, but if you needed to close it, good luck. You really had to SLAM the hood down. It would literally set of car alarms because you had to slam it so hard.

6) When it rained, the steering wheel would ooze this weird, black tarry crap. It got EVERYWHERE. We got steering wheel covers, but the black hole known as Metrocenter Mall swallowed them up with their shoplifters and car thieves.

7) My friends made fun of it. Enough said.

8) The starter liked to go out. A lot. I got stranded at Wendy's one night. It's a good thing my MIL was babysitting that night. It was actually cold. I stood outside Wendy's freezing my ass off and staring at my car. Good times.

9) The radiator was also not a fan of being in working condition. If Pep Boy's had those punch cards where if you buy 9 radiators you get the 10th one free, we would have gotten a bunch of them free.

10) The straw that finally killed the camel, the engine cracked. It could have been fixed, but we decided to let it go. We called one of the tow companies that pays you for your junk. You know what we got for it? $75...HAHAHA..

If You're In The Mood To Cry, My Husband Can Cook You A Meal!!

Let's take a trip to June of 2002. I'm 7 months pregnant with Ethan. I had a rough pregnancy. Horrible. I had chronic bladder infections. These infections came with no warning. I would wake up in the morning, go to the bathroom and pee blood. And, it wasn't pee with a little bit of blood. It was blood with a little bit of chunks of blood. There was many a time where David was taking me to Urgent Care bright and early in the morning. Our story takes place on such a day.

After we made our trip to the doctor where I spent a good portion of the visit crying in the waiting room, crying in the office and crying at the pharmacy counter, we headed home. I took my medication and took a much needed nap. I guess during this time, David decided to be nice, and went out to pick up things so he could make dinner for me, instead of me making dinner for him. In the past, we'd usually gone out to Denny's or something during this incident. When I got up, David had just gotten home and was all excited about the night's meal. Chicken..Potatoes..Veggies..It was sure to be good. He was going to grill. David does not know how to grill. He plays video games. That's it. He lit the grill. Stared at it. Walked around it. Tried to look like he knew what he was doing. I got bored watching him pretend to strut his stuff with his grilling skills and laid on the couch to watch TV.

About 40 minutes later, he finished dinner, and came back in. We got out plates ready and sat down to eat. It looked like it was going to be REALLY good. I was kinda excited, and that took a lot for me. You see, with Ethan, chicken was my no no food. If I smelled it, ate it, hell, even sometimes even looked at it, there had better be a clear path to the bathroom because I'd probably be having a long talk with Ralph. If David's mom was making chicken for dinner, she usually made something small and different for me. It was that bad. However, this time, nothing bad happened. I kinda missed chicken, so I was OK with this. I grabbed my knife and fork. I poked the chicken. I took a small fork of it. I was about to put it in my mouth when I looked down and noticed that the chicken was bleeding. I looked at my fork. I looked at David. I looked at my plate. I started to cry. I'm not talking little tears. I'm talking full on, shoulder shaking, heaving sobs, cry.

I couldn't stop the crying. I tried. But, every time I looked at my plate, it came back stronger than ever. David couldn't figure it out. It took a good 15 to 20 minutes before I could tell him what the hell was wrong. His chicken had made me cry. He hadn't eaten any because I had started to cry before he sat down to eat. His mom came home at the end of this scene. Can you imagine walking in on that? I didn't think it was funny then, but I do now. David ended up throwing the chicken out and going to the local 24 hour Mexican place to pick me up some tacos. I banned him from cooking anything but breakfast sandwiches. This story is a favorite. Seriously. Someone tells me or my inlaws they know a bad chef, and we're all, "Oh yeah? Let me tell you a story of chicken that made a pregnant woman cry."

So, if you ever need a good cry, come on over to my place. My husband can feed you the chicken that made me cry.

The Outcome Is Cute (And Hopefully Fun), But DAMN This Thing Was Confusing!

