It's 11:36PM Here In Wisconsin And I Can't Sleep!

I've got me a good little bit of insomnia. Grayson should be up in about a half hour to nurse and go back down, so here I sit on pins and needles. Oooo..Exciting. Wanna hear a story? Of course you do. In all honesty, I really don't know what made me think of this. I was just thinking of it today, and decided to tell it.

I was raised by my grandma. If you've read before, you know what grandma I'm talking about. If not, well, please let me explain.

My grandma is in her 60's. She has gray hair. She is gay. She loves basketball. More than basketball, life itself and her sanity, she loves Shaquille O' Neal. Am I joking? No. Seriously? Yes, seriously, she loves the man. Want to know about her dedication to this man?

When I was 15, Taco Bell started promoting this double decker taco. It was some spicy cheese crap on a soft taco wrapped around a crunchy taco. I admit, I ate a couple of them. They weren't great, but they weren't bad either. Why did I keep eating them if I wasn't a huge fan? You'll see.

A few weeks after they started promoting this taco, Shaq started showing up on TV eating the taco. My grandma went bonkers. We started hitting Taco Bell drive thrus like it was the only thing to survive a nuclear war. She would grill the poor window workers about Shaq items while cars waiting behind us for 5-10 minutes, me slumped as low as I could get in the passenger seat hiding my face. About a week later, life size Shaq posters and cardboard cutouts showed up in Taco Bell windows. Grandma LOST HER FREAKING MIND!

This is where it gets fun. You see, about a month after that happened, Taco Bell started to end their Shaq sized promotion. My grandma knew there MUST be a Shaq cutout and poster somewhere and we were on a mission to find it. We drove to different Taco Bell's ever night looking in..(wait for it)..DUMPSTERS trying to find my crazy, Shaq loving grandma her life size Shaq memorabilia. After 2 weeks of searching, BAM, we found a poster. I've never seen my grandma move faster than she did that night. There was screaming, dumpster diving and more screaming.

Two years later, when Shaq was playing for the Lakers, my grandma took that poster with her to the game. My grandma shows up early for games in the hopes of catching the players attention for autographs. Seriously, not joking. She would drag me to games at least 3 hours early so she could wander around court side and "accidentally" bump into a player, strike up a conversation and get their autograph. She waved it around like a mad woman and a bunch of Shaq's team mates were laughing at him...And probably my grandma. When the games are over, my grandma will walk as fast as she can to the exit that the players take after the game. She waved her poster around and screamed some more. She didn't get an autograph. I hope someday she does though. She is dedicated to this man. When he moves teams, she moves right along with him. She worships him. He is a basketball god.

Stay tuned and I'll tell you about the time Shaq Lovin' Grandma almost made my boyfriend pee himself.

Sore Throats And Clear Lake Days

This free moment to blog is brought to you by two sleeping kids, one reading kid and a hubby engrossed in DVR episodes of new Futurama that we watched yesterday but he is watching again.

On Tuesday I took Grayson to the doctor. His crying didn't get much better, nor did his eating. I had to take all three kids, but surprise surprise, Claire was actually CALM! For real! She didn't start crying until he took Grayson to put him on the exam table, and then she only started because Grayson was crying. Grayson has started to cry when someone aside from my self or David holds him or when I walk around somewhere where he can't see me. Anyways, Grasyon started to cry, and Claire got concerned, so she started to cry. After a quick look at Grayson, he told me that Grayson has a very red and very swollen throat. He said it's not from reflux and he doesn't think it's strep, and that the swelling was what was causing all of our problems with nursing and sleeping. So, we were on a strict ibuprofen schedule for the past few days to try and get the swelling down, and then as needed. After the first full day of ibuprofen every six hours, he was much happier. More smiles, less tears. Yesterday was our first day on an as needed basis. He was not as happy. The screaming came back full force today. He's sleeping a little better, but not as well as he was on the ibuprofen. He said to wait a week to see if the medication has any real effect. If not, to come back in. I've still got my fingers crossed. Hopefully we won't need another appointment.

In other news, Clear Lake Days is in full swing. What is this you ask? Well, it's a town celebration. A small carnival comes to town and sets up shop just up the hill from our house. We go every year. Every year, it rains. Every year it's an utter rip off to buy anything but food. Plus side this year? They sold unlimited ride wristbands that were good for 3 hours for $13. We got Ethan and Claire each a wristband. We had to shell out another $10 for 4 extra tickets because one of us needed to go on the carousel with Claire (me). The other three tickets we ended up using on Claire before we decided it was a bigger bang for our buck to just get her the wristband. My SIL and my niece came with us, as they do every year. However, Makayla just wasn't doing the rides. She cried every time Kim put her down and buckled her in. Ride of choice for Makayla? Carousel. Claire was brave though, and I got some wonderful pictures of her enjoying her first non-carousel rides.

