Bug's First Temper Tantrum

My sweet angelic Bug has officially thrown her first temper tantrum. This girl loves to take my glasses off my face and shove them in her mouth. She does this millions of times a day (or at least tries to). Well, Darling Dearest and I were sitting in bed with her shortly after I nursed her and she decided she wanted my glasses. She wanted them BAD.

When she finally manhandled them off my face with her death grip and claws that could cut diamonds (why are they so sharp and painful when they're short??), she looked at those glasses with a sense of true accomplishment. Unfortunately for her, Darling Dearest was not about to let her unabashed joy and sense of success thwart him from making a quick recovery of my glasses (I don't think she's paying for them when she breaks them). So he gently took the glasses from her.

Well you would think he just stepped on her heart or killed her puppy dog. This girl SCREAMED!!!

S-C-R-E-A-M-E-D!

She didn't whine, cry, or fuss.....she full-out screamed! It was a ticked-off battle cry against all that was wrong with the world. It was the kind of cry I'd only heard when she fell off the ottoman or hit her head on the side of the door (both stories I have been instructed by DD not to blog about because someone--ahem--was supposed to be supervising. This post doesn't count since I'm not technically blogging about the actual happenings).   :-)  She screamed so hard that there was actually a point where no sound was coming out--she'd lost her breath. She was THAT mad!

Darling Dearest thought surely he'd accidentally pinched her or something on accident since she was reacting like a crazy person, but he couldn't understand how he'd managed to hurt her by taking the glasses from her. When I told him that she was just mad and throwing a tantrum, we tested out our theory. We allowed her to get the glasses again only to take them from her (I know...how could we be so cruel??). This girl SCREAMED again--so high-pitched that only dogs could hear her.  It was bad.

As any good parents would, we weren't going to let her tantrum get the best of us and thus, begin us down a slippery slope of losing control. Nope. We teachers are trained in how to manage kids, even during the ugliest of tantrums and let me tell you, I never had behavior problems in my class. If you give in to what they want...they win. You lose. I've seen SuperNanny a time or two and I know this is not how to parent a child.

So we took my glasses back. She SCREAMED. We didn't give in by giving her back the glasses. Instead, she got the remote. Oops! :-P   I guess we'll save the good parenting skills for the next tantrum.

Will the World Come to an End Without my Boobs??

WARNING: If you are not comfortable with the topic of nursing or boobs, please STOP READING here! If you can handle the whole truth and nothing but the truth, no matter how ugly (or saggy) it is....continue.

I sit here writing this post in a sleepy daze and with a major tension headache. WHY, you ask. Well, Bug decided to get up not once, not twice,  but FOUR times last night. FOUR. TIMES. IN. ONE. NIGHT!

For the record, she's been sleeping through the night since she was 3 months, so this mama is not used to such a rude awakening to my pleasant slumber. I fed her and put her down a little after 8, only to hear her crying like crazy a little after midnight (not long after I'd gone to sleep myself). She was pretty frantic at this point, like she was scared or something. So I nursed her and put her back to sleep. A little after 2am, I hear her crying again. This time, it wasn't frantic, and I wasn't sympathetic--I was tired. TIRED. I asked Darling Dearest to go try to help her since he doesn't have boobs filled with milk that will get her thinking she's going to eat again. I knew she wasn't hungry. He got her quiet and in bed, when 10 minutes later---what should we hear?? She's crying again. We both laid there in a war of the wills--which one will fold first and go help the Bug. Someone needed to quiet that thing ASAP so I could sleep. This was when I told him, "Just so you know....I'm not going in there so she thinks she's eating." That's when Darling Dearest groggily hobbled over to her room AGAIN to put her down. All was well with the world--not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse when 10 minutes later--------CRYING. AGAIN.

Finally, I march myself and my milk-filled boobs over to her room. I knew this team was the only one that could get her back to sleep. I wasn't even going to reason with her or attempt to put her down with a good pep talk. I wanted this baby quiet and in slumber land so I could join the sleeping party. I picked her up, changed the full diaper (since she was about to be fed for the 3rd time in 6 hours) in the dark (until Darling Dearest came over with a cell phone), and put that baby to my boob. Since the diaper-changing woke her up more, she ate for a while, but eventually hit the sack.

Now, I've been meaning to write a post about how the world would stop turning without my boobs, but last night's events set this post in stone. The girls are tired (yes, I'm referring to my boobs for those of you who don't know that expression--MOM). They're so tired, they're sagging and drained (literally). They're sick of being bitten (or gummed to death would be more accurate since Bug is still toothless at 9 month---thank God) and raw. Why are they raw? Well, Bug has decided she likes to eat on the go. If we're lying down, she will turn herself in the crawling position WHILE NURSING and try to hit the road--with the girls in her mouth!!! OUCH! Another one of her fun positions to try in the morning or when I'm exhausted and want to lay down and nurse her is to sit up and nurse from the one on top--yep, so I lay down and she sits and nurses. This makes it extra easy for her to rip herself on and off whenever she sees or hears anything that she feels the need to look at. Needless to say, I'M RAW and the girls are tired!! For all the nursing gurus out there--yes, I know this is not the best for her latch and this is why I'm raw--but this bug has a free-style nursing method that I'm trying to break. Until I do---I'm raw!! What can I say? She's an active 9 month old who wants to move about and see the world---all while taking her "food" on the road.