We got Claire that kitchen that I want to get her for her birthday. It's the Just Like Me Park View wooden kitchen from Toys R Us. They had a REALLY good sale on it a few weeks ago. It was $70 and usually it's $119. David stopped on his way to work one day and picked it up. I was SO excited when he got home and I saw it. It sat, untouched, in Claire's room for about a week. She's currently bunking up with Ethan. We're moving Ethan into Claire's room since Claire's room is bigger, and we need to fit two kids into it. Since Claire is the only girl, she'll be getting her own room. I finally decided to start putting it together last week. I couldn't use the internet (David and his games). I couldn't watch TV. (David and his games). I didn't have anything to read. (Library hadn't gotten my books in yet). So, I grabbed a screwdriver and a hammer, just in case I needed one, and headed in after all the kids were in bed. I moved some stuff around to give me some space to work, and then I laid the box flat on the floor.Looking at the cover, I was all, "Oh yeah. Piece of cake. I can totally put this thing together!" That's when I opened it.I had a little mini heart attack. Oh crap..What did I just get myself into. Then I calmed myself down, and was back to the, "I can do this!"

Want to know what one of my favorite things about this was? The whole putting together process part I mean. This!
All of the screws and hinges and things you need are in one box in little sections, so you aren't scouring through a baggie of screws and crap and comparing them to the picture and thinking to yourself, "Is this the screw for that?" The screws are also color coded, so when you need screw e, you flip to the front, look for screw e and is says pink, then you grab the pink E screw. That was awesome. I loved that.

As for the directions, I myself found them a little hard to follow. There's no wording until you come to the part where you put the counter on, and even then, it's just, "When you put the counter, holes a and b can no longer be accessed." The rest of them are just numbers, letters and pictures. I was confused and got a couple of parts backwards, but they were easily fixed. Not a big deal at all. Once the base was put together, it was simple after that.
This is the base. This is all I got done on night one.
Night two. It's looking more like a kitchen!
The finished product on night 3. All I had to do was put on the doors and put the rest of the shelves in where the microwave and oven are. I also put in the sink, the towel holder and the shelves.

I think Claire is going to LOVE this. It's really sturdy. After I finished putting it together, I grabbed the towel rack and tried rocking it side to side to see if the wood felt loose and it didn't budge. I did the same thing on the fridge side. I didn't want it to wobble at all, and it doesn't. It does come with wall tethers, so if you want to hook it to the wall, you can. It's still well over a month until Claire's birthday on April 14th, but I can't wait to see the look on her face. Now we just need to get her some play foods and some little dishes and she's all set.

I'd love to get her some felt foods, but I don't think they sell them in stores, and I'm really not that handy with my sewing machine yet. I have lots of red felt fabric that my grandmother sent me, but since my sewing skills aren't up to par yet, I'm saving it. I think my first big sewing venture is going to be a pillowcase dress. They seem pretty easy.

Also, just so you know, I wasn't provided this product, nor am I getting any compensation for writing this. I just wanted you to know what I thought of the kitchen, and I think it's darn cute! I'm sure Claire is going to have a blast with it!

Writer's Workshop: Who says you can't go home?

Ahhhh..Thursday. Writer's Workshop. I love Thursday. It also means only one more day until Saturday. David goes to work on Saturday, but all my kids are home. Anyways, if you want to take part, head on over to MamaKat's, pick a prompt and write a post. Then, link that post up.

Today, I've chosen the prompt “The ache for home lives in all of us, the safe place where we can go as we are and not be questioned” ~ Maya Angelou ~

The ache for home for me lies in two places. These two places are places where I know I will never be judged. They lie within my mother and my grandmother.

My mother has been through a lot. She's seen a lot. She's done a lot. The one thing she's never done though, is judge me, or make me feel like I didn't deserve to feel how I felt. I know that if anything goes wrong in my life, I can pick up my phone, and her voice on the other end will be comforting and understanding. She'll listen. When I talk to her about my father, she gets it. When I told her I was pregnant at 18, she wasn't angry. She wasn't even disappointed. She hugged me and talked to me about my fears. I love my mother, very much. Sure, she wasn't always the best example growing up, we all know that, but she overcame, and she conquered and she's risen to a place above all of that. If ever there was a place where I wouldn't feel anything but love and support, it is with my mother.