Grayson wasn't much interested in anything but chewing on his fingers and playing with the straps of his stroller.

It was very fun. Except for the rain part. We did, however, get all of our use out of the bracelets and made it home just before all the thunder and lightning started and they shut down the rides. Good times had by all!

Happy Father's Day Hubs!

His name is David, and he's awesome. Sure he has his moments of ultimate annoyance (socks on the floor!) and he plays more video games than a 14 year old boy, but he works hard. He works hard so I can stay home with our kids.

He loves our kids. He makes them laugh. He plays games with Ethan, he listens to Claire's "guitar" (aka toy guitar) solos and when Grayson is crying, he makes him giggle.

Claire is such a daddy's girl. I always say that instead of just the one finger, she's got David wrapped around her tiny fist. Whoever she dates is going to have to really work to impress her daddy.
Happy father's day honey! I love you!

And Then She Went Swimming....In The Toilet!

Oh yeah..That's happening. Now here's the back story on this little gem.

Today, before my SIL and my niece came over for a visit, I took Claire into the bathroom to brush her teeth (AKA fight the two year old for control of the toothbrush), and clean the toilet and wipe down the counters. When we were done, I forgot the cardinal rule of living with a toddler: SHUT THE BATHROOM DOOR!!! It wasn't a problem while my SIL and my niece were here. Claire spent a good deal of time saying, "Good job!" while running back and forth across the living room and playing PBS Kids on the computer. I chatted with my SIL. Grayson had a snack. Ethan spent a good half hour trying to make my niece laugh. Good times had by all.

After my SIL left for the afternoon, we got David's lunch ready, woke him up, said bye bye to daddy and washed some dishes. Grayson decided he wanted some more food, so I sat to feed him. A few minutes after he started eating, I heard Claire giggling. She likes to play in the hall, so I thought that's where she was. I hear another giggle. I asked Ethan to tell me what she was doing because the chair was at an angle that I couldn't see all the way down the hall. He disappeared for a minute and came back laughing and said, "Claire is swimming." "Swimming?" "Yes, Claire is swimming....In the toilet." I sit Grayson on the floor to find Claire sitting inside the toilet. My first thought is, "Well, at least I cleaned the toilet this morning and it's been unused." My second thought was, "I need a picture of this." My third thought was, "Wow..That's gross."

She was immediately removed from the toilet after I snapped my memory shot and thrown into the tub where she was stripped and scrubbed. She liked this more than swimming in the toilet. Or so I would hope.

So, rule refreshed in my mind. ALWAYS SHUT THE BATHROOM DOOR WHEN YOU LIVE WITH A TODDLER!!!!

Potty on the......Floor......

What? You thought I was going to say potty? Well, that would just be way too normal!

Claire has mastered the words potty and poop. When I change her diapers, regardless of their contents, she loudly and proudly exclaims, "Ewwww...I STINK!!!" So, I've busted out the potty. We've had it out for about two weeks now. I let her explore it for a bit. Touch it. Look at it. I keep telling her, "Poop and potty goes in the potty!" To which she replies, "Bajhajdjlad"...I'm guessing that's Claire for, "Mommy, you are so incredibly smart!" Yeah, I know. I am so smart.

Anyways, this week we graduated to sitting on the potty. In the morning when she brushes her teeth I sit her on her potty, and I sit on the big potty, so she gets the general idea. The other day after her bath, I decided to bring the potty with me into the living room so she could sit on it while I got things together for after her bath. You know, diaper, jammies and lotion. She was really excited. I thought, "Yes! Tonight might be the night! She might actually use the potty!" She sat down. Got up, ran into the kitchen where she promptly peed all over the kitchen floor. So much for using the potty.

I think she's ready though. She's got a severe diaper taking off addiction. She is very interested in big girl underpants when we're in that aisle at Target or Wal-Mart. She sits on the potty without my asking her to do so when we brush teeth or even go into the bathroom anymore. I'm very excited about this possibility. The thoughts of changing only one diaper a day makes me almost giddy.

So, potty training, here we come!!!

Getting To Know You

1. If you could have one of Superman's, powers which one would you want? Superhuman strength..Flight..Superhuman speed..X-Ray vision..etc::

I think I'd choose the power of speed. Why? Because I'm always late. How handy would that be!?


2. The best thing I ever won is....?

My Bumbleride Indie Twin double stroller. I freaking love that thing!