All to say, that sometimes I just want someone else to be able to feed her. Yes, I've frozen some milk, but my frozen supply is running low and my current production is on an "as-needs" flow---we're not surplusing here. This means that my frozen milk is literally GOLD in my house and will only come about during a serious emergency. I know, I know....if I only pump more throughout the day, it'll tell my body to produce more so I can have more milk to freeze and keep up my supply. Have you been reading my posts?? For a stay-at-home, chasing-my-bug-around-while-trying-to-get-a-house-ready-to-sell mom...I don't have time for that shenanigan! If I do have a beautiful blissful moment, I'd like to use it to hop in the shower, not attach myself to a sucking machine like a cow (although I totally can't hate on the pump since it's one of the best things ever invented and it's why I have any frozen supply at all--I love you Medela Pump N Style).

I also know that I could supplement with formula, but we're not going to get into this argument because you're not going to win. I made a personal choice to have Bug exclusively breastfed (well, with the exception of mush some call "solid food") until she's at least a year....so that's the decision I made for her and I'm sticking by it. Although, I must admit that when that time comes when it's time to wean my little gal, my boobs, my independence, and my extra 10 lbs of fat will be thanking me.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not a bitter nursing mom. I DO enjoy it and I like all that it does for her even more. I still love our time together (I know that sounds creepy for those of you who haven't nursed). It's super convenient. I never forget her food or have to take time mixing it up and washing bottles. It's there whenever I need it--like when I'm leaning over her carseat nursing her with my butt smashed against the side window for all traffic to see while Darling Dearest drives to our Thanksgiving dinner or to the mall. Yes, I'm 100% a fan of nursing and will continue to be with all of my future children. These boobs have been good to me, and mostly to Bug---but I do look forward to the day (or night) when I don't have to be the one to FEED her back to sleep during a growth spurt or nurse while on the way to a store so I can have time to go shopping, get my hair done, or go to a movie. I look forward to the day when I can have some wine at a Thanksgiving meal or have someone watch the Bug during a mealtime without having to use a bottle of thawed breastmilk GOLD. I anxiously await the days where I don't beat myself up for losing track of time and not eating or drinking enough water (have I mentioned how I never drank water until I was pregnant and now it's all I drink so my "cup" runneth over?? Have I mentioned that I'm horrible about drinking enough water??).

I'm not looking for solutions. I'm just looking to vent a little. Don't my raw, overused and underappreciated tatas deserve the luxury of being able to vent without being judged?? When will the world not come to an end without my "girls". This mama is tired!

Thankful Thursday

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!!

I have so much to be thankful for this year. I've got an amazing husband of 5 1/2 years, the best Bug I could ever ask for, two annoying, but cute pups, awesome family and friends, a roof over my head, and a delicious thanksgiving meal to enjoy later. God has truly blessed us, and I think it's important to take notice of ALL things--big and little-- that we're blessed with. Since having the Bug, I've been given a whole new perspective on life. I'm just so grateful for each moment with my family that things I used to care about have lost importance. God's been so good to us. 

I do hope that as the Thanksgiving season ends and we move on to Christmas shopping, that we keep our minds focused on all that we DO have. It's strange how quickly we forget. We go from being thankful to thinking about all the things we want for our Christmas list. Seems a bit ironic that Thanksgiving comes before Christmas. This year, let's all try to keep our focus on gratitude throughout the Christmas season.

A  friend of mine has had a horrible couple years. I mean, the kind that you wouldn't wish upon your worst enemy. She should've died in a car wreck, had major recuperation afterwards, family issues, financial issues---you name it. Her world has been crumbling down around her. BUT, we know that God's spared her life for a reason and all things happen for a reason. Even though she could easily focus on all the things she's NOT thankful for (and that list could be extremely long) and even though she may look back on these years as the worst in her life, there ARE things she can be thankful for. I realize I can make this statement easily because I'm not in her shoes (or in those of others who are having a very difficult year). It's much easier to be thankful when you've had the greatest year of your life, but my prayer for those of you who are going through an extremely painful time in your life is that you would look for all the things you DO have to be grateful for, even if the list is small at the moment. While this change in perspective would be a very difficult task, I pray that in doing so you could experience some joy this holiday season.

On another (less serious) note.....this year, we'll be spending Thanksgiving with Cleopatra's extended family. My family was supposed to come down from NY and FL, but the swine flu hit them hard and my husband extended the official DISinvitation so the Bug wouldn't be around it. Cleopatra's parents were down from Michigan and everyone is getting together at her aunt and uncle's house. So while we won't be with our family--huge bummer for me--I'm grateful to have great friends who would extend the invite for some delicious food and fun times. I also don't have to get my house ready for guests, assist my mom in making dinner makea huge elaborate dinner, or do all the crazy Thanksgiving grocery shopping. I tend to leave that stuff for the last minute and ALWAYS forget something. You all know what the grocery store looks like last-minute around Thanksgiving. It's kind of what Walmart looks like on Christmas Eve (when my parents always go to do 75% of their Christmas shopping). So all I'm responsible for this year is apple crisp. I got this delicious recipe from my college bestie, but have yet to make it. We'll see. Looks easy enough, but who's to say I won't leave my mark on it and wreck its deliciousness. Cross your fingers for me because Thanksgiving meal is at my friend's Italian family who owns a restaurant (aka....great cooks). I'll take pics of my apple crisp and fill you in on either my accomplishment or embarrassment.