Which brings me to my grandmother. She's a wonderful woman who has completely supported me in anything I've chosen to do. She's been a big supporter in all of my dreams, not matter how far fetched. When I was 5, I told her I wanted to be a nurse, and she became my patient. When I was 8, I told her I needed space. She had my grandfather build my brother his own room. When I turned 18, she gave me a key to the house and told me to tell her when I was home. My grandfather had a difficult time with this. She had to convince him that I wasn't six anymore. When I became pregnant later that year, she was initially shocked, but stood by me 100%. If I need her, she drops what she's doing and comes to me in a flash. She's always been there to hold my hand and calm my fears. And, sometimes, there's just no one like grandma.

My Legs Are(not) Sexy....

Yesterday, I came to the realization that my legs are(not) super sexy. They may be a little on the prickly side. They may cut your hand when you touch them. Why? Why would a woman let her legs get like this. Well, here's why. We live in a trailer (AKA Mobile home) and our hot water heater SUCKS. It's horrible. Our hot water lasts about 15 minutes. Showers are taken in that time limit or you'll get slammed in the back of the head with ICE COLD WATER. It isn't a gradual fall from warm to cold either. Oh no..It's that feeling like you've jumped from the hot tub into the pool. I know everyone's done that at least once in their life. It's a shock to your body.

So, reason number two makes reason number one better. I'm just plain lazy man. I don't want to waste valuable shower time on all hair removal remedies. The only person aside from myself that sees my legs all the time is my husband, and in all honesty, I could care less if he thinks my legs resemble that of an apes. I just started showering regularly thanks to Grayson's awesome new sleep schedule, so I'm going to stand and relax in my warm shower instead of rush and cut the crap out of myself while shaving. Maybe I'll sing every once in awhile. Usually something I remember from high school. Mostly "The Water Is Wide". When my shower is done, I congratulate myself on a well performed concert, and continue on my way.

Do I feel bad for not shaving my legs every time I shower? Heck no. I'd much rather enjoy actually getting a warm shower. My armpits are suitable for tank top season, which it is not, but still, they are always suitable. You never know when it's going to get tropical up in here. Which it isn't, because I live in Wisconsin, because it's February, and because there is snow covering my front lawn. So, until it really does decide to get tropical up in here, I think I'll continue keeping my armpits suitable and my legs not so suitable. Hubby can complain all he wants, but I don't see him taking sharp objects to his face.

What's That Smell? Not Me..Because I Can Actually Shower Now!!

So, a few blogs ago, I stated that I couldn't shower because Sir Grayson would want to eat as soon as I set toe on my tile, thus leading to nursing and snoozing. Well, gone are the days of him waking to eat when I want to shower! It's been about 2 weeks now, and I am LOVING my new shower schedule. Shower on Sunday? Don't mind if I do. Shower on Monday? Yes please! Shower on Tuesday? HAHAHA...Yeah right, let's face it. I'm lucky if I get 3 showers in a week. Let's not push my luck here, OK? If I don't make a mad dash to the shower once he's down for the count, I'm probably not making it in the shower today. As a reward for actually getting into the shower I went out and bought myself some new shampoo. Is that weird? Well, I don't really care if it's weird. I'm showering. That's enough of a reason to buy myself something new. Anyways, I bought myself some new Herbal Essences shampoo. I bought the Tousle Me Softly stuff, because my hair is naturally wavy (and mostly frizzy) and I figured this would keep it in line. I also bought he moose to go with it. You know what? It freakin' works! Not that I get to wear my hair down for very long. I do have a baby that has found the ability to grasp things, and my hair quickly became a target. Also, seeing as how I have the wonderfullness that is post-baby hair loss, I like to keep what little hair I have in my head. So, I do my hair, I admire it all nice for a moment, and then I hit my reality check point and pull it up where it belongs.

In other news, we did buy Claire that kitchen for her birthday. That is a whole other story. Stay tuned for that one. It comes with pictures. I like to think it's amusing. You may not. I guess we'll see.

Oh, and Happy Valentine's Day everybody! I hope it was special for you. David started his new schedule today (6PM-6AM) so we aren't celebrating.