3. Have you ever skyped with a bloggy friend?

I haven't skyped with anyone. I've had Skype for 5 months, and I've been waiting for others to get it.


4. What is your favorite Summer month?

August. David and Ethan's birthdays are both in August.


5. Pool, Lake, or Ocean?

Pool. I like to smell the ocean, but sharks scare me. I love the lake and being out there on a boat, but I'm terrified of being bitten by a fish. I have irrational fears, I know.


6. One of my favorite Summer memories is.....?

The first summer we got Ethan a pool. He's stand on the outside, throw his hands up in the air all fast like he was going to dive in, and then he'd slowly step into the pool and gently fall down. I have video of it. It makes me laugh every time.

7. What's your favorite secret bargain?
I don't have a secret bargain. I wish I did! I just shop sales.

8. Do you plan on or have you been watching the World Cup?

I don't follow soccer...Or any sport for that matter.

Feed Me Books Friday: How Do Dinosaurs Eat Their Food?

Feed Me Books Friday

Claire is no girly girl. Well, I take that back. She's an occasional girly girl. She can be sweet to her babies. She spends time putting them into her brother's swing, she pushes them in the stroller, she cooks for them in her kitchen. She can be seen on a daily basis sporting the highest in fashion plastic Disney princess or Barbie high heels and a purse. However, throw a dinosaur into her path, and all that is lost. She then becomes a dinosaur totin', high heel wearin' kinda gal. For these reasons, this is why How Do Dinosaurs Eat Their Food? is the perfect book for Claire.

This book is all about how a dinosaur does not behave during mealtime. It give silly examples of what a dinosaur does not do (beans up the nose anyone?) and then replaces it with what a dinosaur does do ( no rude noises, it really isn't polite). This is a book for Claire because it teaches manners, which at the age of two, Claire has all but lost. She's quite the dinosaur when it comes to bedtime. Can you scream no while kicking and grabbing anything within reach? She actually wedged herself into the hallway this evening when I was carrying her to bed after a mighty fight over her toothbrush. How she did it, I have no idea. She is pretty polite during meals though, which I give a tiny bit of credit to this book for. Thanks for helping my tiny dinosaur!

Fun fact--This book has the name of all the dinosaurs written in tiny letters somewhere in every picture. Claire LOVES this!

Writer's Workshop: If Hubby Were Handy....

Time for Writer's Workshop! Head on over to Mama Kat's, pick your prompt and write it up. Head back over and link up and do a little blog hoppin'. It's always a good time! Promise.

Today I chose the prompt The ultimate honey-do list. If your spouse agreed to do any ten things you asked, what would they be?....Here goes.

Now, David likes to fancy himself a handy man, but the man is in no way handy whatsoever. Not even joking. He once tried to fix something in my car. I don't remember what it was he tried to fix. I do remember the evening I found out something was wrong with it, I was headed to work at 11PM. It started to downpour (monsoon season in Arizona!). I needed the wipers and my high beams. I went to turn on the wipers, and my horn honked. No joke. I don't know how he did it. He doesn't either. I had to turn around and go home and call into work because I couldn't get my lights or my wipers to work the right way. He fixed it the next day. I bet he doesn't know how he did that either. So, these things here are all complete fantasy, because they will, in fact, never happen..Unless we beg David's BIL for help. Then they might! Except for the first one.

1) David learns to sew. He sews well. He then teaches me to sew (I sew in a straight line, I'm practicing other things...It's a process!), and when I am too tired, he takes over and finishes my tasks. He gets to darn good at sewing, he sews dresses for Claire out of all the shirts he wore in high school and refuses to get rid of, thus eliminating my wanting to throw all of his old crap into the yard, light it on fire and dance around it.

2) David then takes down these blinds, which someone installed wrong. We are unable to open them and gain access to the windows behind. He then sews a curtains with his newly acquired mad sewing skills and hangs them. They look fabulous. We high five.

3) He actually replaces the towel bar in the kid's bathroom completely instead of trying to hang and rehang the old one on whatever the hell this crap is sticking out of the wall. I can throw away or freecycle or craigslist the over the door towel rack that I for their bathroom and now hate. The only thing it's good for is hanging up the bathing suites.

4) On the subject of window treatments, David removes, throws out and replaces all the blinds in the house because, like this one, they are all getting crappy and need to go bye bye. Broke blinds brought to you courtesy of Claire.

5) This ceiling fan in our living room has decided that it likes to suck up the light cord. David gets rid of the fan and buys a new one. Preferably in a white.

6) Behind this wall in our laundry room next to our spare weather stripping for the front door lies our hot water heater. It needs replacing. Why? Well, a shower lasts about 10 minutes if you prefer warm water. It makes popping noises after that. David would replace the hot water heater, and I would enjoy a warm shower again.