Here's the recipe if you need something delicious and easy.

Apple Crisp

4 cups of sliced apples (I mix 1/2 granny smith and 1/2 macintosh)

Mixture for apples: ¼ cup water, 1 tsp cinnamon, and ½ tsp salt

Mixture for "Crisp": 1 cup sugar, ¾ cup flour, 1/3 cup butter (don’t melt—keep room temp)

Put apples in 8x8 very lightly greased pan (I'm using a larger pan so I'll double the recipe). Add the apple mixture on top (water, cinnamon, & salt) of the apples. In another bowl, make the "crisp" mixture by pressing the room-temp. butter into the flour/sugar. This should be very crumbly. Add this mixture on the top of the apples. Place the apple crisp into the oven at 350* for 40 minutes or until golden brown.

Eat until full of apple-cinnamony goodness!!

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

My Husband Can Beat Up Your Husband

Ok....so maybe not. He's a lover, not a fighter anyway, BUT I needed a clever title to brag about how great Darling Dearest is and what a HUGE help he was to me this weekend. Yes, I need to write this out so I can remember these lovey-dovey feelings when I'm mad at him for saying something stupid. hehe!

We got TONS, and I mean TONS, done this past weekend. Cleopatra came over Friday night. Chatting was our biggest accomplishment, but we did move some furniture about and beautify some areas. It didn't matter by that point anyway because I got a ton done throughout the day in between flashing my neighbor (story still to come).

Saturday, another friend came over to see Bug. We picked out a paint color for the guest room (a neutral shade for the buyers), went shopping for curtains (to NO avail), and hit up VS to use up a coupon on some bras. Gotta keep my milk makers supported---and boy, do they need support now. Let's not even talk about what happened to them after nursing! Ok, back on topic.....Again, not much being accomplished on the part of the house...but we tried, and she brought me beautiful sunflowers (yellow and red) for a belated birthday present. LOVE them!

On to why Darling Dearest is the greatest......

While my friend was over, the hubby picked up the paint we'd chosen and our lunch. Then, he proceeded to trim the room while we took Bug and went shopping for curtains. He finished up painting the guest room THAT night and we hung pictures on the wall. In my opinion, it looks GREAT (major upgrade) and is perfect for selling--simple, neutral, perfect! I've got a lot of HGTV research under my belt now, so I feel confident in making such bold statements, given the room we're working with.

We were up late Saturday night finishing up the room and some other projects, so I was EXHAUSTED Sunday morning. I mean, the kind of exhausted where you move about your business--nursing Bug, going to the bathroom, finding her toys to play with--all while refusing to open your eyes. Not to mention, Bug decided she'd wake up at 5 something (she usually sleeps til 7:30) and figured she'd stay awake and play. So up we got to do more work. Darling Dearest got right to work painting the hallway, while I slept on the floor in Bug's room vigilantly watched Bug play. So what if I had one of her tiny baby blankets over me while I laid face-first in the floor?? I've got eyes in the back of my head and through closed eyelids, right??? :-)

Bug was WAY off her schedule and I was dead tired, so we skipped church. Sorry, Pastor Andy Stanley---love you guys and love our church, but I don't think our 3-person crew was going to be able to function had we gone. At some point while Bug was sleeping, I had passed out sitting up in bed. It was during this time that Darling Dearest won my heart all over again. Just like in the fairy tales, the prince goes to save the damsel in distress (if you knew me, you'd probably laugh at even a sarcastic comparison of me to a damsel), but instead of riding on a white horse and slaying dragons, he was dumpster diving....and instead of saving the damsel, he fought to recover my missing thyroid medicine and a handle from one of our dressers.

Backing up a little.....I have hypothryroidism. I was diagnosed about 2 years ago. If you know anything about thyroid disease, you know you have to take a pill EVERY day. Especially because I'm still nursing and my hormones aren't regulated yet, that thyroid medicine is very important. Well, I just refilled my NOT covered prescription due to pre-existing conditions (insurance mess for a later post), and it was MIA. I was not about to go shell out the cashflow AGAIN. I didn't know for sure that it had been thrown out. But there's been so many people over to my house lately, that I thought it was a possibility. It doesn't stop there, folks! I also purposely threw away the handle from one of my dressers because I thought we were getting all new hardware on the top drawers. Come to find out--it was from the bottom drawer and we NEEDED that handle. So I told my husband that I needed to go dumpster diving--and really was intending to do so. Little did I know that during my slumber, Darling Dearest would go dumpster diving and uncover both the missing medicine AND the handle, on top of painting the guest room & the hallway, and picking up lunch. Did I mention he let me sleep when the Bug woke up?? So yeah....he's pretty much the greatest, and while he may or may not be able to beat up your husband....he sure rocked my exhausted, "way-over-the-whole-decluttering-thing" world!!! So he's superman! Ladies, he's a taken, baby-daddy....and I pack a mean punch. :-P

Rolled Canvas Print Giveaway

Hey guys!