Writer's Workshop: This Is Why You Don't Take Girl Scouts To Spend The Night In A Gym!

It's Thursday, and Writer's Workshop is once again upon us! Head on over to Mama Kat's and link up!
It's fun! I love the Writer's Workshop. Today I have chosen the prompt Tell us about that scar...And indeed, I will.

Let's go back to Ocotober of 1996. I was 13. I was in 7th grade. I was in the Girl Scouts. My troop was working on a fitness badge. For some reason, my troop leader thought, "Fitness badge. Well HELL, let's round up a very rowdy group of 13 year old girls and spend the night in a 24 hour gym!" She actually convinced two other troop leaders in our area that this was a FABULOUS idea, and on a Friday night, my grandma dropped me off, gym bag in hand, at my best friend's house to take part in this craziness.

At 7PM, we headed over to meet the rest of our troop, her mother chatting excitedly about how much fun we would have. My 13 year old brain was thinking, OH YEAH..AN ALL NIGHTER!! WITH GYM EQUIPMENT! RAQUETS AND TENNIS BALLS!! YESSSSS!!! One glance at my friend and I knew she was thinking the same thing. Come on..We were 13. What the hell did these people expect? Her mom dropped us off and away we headed with the rest of our troop to the gym.

Now, I can't remember the name of this gym. All I remember is it was 24 hours and we were supposed to be sleeping in one of the aerobics rooms. After we'd put our things in the room we were going to be "sleeping" in, the manager gave us a rundown of fitness and gym equipment and health and blah blah blah. Then, he told us we would be served things for free from the gym bar. You know what a gym bar has? Energy enducing snacks and drinks. Sorry buddy, that was so wrong of you. You just gave a group of 13 year old girls kindling. Nice job.

After a few snacks and energy drinks, my friend and I went swimming, went for a steam (though at 13, we didn't really know what the hell that was) and sat in a hot tub. We had more engery filled snacks. We went to the Raquet ball court, where we bounced balls around the room just to see if we could make them bounce off the walls or glass and hit us. We ran laps around the track. Then, at 7AM, 30 minutes before we were scheduled to leave, we found the creme de la creme. The treadmills.

Now, if OK Go! had had their video back in the day, we might have been trying to mimic it. However, it wasn't. When we saw them, our eyes lit up. We looked at each other with that YESSS!! look in our eyes. We turned on the machines side by side and started a mild jog. We were jabbering and happy. Then, she had the best (aka WORST) idea ever: I should try and jump on her treadmill with her. I was all, "OK." You'd think I would have thought about this, but Noooooo. I got off my treadmill, stood behind hers, and jumped. I ran one, two, three steps as I fell sideways to the right. My right thigh hit the treadmill, and I was thrown against the glass doors of one of the raquetball courts. The guy on the treadmill next to us said, "See, that's why you don't play with treadmills." Uh, welcome to 30 seconds ago. My friend giggled, I giggled and then I was all, "Man, my leg burns..(look)..Man, my leg burns and it's BLEEDING!" We went to our leader, who bandaged me up in time for us to pack up and peace out.

Lesson here: Don't jump on a moving treadmill. Don't take girl scouts to stay the night in a gym. Don't give a group of forty 13 year old girl scouts a night of free energy drinks and energy bars.

Apparently, I'm A Beautiful Blogger, And Now You Are Too!!

My good friend Shea over at Lovin' Every Minute Of It bestowed upon me the super fabulous Beautiful Blogger award. Shea is super awesome. I should know. I'm certified in awesomeness. Or, so I like to think. Anyways, check out this bad boy! Or girl..Whichever you prefer to call it. Also, check out Shea.As with every award, this one has rules. So, please, take a gander!
1. Thank the person who nominated you for this award.
2. Copy the award & place it on your blog.
3. Link to the person who nominated you for this award.
4. Share 7 interesting things about yourself.
5. Nominate 7 additional Beautiful Bloggers.

Now, I get to share 7 interesting things about myself. What to share, what to share?...Hmmm...

1) I can sing. I mean, I really can. I have medals to prove it. I also get extremely bad stage fright, so when I have to sing in public, I sound like shiz. This is also proven by performances I had to give after winning said medals. The medals were easy to win. It was me, a piano player and a judge in one room. That was all.