7) David would remove this cabinet and install a dishwasher. I am tired of washing dishes by hand. It wastes water. I'd rather load dishes into the dishwasher all day, several times a day and give it a run at the end of dinner then was several sink fulls of dishes several times a day and waste all that water. I NEED A DISHWASHER!

8) I want to sand down, paint and replace the hardware on the kitchen cabinets. They need it. I keep trying to convince David it will give our kitchen a fresh and cheap update. He isn't convinced. I'm half tempted to do it while he's at work.

9) David would patch up this hole in the bathroom wall in the kid's bathroom. It's been gaping at me ever since we moved in. I hate it. I would love for it to go away.

10) David would finish listing this crap on his freaking Goozex site and get it OUT OF THE HOUSE! It's driving me crazy just hanging around. I wish he'd just start trading it already. Someone's bound to want this crap, and that someone ain't me!

Now I'm Going To Tell You Where To Buy Stuff: Coppin's Gifts

Coppin's Gifts is an online gift retailer. They carry everything from figurines to their brand new line of DaVinci beads (charm bracelet anyone?), to my personal favorite, Uglydolls! Why do I love that they carry Uglydolls? Well, because of Claire, who is not to be bothered by the simplicity of Barbie and her pals. She's more about monster's and dinosaurs. Want Proof?Why yes, she is wearing ballerina jammies while playing with a dinosaur. A motorized dinosaur. That roars and stomps when you push buttons. It's her favorite toy.

Not only do they carry fabulous gifts for just about any occasion, they offer a complete 100% satisfaction guarantee to their customers. If you order a product from them and you are not satisfied with it, you can send the product back to them within 15 days of your purchase date for a full refund.

So, if you're on the market for a gift or something special for you or the kids, head on over to Coppin's Gifts and give them a look. I think they are worth it!

Oh, and, just so you know, these opinions are purely mine. I was not compensated in any way for this post. I just wanted you all to know!

Third Grade Here We Come!

Well, that was fun. I was going to post this last night, but Blogger decided to take a vacation I guess. Blogger was down and out for me for a good 20 hours or so. Too much happening in the land of blog to handle I guess.

Anyways, Ethan's last day of school was Friday. On the day before the last day of school, they host a family picnic. I get to go to school and have a lunch with him. I bring a blanket to sit on the grass. This was the first year I took Claire, and of course Grayson because, well, he wasn't here last year and Claire was taking a nap when I left for the picnic. Lunch is barbecue (AKA Sloppy Joes), a small bag of carrots, fritos, milk and juice.

This year Claire and Grayson and I headed on over to the school. When we got to the front door, Ethan was heading out with his lunch. We were 10 minutes early! Ethan came in to wait with us in line. Surprise? People said hi to Claire, and she actually said hi back without tears! Huge surprise since the day before at the portrait studio she screamed whenever I set foot inside the door. We got our lunches and headed outside to eat. I had defrosted some baby food for Grayson before we left. Surprise number 2? Claire actually ate her food. She's at the picky eater stage. Sometimes she eats, sometimes she doesn't. Sometimes she'll eat all her veggies and nothing else. Sometimes she'll eat two bites of her food, and nothing else. Ethan did the same thing. I've learned my lesson about fighting this. What can I say? I like to pick battles I'll win. We had lots of fun. Ethan's last day of school was Friday. He came home with a backpack full of art, a picture book that his teacher made and a sheet to list the 100 books he reads over summer. He's already read 8. Thursday he starts his 3 weeks of summer school. He's super excited.

In other news, since I posted about Grayson's crankiness, I've gotten him on a more consistent nap schedule. He naps twice a day for an hour to an hour and a half each time. We've tried a 3rd nap, but he just ain't down with that. I've also moved his bedtime from 7PM to 7:45-8PM because he started waking up at 5AM when I put him down at 7, and I was getting exhausted. It was time anyways. He was still wide awake when I put him down at 7PM. Now at 7 we start our bath/bedtime routines.

The crying still continues. It's starting to leak into his nighttime sleep as well. The past few days he's been waking more than usual and crying for at least an hour before I can calm him and get him to either nurse or go back to sleep. He vomited a couple of times when I fed him and a couple of days he wouldn't eat when I tried to nurse him. I thought maybe he just didn't want the breast, so I tried offering him a bottle of pumped milk, which he HATES, and of course, he didn't want that either. I checked for incoming teeth, hair wrapped around finger, toes or other things and saw nothing. It's something I can't figure out. So, I called the doctor today. Our doctor doesn't have an appointment until the 22nd. I took it, but I don't think I can wait that long. I might take him in to urgent care tomorrow at Claire and Ethan's pediatric office and see if they can take a look, and then take him in to our regular doctor on the 22nd for a follow up.