If you haven't subscribed to Saving Cents with Sense, you NEED to. I get her email and FB updates on all the latest coupons and deals---and I'm doing well saving cashflow for the holidays. More on that later. Anyway, she's got a give-away for a 16 x 20 rolled canvas print. Go to her site and check it out for details. It ends tonight. I wish I would've been paying more attention to alert you all later since there's not much time left, but you all know how crazy it's been in my household lately. Either way, I'm getting my extra entries now!! Yay for me!!

PS. I got my mojo back and have a story involving my case of The Emperor's New Clothes in the process--pretty embarrassing post for later. Hope everyone's enjoying their weekend so far.

I've lost my mojo!!

Last week I was on a roll--decluttering and cleaning like it was my business. Technically, since I'm staying home, it IS my business. I don't know if it's because I went all out, including my birthday, that I seem to have run out of steam....but it's gone. Maybe because there's not as much to do (but still a good amount), I don't feel the pressure. The fact that it's cold out and all I wanna do is be snuggly and lazy. I've always been a major procrastinator (with the exception of grad school), and I thrive on that last-minute work. Is my procrastinator self coming back?? I've gone from doing work to house hunting again. A reasonable person would do the work to get their house on the market BEFORE searching all hours for another house, BUT I can't seem to do things the normal and sane way. So instead, I found myself with 3/4 of a clean and uncluttered house, but plenty of houses I want to go see. To top it off, I've been staying up late searching the internet and doing my research on all things houses, so I'm ready to pass out during the day. Not. helping. at. all. In my defense, I haven't been completely lazy. I've had a few appointments this week, have done a couple trips to Goodwill, rented a storage unit and have brought a load over...and chased around a bug. BUT, I'm just not making the progress I need to be and I could be if I was more motivated.

Cleopatra offered to come help me out tomorrow night, so maybe that will be the kick in the butt I need to get things rolling tonight in preparation for her help. I'm hoping that since I'm throwing it out there, it'll guilt me or motivate me into movin' and groovin' like I was before because I need steam in a bad way!! If someone finds my cleaning mojo, please send it back to me ASAP!

Wordless Wednesday

So I don't quite understand these theme days since I'm a newbie blogger and all, but "Wordless Wednesdays" seem to be all the rage. When in Rome............

SO, here are some pictures of the cutest Bug there is (in my humble and unbiased opinion).

Pictures taken by one of my college besties---thanks, N! She is truly my heart outside of my body...Bug, that is. ;-)  

Happy Wednesday, everyone!

I Hate the Dentist!!

Have I mentioned how I hate dentists?? If not-- I HATE DENTISTS! Ok, I don't hate the dentists themselves. In fact, I have a pretty amazing dentist. The entire office and everyone in it is exceptional (and beautiful--I think they had some sort of mathematical formula for beauty and you could only be hired if you met cerain criteria). So I apologize to them in advance (and any one in the dental field who may be reading), but.....

I HATE DENTISTS!

If you haven't assumed yet, I had to go to the dentist yesterday. This was my second appointment at this place. The one prior to that was 4 months ago and it was about time since I hadn't gone since...hmm....EVER! Ok, slight exaggeration, but it had been a few years since I'd gone. I know, I know....I'm gross and I've made you puke a little in your mouth...AGAIN (but I guess that makes you the gross one, doesn't it?). In my very weak defense, it's more work for a teacher to take off work then to be there. I was the kind that never took a sick day, so the thought of taking time off for appointments just didn't happen with me. Still...I'm gross, but the first step is admitting you have a problem, right??

At the last appointment they said I had some gum problems (not anything you can label like gingivitis--but I was on a bad road if I didn't get it figured out), but no cavitities. Pretty amazing for not going to the dentist in close to 5 years--according to them. Sure didn' feel amazing. So they gave me some meds for my back gums (you know...the ones you can't reach well no matter how hard you try), gave me a pat on the butt, and told me to be on my way. And off I went....in a TON of pain, & they didn't even have to do any drilling. My gums were so swollen, it was a miracle that my mouth even closed. I hate the dentist!!

So yesterday I went AGAIN. This time, Bug had to go with me since finding a babysitter didn't work out in my favor. Turns out, things are looking better...but I'm not in the clear yet. So then she asks me THE questions...you know, the ones no one wants to answer (or at least ME). Brushing---check, 2 minutes--check, mouth wash---check, flossing daily--UNcheck! I do floss, but since I'm all about admitting the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, I have to say that it's probably more like every other day. I mean, after you spend 2 minutes brushing, a minute or so going to the bathroom while using mouthwash...I just don't feel like doing it EVERY darn day! Don't they know I barely have time to shower and some days...I DON'T between chasing around my daughter, trying to search for online jobs, imaginary homes, making my house into a model home, and having an affair with DELL????? I know it probably takes most people no time, but darnit if I can turn my hands into Gumby to get way back there well enough. I try...I just don't know how well I succeed. I also think that I'm not going it right. When that dental hygienist does it, I swear she's trying to pull that rope of metal floss right up between my teeth and through my head like those wire cheese-cutters. She's behind my head yanking & pulling with her knee on the chair and her back arched. Ok, ok...slight exaggeration, but that's how it felt. I guess I need to get more agressive with my flossing to "toughen my gums." Ugh...I HATE the dentist.