2) I'm a cat person. I miss having a cat. We got Ethan a dog because he was dying for one. It would have been easy to tell him he couldn't get one because he's allergic, which he is to certain breeds. However, his happiness means more to me than my love for a cat, so we researched hypoallergenic breeds and got him a dog. I don't think I've seen a happier look on his face than the day we picked Teddy up.

3) When I worked nights stocking at Target, I was in charge of cosmetics. It was the best job EVER. Why? Because I love to organize. Big boxes of Cover Girl, Maybelline, Revlon to open all by myself. Lipsticks to put in color categories. Shelves to straighten. Shades of blush to put in proper places. Seriously..BEST JOB EVER!

4) I'm not a "girly" girl by any means. I never wear high heels. There are a total of 3 dresses in my closet, my wedding dress, my senior prom dress and my bridesmaid's dress from my cousin's wedding. I don't wear make-up often (and, in all honesty, I'm not even sure how to put it on!) and I don't really care what my hair looks like on most days. It kind of scares me that I won't be able to teach girly habits to my daughter because I never acquired such habits.

5) I watch crappy shows on MTV. Our current package through Dish doesn't provide MTV, so I watch these crappy shows online. I've been watching Teen Mom a lot. Does anyone else watch this, and if so, does anyone else want to just reach through your TV and rock Farrah in the face with a punch so hard she won't know what hit her?

6) I love crafty blogs. I will read, bookmark and wish that I could be that crafty. I'm really working hard at it too. I'm brushing up my paper crafts so that by the time it's time to start preparing for Grayson's first birthday party I can make my own party hats and banner. Maybe even my own gift bags. I'm also really dedicated to getting my sewing machine figured out (I'm sewing in a straight line..WOO!!!) and I'd love to get my Mod Podge on!

7) After having Grayson, I've come to the realization that my "new" body is here to stay, and I'm OK with that. I've got stretch marks, dimples and extra pounds that I never had before, but I wouldn't trade the little faces, the tiny toes, the curled fingers and the precious giggles that I got as a result for ANYTHING in this world. They are what matters. I can always take a walk to whip myself into shape.

And, there you have it. I don't think I'm super interesting, but whatever. I'm interesting enough I guess.

Well, I don't really know who to pass this award on to right now, nor do I have the time since Grayson is doing the wake up grumble over the monitor, so if you'd like this award, by all means, take it. Leave me a comment letting me know where I can come to rid your list of interest. If no one takes it, well then, I'll leave a list of 7 people to pass it to within the next few days.

Come on SNOW DAY!! And a Parent Teacher Conference

I could really use a two hour delay tomorrow morning. I feel like we're always rushing in the morning. We're supposed to be having horrible weather these next couple of days. This morning I was watching Today and sitting with my nose 5 inches from the TV watching the school closings scroll across the bottom chanting, "Come on Snow day..Come on SNOW DAY..COME ON SNOW DAY!!!" We didn't get a snow day. We barely got any snow here in our town. I hear Minneapolis was pounded though. I want to have lots of snow, and a snow day. Please..Maybe just a delay. That's all I'm askin'!