I Guess I Enjoy Photography Studio Hell

Since the Chicken Pox have left our house, I decided to schedule a much overdue appointment for Grayson's 6 months milestone pictures and Claire's 2nd birthday pictures. I don't normally do 2nd birthday pictures, but I got that darn cute Layla Grace tutu from Little Diva Tutu's and I had to take her to get pictures in it. I'd had an appointment set up last month, but Ethan decided that it was time for Chicken Pox, so it was canceled until Ethan stopped being contagious and then the 21 day waiting period to see if Grayson of Claire got them. Nothing happened. YES!

So, on Wednesday, I packed up Grayson and Claire after I got Ethan off to school and headed out early. I thought, "I'll leave early, find Claire a onsie at Target to match her tutu, feed Grayson a little at the studio and everyone will be happy!" Now, I live 45 minutes to an hour away from Target, which is in Hudson. I got halfway to I-94 and thought, "I wonder how many pictures I'll get with my coup.....OMG!!! THE COUPON!!!" That's right, I forgot my coupon, which gave me a free 8x10 and $10 off a $50 order, which is what I always get and it's cheaper with David's employee discount. So, I had to turn around and drive back, which took 20 minutes. I called the studio and asked if I could make the appointment for 20 minutes later than my scheduled appointment. No problem!

After running home and rescuing my coupon from on top of the entertainment tower inside the front door, we headed back out. I actually made it to Hudson with 30 minutes left before my appointment. I went to the bank to get out money that I needed for the pictures and started on my way to Target. I got to Target with 20 minutes to spare until my appointment. We went to the Baby/Toddler section and I found a onsie for $4 that matched Claire's tutu perfectly. We paid for it and headed back to the photo section where I changed Claire into her outfit and handed her a snack and let Grayson have a snack. By this point, it was picture time. I spoke to the photographer about what I wanted. We headed into the room. Claire wanders in slowly, takes a look around and starts SCREAMING. There are sobs. There are tears. This gets Grayson going. I look at Claire. I look at Grayson. I look at the photographer. I look back at Claire. I try and calm her...Nothing. This is the time Grayson decides to take a poo. Fabulous. The photographer tells me not to worry, she has no other appointments until 2PM, and it's only 11:45. There are small miracles.

I head to the bathroom with Claire and Grayson. Claire walks through Target in her tutu. People keep stopping to smile at her and tell her how pretty she it. She smiles. Seriously. I don't even know sometimes. We get to the restroom, and I pull out the changing pad, a fresh diaper and...And empty wipes container. You have got to be kidding me? So, I have to do the impromptu paper towel soaked wipe. Fabulous.

We head back to the studio, where there is more screaming...Until the photographer pulls out a pair of, can you guess? Plastic high heels! Claire immediately stops crying. As soon as Claire stops, Grayson stops. Silence. She is finally able to pick up the camera and snap a picture of Grayson. She gets two wonderful shots. One of him smiling with his infamous tounge sticking out and one of him looking at the camera where his big blue eyes just look intense. Great pictures. Then, it's Claire's turn. She does not smile. She wants nothing to do with the pictures. She spends most of her time running back and forth across the sheet only stopping for brief seconds where the photographer snaps and she's back to running. There is one smile in the bunch. It's better than nothing. I'll take what I can get people.

I order pictures and we are off. Here's to hoping the one year milestone pictures that all THREE kids will be in are a better experience!

Feed Me Books Friday: What's Your Sound Hound the Hound?

Feed Me Books FRIDAY!

We are a Mo Willems loving bunch. Whenever I see a new Mo Willems book at the library, it is mine for the next 3 weeks. My kids love them and I love them. They are THAT good.

We recently picked up this little gem. Since then, I've read it..A lot..So much I want to hide it, but I digress. Sound familiar? Yeah, I have this same experience with the Are You Ticklish book. However, Mo Willems brings on just as many giggles. You also know you read the book too much when your 2 year old daughter can recite the parts she loves when you get to the page.

The book tells the story of a kitty who wants to know what her friends say. She goes around asking them what their sound is. Each animal says their sound, until they get to the bunny, because, really, what's in the heck does a bunny say? I have no idea. Bunny gets sad because bunny has no sound, so the friends give her (him?...No idea) a hug. The book is short and sweet and can be read a dozen times before mom is pulling out there hair or begging at the feet of a toddler for a change of pace. Highly recommended, as is any Mo Willems book. If you haven't heard of Mo Willems, rectify this immediately!