To top it off, I now have a TINY cavity and have to go back. I'm sure it has nothing to do with the fact that I barely get a real meal in during the day and end up snacking on chocolate grasshoppers, nutty bars, and whatever else I can find that's NOT good for me. Oh, and did I mention that I had to pay $300 plus this last time around because when we changed insurance (LONG and angering story that I'll have to save for another post), we thought we had some sort of dental coverage or discount plan. Turns out...NOPE! So if we don't add something, my TINY cavity (that they said was just barely "sticky") will cost an addition $175. Boo to that!! I hate the dentist.

After a fun filled afternoon, I couldn't get the experience out of my mind. Probably because for the rest of the day (and night) my mouth was going to explode into pieces at any moment!! My teeth ached, my gums were swollen, and my pockets were empty. Not to mention, I'm discussing my grossness with you all. They've taken my dignity people!! :-)

So please tell me I'm not the only one who hates the dentist, who seemingly is 4 years old and doesn't know how to floss aggressively, and who will need to be dragged kicking and screaming when it's time to go back!! If you happen to see a blonde lady with swollen gums whose head has been agressively flossed to shreds wearing jeans with empty pockets...you found me! Did I mention that I hate the dentist? Well, I do!!

And the worst blogger of the week goes to.....

ME!!!

So sorry guys....it's been a crazy week. So I discussed a "Tackle It Tuesday"...well, that theme has continued throughout the week. We've decided that we're going to put our house on the market after the holidays, which means we've got a LOT to do in just over a month (we're in NY over Christmas--so the last 2 weeks of December are shot). So yeah...that's what I've been doing. I've even been so obsessed that I decided to spend my birthday (Friday, the 13th---creepy, I know) taking on the war against the creatures under the bathroom sinks. PLEASE tell me some of your sinks look like mine!! I don't even know how they've managed to stay shut with the amount of crap under there. Seriously....is it even possible for me to have any more lotions, sprays, hair products??? Thanks to former students and Christmas presents...I've got Bath and Body Works under my sink (if only it could hold its weight around here and bring in some profit). Guess we know what all the ladies I know will be getting this Christmas (Mom, just because you're reading this doesn't mean you can't act surprised when you get a full set of lotion, spray, and body wash. Oh, you should also act oblivious to the fact that 1/4 of it is gone!!). So I've cleared out a good amount of my stash and my sinks are slightly more organize...but still full to the max. Oh well....I tried!!

Did I mention I'm currently typing this blog from the guest bedroom CLOSET?? I know, totally ghetto. But I just think we're taking a hint from IKEA and developing our own space saver. Yes, I realize this pimpin' set-up probably won't be able to stick around when we actually open our doors to buyers, but our guest room was functioning as a bedroom/office. Darling Dearest is not about to part with his man den completely (yes, the TV in here is going to have to head to storage too--spacious rooms, right??), so here the desk will stay tucked neatly away in our little clothesless closet. The sad thing is....it's kinda cute! You'd still consider a house with a desk in the closet, right?? Ok, we still have our laptop....but I've already staked my claim on DELL and I don't know how I feel about him two-timing me with my husband. Things get messy that way.

So yeah, this week has been spent in my PJs as I've been de-cluttering like a mad woman. I only wish Bug hadn't decided to start crawling before we embarked on this journey. It's quite the experience attempting to entertain her while keeping her out of trouble/danger (haven't been 100% successful--but that's for another post) AND getting stuff done around the house. Gone are the days where I could sit her in her exersaucer and do some dishes while she squawked and squeeled (if you knew Bug, you know she makes such high-pitched sounds that only dogs understand). Now she wants to be on the move exploring every facet of the house at ALL times. Needless to say, I'm relieved when it's time for her nap so I can really concentrate on my work. Full disclosure: showering is one task (and yes, it's definitely become a "task" lately) that I haven't fit it as often as I should. How gross am I???

If this picture isn't pathetic enough (and if you're still reading this post while ignoring the fact that you just puked up in your mouth while reading of my nasty self), I seem to have gotten a case of serious project ADD. Now I question whether this is something that just has gone undiagnosed, because I AM all over the place. And being a teacher, I've seen plenty of ADD....and I can totally identify with those little guys. Case in point: Tonight, I was talking to Cleopatra's cute little hubby about real estate when I glanced up at my mirror and in mid-sentence of talking to him, I said to Cleopatra, "Oh, I'm going to put a floating shelf under there," (yes, I DO need her input when it comes to the decor of my house given the fact that hers looks like a model home and mine needs to) then I continued talkingwith her hubby as if I had not totally interupted myself. How ADD am I??

Speaking of.........Where was I going with this? Back to my my original topic--my project ADD. I've been all over my house de-cluttering, but NOTHING is done. I start boxing up books in my room to put in storage when I remember that there are books in the guest room that I should add. So I go to the guest room, get those books, then start on something else in the guest room, which reminds me of something I need to do in the kitchen...then I start on something in there. Do you see where I'm going with this?? Do you feel my spastic insanity?? Do you understand why I have the worst case of project ADD there is?? I've been working my butt off for a week and what do I have to show for it?? A house that looks like a tornado ran through it---piles everywhere (to get boxed, to go to Goodwill, to get put away, etc), in every room!! UGH! It's making me stressed just typing this.