I met with Ethan's teacher for a PTC on Monday. I think I forgot to mention that. She said he is smart. She's really impressed with him. He's a whiz with math, reading, spelling..Her biggest gripe is of course, his handwriting. I don't know if I ever mentioned it on here, but Ethan has SPD (sensory processing disorder). He was diagnosed with it just after Kindergarten. My uncle, a pediatrician, mentioned something about Aspergers Syndrome to us. Ethan's always been a little squeamish when it comes to anything sensory. Such as, he has a Spiderman bedset. He loves the bedset, but he hates the pillowcase. He can't stand it. Whenever I put this bedset on his bed, he will remove the pillowcase. I've washed the pillowcase over and over to soften it. Nothing. He hates it. He doesn't like the lines in his socks. He doesn't like tags touching his neck. He HATES noise. The radio in the car really bothers him. He doesn't like it when I vacuum or use a blender or use my mixer. Kids with SPD usually have a really hard time with muscles in their hands not developing. Ethan is one of those kids. His hands just never got the muscle control that they needed. We work REALLY hard on his handwriting, and it just never gets any better. There are lots of special tools out there, such as pencil grips and pencil weights, and even special pencils that are made to be held a certain way. We've tried the grips and they didn't work. The weights and the penicls are REALLY expensive. They don't sell them in any stores. You have to buy them online. They also make this special play doh called Therapuddy. It's weighted, so when he molds it, it will work his hand muscles. It's also really expensive. Now, I'm at a loss. Next year in the 3rd grade, he'll be writing on plain old notebook paper. It won't be the huge paper of 2nd grade and grades past. I don't know how I'm supposed to work with him on it. I tried to buy the notebook that had the little squares in it that showed that you could only put one letter per box. Didn't work. Since she told me about the notebook paper thing, I'm kinda freaking out. What if I can't help him with it? Our insurance doesn't cover the therapy he needs, and we can't afford to pay it out of pocket. We've been fortunate that he has had supportive and understanding teachers, but can they really all keep being so supportive and understanding? What if he writes like this forver? What if it never gets better?

I just don't know what to do anymore.

Writer's Workshop: Mommy University..I Have A Lifetime Until Graduation Day!

It's Writer's Workshop day at Mama Kat's. Head on over, check out the prompts and link up. It's fun. If you do it, let me know. I'll stop by and check you out!

Today I chose the prompt: List 10 things you never knew until you were a mom. Let's begin!

1) Every child you have will try and see if an entire roll of toilet paper will fit down the drain at once. Then, after you discover them giggling at the mess, you will get to stick your hand into the toilet to dig said mess from drain and plunge for what seems like hours. This is why it's a good thing to obsessively clean your toilets.

2) No matter how big your house is, there is never enough room for all the crap that comes with having a baby. Cribs, toys, strollers, clothes, dressers, decorations...They take over everything!! EVERYTHING!!!

3) Babies are magnets for strangers in the store. They are also magnets for older siblings. They will ask the one that knows how to talk about their little sister and brother. This will prompt the one that knows how to talk to look at you and ask why that, "Weird woman is talking to me."

4) It doesn't matter how much you clean and organize, your house will fall to ruins within seconds. You pick up a sock, it's replaced with six more. You throw away a broken crayon, it's replaced with 10 more. You clean paint off the fridge, your daughter draws a copy of Starry Night on your wall.

5) Breast pumps should have special labels for engorgement periods. They should be, I Can Deal With It, Wow That's Uncomfortable and OH GOD WHY ARE YOU TRYING TO KILL ME!

6) Invest in wire cutters for birthdays and Christmas. We have a pair. It cuts down those valuable seconds when your kids are standing over you with that rabid new toy look in their eye. Just a snip here and a snap there and the toy is free.

7) If you buy toys throughout the year for birthdays and Christmas during sales and Clearance and stash them in your closet, your kids will find out. Your oldest will sneak in when you are in the closet looking for stuff and come quietly up behind you to casually ask, "What you doing?" while craning his neck to scan the closet.

8) Having a picnic with your kids on the living room floor is fun. Having your daughter steal half your food during said picnic isn't.

9) I always heard 'Sleep when the baby sleeps'. I thought, "Psh..I don't need to do that." Turns out, I did.

10) No matter how many kids you have, your heart will swell to amounts you never knew possible. It feels like it's going to burst whenever you look at them.

Last Minute Project Success!!

Tomorrow is the 100th day of school. Ethan brought home a note of Friday giving us all the details. He needs to bring in 100 pennies so they can weigh, graph and count them. When they are done, they'll be donating all the pennies to the American Red Cross for Haiti. So, all the kids in Pre-K, Kindergarten, 1st, 2nd and 3rd grades are doing this. Not a problem. I put 100 pennies in a bag on Friday and set them aside. Know what I didn't do? Get him working on the project. Tonight, after putting Grayson to bed and starting a load of jeans in the wash, I was rescuing all of Ethan's snow gear off the living room floor and I though, "February 4th..Isn't something happening at scho.....HOLY CRAP!!! It's 100 day. We didn't make a project!!! What the hell are we going to use to make this project!!!" That's when I walked into the kitchen, and I flashed on these essential items:

Animal Crackers!
Goldfish Crackers!Gross, stale Mini Marshamallows in my pantry!