My kitchen pantry, cabinets, and cupboards are all done and organized...but my countertops have some random things on them in the "garbage" and "Goodwill" piles. Kitchen--UNCHECK!! My bedroom--my closet is done (oops, except for one pile of dress pants that I won't be wearing anytime soon--hello jobless--that couldn't fit in one of my packed bins and need to go in another for storage), my dressers (oops, no...they're 1/2 done too), my master bath sink (all the drawers except for my ridiculous make-up drawer---who can even organize that thin drawer in the middle anyway?? HELP PLEASE!).....oh, and I haven't even touched the cleaning aspect. Master bedroom---UNCHECK!! Guest bedroom still has a couple piles, and we've already discussed the desk in the closet---UNCHECK!! Bug's room only has a few things---UNCHECK!!. My garage---oh, I can't even talk about the mess that is, but I've made a dent in it. Why?? Because I have project ADD and am doing EVERYTHING, but finishing NOTHING. What's worse is that I still have all this de-cluttering & cleaning to do and today, I'm out shopping for finishing decor for staging (thanks to my new 24/7 obsession with HGTV--seriously, if you're not into it....it's what all the cool kids are doing. Jump off the bridge with us!!) and contemplating paint colors!! What in the world?? Somebody stop me!! I need some serious intervention! I'm a hot mess and someone needs to put me in my place.

I've decided that no matter how it gets done--project ADD or the one-room-at-a-time approach (like SHOULD be done), it WILL get done this week. All of my de-cluttering and spotless cleaning MUST get done this week. Why?? Because I said so! Didn't your mother ever tell you not to ask why? And hey, I may even add "shower" on my list of things to do (Bug and I have appts on Mon. and Wed---so that's 2 days out of 7, right??). And I leave you with that---the epitome of a hot mess!!

Prayer Request

So this post is slightly off the norm...BUT, I'd love for you guys to pray for my parents. My mom has taught for free at private Christian school in NY for about 30 years and my dad does plumbing & heating. Well, my dad is currently not working due to some problems with his hands, joints, etc. (he may need surgery), which obviously influences their income. They own some apartment houses (the old-school kind...I'm talking about the kind they bought for nothing 20 or so years ago that require constant upkeep and work) which is a main source of their income. I just found out this morning, that one of their tennants caused a fire in their apartment building which did a lot of damage and left it unliveable until they get things fixed. SO currently, these 6 units are empty and the fear is that these people will find somewhere else to rent, which will leave the apartments empty for a while since people don't typically move during the holiday season. This has put them into a pretty scary place financially, especially with Christmas approaching.

My mom has a peace that God is going to provide for them. She said she was really upset yesterday morning when she started cleaning off her dresser and noticed a watch that neither she nor my dad had ever seen before. It had a cross at the top and on the second hand were footprints walking toward the cross. It reminded her of the poem, Footprints in the Sand--where during the times where we feel like we're alone and things are tough there is only one set of footprints because God is carrying us.  So we know God will provide a way, but I know they could really use some extra prayers that things will work out and that they can get the apartment building up and running again before they lose their tennants. Or just that God will give them peace and a comfort in knowing He's carrying them through this financially and emotionally draining time. It's a miracle that no one was hurt during the fire, so He's already provided in that. If you think about it this week, please lift them up in prayer. I'll update you as I know anything.

Tackle It Tuesday

So in my blog surfing, I found someone who had Tackle It Tuesday as her theme for today(if this was you, let me know so I can give you credit). Anyway, her theme inspired me to do some tackling of my own. In keeping with imaginary house hunting, which I hope to turn into REAL house hunting....a decision has been made to get our house ready to put on the market. This means, a LOT of de-cluttering and hiding things in friend's basements organizing, not to mention cleaning, decorating, and staging. So today, I tackled one of the biggest projects of all---the master closet!

Cleopatra told me I needed to go through and get things into piles, so I decided upon "Goodwill--aka. Why the heck do I still own this? I think I bought this in middle school!", "Summer clothes that I've never EVER actually put away for summer and typically just take up space in my closet and dresser", "Maternity clothes that should've been put away at least 6 months ago but I keep them around because I'm convinced that I can get more bang for my buck if I keep wearing the tops", and finally "I'm no longer working so why do I need dress pants?? aka...I'll wear you later." The clothes that didn't fit into these 4 categories stayed in my closet.

So I left Bug to crawl around on the floor and get into trouble every 5 seconds in her curious exploration of this new world around her while I tore myself through my closet like a Kansas tornado (ok, my only knowledge of Kansas tornados comes from Twister--was that even Kansas?). I had clothes flying off their hangers and parachuting to their appropriate overflowing piles, all while watching Bug eat paper tags she managed to steal from the Walmart bag playing with Bug. Oh, don't hate or chastise me just yet....I was at least watching her chew on these tags. And YES, I did take them away, so don't call child protective services for tag-chewing negligence.

This is what my closet and bathroom looked like after the tornado whipped through.

Once my closet managed to puke up these separate piles, I folded and organized them. I even employed the "EXTREME folding" strategy (aka...nursing Bug on the floor of my walk-in closet while folding clothes). I don't mess around when trying to become Cleopatra. :-) It's all or nothing, baby!! Darling Dearest even brought home storage bins that he picked up on his lunch because there was no way in the world I was heading out in the torrential downpour with Bug. It hasn't stopped all day and is still pounding on my window as I write this. So off to Goodwill and friend's basements storage these bins will go!

Unfortunately, this "Tackle It" theme will have to go on every day until our house shines like the top of the Chrysler Building, as my dad and Mrs. Hannigan would say. I'm regretting that I didn't take any "before" pictures of the closet, but am proud that I even went through undies, bras, winter wear, shoes, belts...you name it! This may be the normal scene for some of you, but the packrat inside me is dying a slow and painful death in the war against clutter. Onto dreams of a clutterless, model home (the one I hope mine will transform into) before waking up to another day of tackling the chaos that is my house and chasing around the cutest Bug ever!

Imaginary House Hunting

Please tell me I'm not the only one imaginary house hunting right now! We have more than outgrown our house. Yes, we've got enough rooms for us and the bug currently, but we have zero storage and our stuff is starting to need a house of its own. We don't have a basement, and between all of the baby stuff we're no longer using and and entire classroom's worth of teaching stuff (materials, books, crates, supplies, rugs, shelves), our garage looks like it's thrown up a dump truck! Bug and I have to squeeze our way through mountains upon mountains of STUFF just to get her in the car. One time, I even knocked over a gas can that was against the wall of the garage far from where I was because Bug's carseat knocked into something, which tipped over something else...and so on until a gas can fell over and leaked all over the floor. What makes it worse is that I didn't even realize it until I came home from our errands and the stench (even though I'm typically one of those weirdos who love weird smells like gas...creepy, I know) was overwhelming. We were high off gas fumes for days, even after clean up.

Aside from our hideous mess of a garage, all of our closets are overflowing with CRAP too. It doesn't help that I'm a HUGE slight pack rat and don't want to get rid of my textbooks and binders from my graduate (and some undergraduate) courses...plus, my husband's stuff. We're a mess and are in need of more space  plus someone to throw away our stuff in the middle of the night so we don't put up a fight.  There is no way we can be in this house when we have another baby. We just don't have the room.

The problem is, you can't sell a house that looks like a tornado whipped by and threw all of the neighborhood's junk strategically in your garage and closets. "Hey, come buy this house...plenty of room for all of your needs. Great storage. Perfect for your family!! Make this mess your home!" For whatever reason, that argument doesn't seem to work.

So we've found ourselves looking for imaginary homes. Why are they imaginary?? Well, we have a house that's about as far away from selling/renting condition as possible (ok, this might be a slight exaggeration since I'm Queen of that. My mom totally has it worse, right ma? We just need to de-clutter). We haven't even considered putting it up for sale right now. Oh, and did I mention we don't have money to front two mortgages??? SO why are we torturing ourselves by looking at the imaginary houses in glass boxes?? I don't know, but darnit...there's so many good deals on houses right now. So do we take less for our house to get a house for less than it's worth? Do we do all the work to get our house on the market only to be lucky to break even? We're in a slight predicament, and don't know what would be the wisest decision...so we've got a lot of research and educating to do. But you know me...I'm a totally nerd, so I eat this stuff up! My husband thinks I should've been in business instead of teaching. But hey...we teachers are smart! :-)

Until then, I am living in my imaginary world where we move into a house complete with areas for storage, rooms for our family (and future family members), and even room for our extended family to visit us.  Darling Dearest is also on this fantasy ride with me...so who will snap me out of it?? What makes it worse is that my college friend, N (I'll have to think of a cute nickname that fits her later. Hmmm...another project!), has embarked on this imaginary house journey with us....and we're imaginary neighbors in this beautiful, older neighborhood with majestic trees and big yards (real place, but "imaginary" for us in that neither of us have houses on the market). Oh, and did I mention the imaginary house she found on realtor.com has a pool and is beautiful??? Unfortunately, she's staked her claim into this house, so Dean and I can't pursue it on our imaginary househunting journey. Hmmm, maybe we could have an imaginary bidding war against our college friends!

N asked me what I wanted for my b-day coming up on Friday and Darling Dearest told me to tell her that she didn't need to get me anything since she already found a house with a pool for a sickeningly cheap price for us (I mean...the kind of house that you'd totally deal with a sink hole just to have --or at least, I would..hehe). To which she replied, "and coincidentally there will be a fire set to that house immediately after you move in." YEP...full on fighting words in our imaginary war over imaginary houses. Are you getting sick of me saying IMAGINARY yet?? I'm sure sick of writing it. :-) 

What makes things worse is that realtor.com is not super up-to-date with their properties and several of the ones I loved (You know, the kind that make you pee your pants a little bit in the excitement of just thinking about them??) already were under contract. Crazy things start happening in my head at that point. I think....hmm, maybe we could put a hit on the buyers or develop some sort ridiculous scandel so the contract would fall through and we'd come trotting in on our white horse (yep, myself, Darling Dearest, Bug, and the two pups on a white horse...awesome mental picture, huh?) to save the day and sweep up the damsel in distress (in this case...our coveted imaginary house). But, instead of resorting to plan A (crazy plan detailed above), I glumly agree to plan B (moping at the loss of our imaginary home that we can't buy anyway).