Then I had and AHA moment...A safari scene. Animal (crackers) walking to a pond full of Goldfish (crackers) under a cloudy (marshmallow) sky. I also remembered that we had a piece of postarboard leftover from last years 100 project! SCORE!! I counted out all the pieces and set to getting the glue when Ethan piped in with the "I want to use glitter glue...." I tried to explain that glitter glue probably wasn't the best for this project. I tried to explain he'd probably lose half of this stuff on the way to the bus in the morning. I tried...Did I win? No. Don't try to argue with a 7 year old about stickiness of glittler glue VS Elmer's School glue. You most likely won't win. School glue is boring, glitter glue shines. That's all he cared about.

I set him at the table to get to work on his project. He set to gluing.He glued till everything was stuck..Or something that resembeled stuck. We won't know if anything is actually sticking until he tries to pick it up in the morning. If they fall off, I'll probably be throwing packaging tape on it all. I can just imagine it now..Clouds taped down with huge amounts of packaging tape. Goldfish crushed under the weight of tape. Safari animals with limbs broken off and stuck in obscure places under the tape..Delightful. He had fun making it though. I ordered a day planner off of Amazon. I'm hoping I can get a whole lot more organized with that. Right now I'm frazzled and checking the school website constantly to see when exactly Ethan doesn't have school. I have the Cozi family calendar downloaded, but lately it hasn't been sending alerts to me or popping up important info on my desktop. That kills me!

So, he finished his project. Want to see it?Not too bad!

No Traveling For Us

After a few weeks of price checking Amtrak and flights, I've come to the realization that I won't be making it to Arizona for my cousin's Bat Mitzvah. It sucks and I feel horrible. I went to Molly's, and I'll be missing Madelyn's. If I make it to Hannah's, I feel even more terrible. I really want to go, but there just isn't any way that we can swing it. I miss my family, and I'd love to see them. I really want them to meet Claire, whom no one but my mother has met, and I want everyone to be able to ooo and ahhh over Grayson. Why does traveling have to be so expensive?!

David wouldn't be going because of work. Flights to Phoenix are $892 for the rest of us. Us being myself, Ethan and Claire. I'd hold Grayson. Then, my MIL mentioned a train. I thought it might be cheaper, and that Ethan and Claire would get a kick out of the scenery on the train, so I looked it up. If I don't get a bedroom, tickets are $792. If I get a bedroom, tickets are $2,616. Say WHAT?!! How does that make a $1,824 jump? And, I'd have to change trains in Chicago, and stay overnight in Chicago. Why? Because our train wouldn't get into Chicago until 3:55PM. Our connecting train leaves Chicago at 3:15PM. So, 40 minutes before we arrive, our train leaves. It's a good idea to get the bedroom because there is a door and there is room for Claire to play, it has a private bathroom and the kids can sleep comfortably since the trip to Arizona from Chicago takes 31 hours. Then, the drive from Flagstaff to Phoenix takes 3 hours depending on traffic. I really don't want to spend the night in Chicago. I just want to catch a connecting train. I also don't want to confine Claire to a chair for 31 hours, and only allow her up to go to the dining car. It's just not something I want to put her through. Grayson probably wouldn't care because, well, he'll only be 3 almost 4 months old. Ethan wouldn't care because, hey, he can play video games. But Claire, she can only take so much of the toys and the sitting. I want her to be able to move around. A flight would be much more tolerable for her.

So, I came to the decision tonight that it just isn't feasible for us to make this trip at this point in time. I'm guessing we'll have to plan a trip for next summer, or maybe this summer if we can swing it. I'm sad, and I wish I could celebrate the Bat Mitzvah with my cousin, but it's not going to happen. I hope she has a wonderful birthday (her birthday is actually 4 days before her Bat Mitzvah) and I hope she has a wonderful celebration. If it's anything like Molly's, it's going to be fabulous.