Why am I so emotionally involved with some of these houses?? I mean, how can I have enough love in my heart to share between Darling Dearest, Bug, my pups, my new boyfriend (DELL), and now my new rotating crushes---imaginary houses?!? At least with the others, I know they're always there for me....but as with all crushes, they'll soon break your heart!! And so far, they've done it 3 times (Truth: Yes, we've even driven around to look at these imaginary houses and 3 of them are out of commission due to silly little detours like UNDER CONTRACT signs..boo!). How much more rejection can a girl take?? Why am I putting myself in this misery of this fantasy to begin with?? Maybe it's DELL's fault for seducing me into the world of realtor.com! Well, boo on DELL then too. Maybe he isn't always there for me like I said before.

Please tell me some of you have made the same stupid decision as I have. Why must we want what we can't have?? Oh, I will be accepting donations. You can write your checks to the "Helping First Time Mommy Turn an Imaginary Home into a Real Home" fund. OR, you can buy my house...complete with overflowing junk!! Either way, it's a steal! Any takers???

Randomness

I know it's been a couple days since I've blogged, but things have been crazy in this household. So this is going to be a random list of all you've missed in the last couple days---since I'm that exciting (can you sense the sarcasm??).

**Bug is all over the place. This week she has morphed into a little super baby. (Yes, I'm aware that it's totally normal progression....but I'm her mom, so Super Baby she is.)  Like I said earlier, she started crawling this week to chase Cleopatra's shoes. Since then, I have found her crawling down the hall with leaves brought in by one of my dogs in her mouth . I was sooo tempted to take a picture for the blog, but my internal monologue went something like this, "Wow, Mom of the Year, you already have a Bug with leaves in her mouth and have won a M.O.T. Y. award for that. Do you really need to win another one for choosing a blog photo over getting the leaves out??" Would've been cute picture though. :-)

This same week, she managed to pull herself up in her crib, take down the video monitor that was a good 5 inches away on the wall, and toss it on the floor when she should've been napping.  She's already letting us know that we're all up in her personal business. I mean, haven't we heard of an 8 month old's need for privacy? RUDE!! Super Baby has also been trying to fly this week and had I not had a firm grip on that diapered behind, she would've----right into the ground. She grabs the edges of the bed to pull herself off head-first in order to check out the scenary below. This means, I'm holding her butt at the top of the bed while she's got 1/2 of her body off the bed. This girl is fast, which means I need to move faster. No head injuries YET! :-) 

So I realize you all don't really care about the fact that Bug is doing what all babies her age are learning to do SUPER BABY, but....this blog is also my form of a diary, so you get to read stuff you don't care about while I get to document these little things that make me amazed by all God's little miracles in her life. I mean, it's amazing that 8 months ago she couldn't even hold up her own head. These little things we take for granted are huge strides for our little ones---but you all know that. You know the feeling of unabashed joy, the sound of angels singing, and the rays of sunshine that fill up the room when your baby goes from constipation to a beautiful blow-out up to their neck!! Beauty is in the eyes of the beholder, right??

**On to random topic #2--yesterday's Pampered Chef get together. So this is the main reason I haven't posted in a couple days---parties stress me out! It's a lot of work for ME to attempt to become Cleopatra (remember that post??). Things that involve entertaining that are common sense to most people, are not to me. I grew up in a small town with a big family where people just dropped by all the time. My birthday parties were wings and pizza, a boxed vanilla cake with chocolate icing (no decorations other than candles that counted your years)...and all on paper plates--WHITE ones. No clever themes, goody bags, blow up slides. There was none of this "presentation" or cutesy entertainment. We were the definition of casual (and "casual" is putting it nicely). So needless to say, trying to be cutesy and homemakerish is not my cup of tea. Don't get me wrong, I'd LOVE it if it were because I admire that in people...but it's going to take me some time to get there, and by "time" I mean MIRACLE! I love white paper plate girl who doesn't care, but I also love Cleopatra. Is there a way to be a Cleopatra who doesn't care or stress out with these things??

Overall, our little get-together went off pretty well. One of my besties came up to help me--another one who's good at entertaining. Love you, N! Cleopatra was out of town, but called me to make sure I was feeling good about things--love her! My husband managed to stay married to me and even endured the pre-party, stressed-to-the-max, bossy me. I didn't think I'd turn into that person but between little things to finish around the house, a baby who needed to eat, and a P.C. consultant who needed my assistance with her set-up (most MY responsibilities)...an ugly side of me came out with my Darling Dearest. "Honey, can you do this?? Hey, I need you to move this! Can you hide this upstairs where everything else that doesn't have a place has gone in preparation for this party bring this upstairs?" I mean, can I BE more annoying (said in my best Chandler voice)?? Does Cleopatra act like that before a party, or is she cool and together, sipping on a glass of wine and waiting for her guests to arrive since everything was finished hours beforehand??? Needless to say, I got to see some awesome people I haven't seen in a while, ate some delicious food, saw some pretty cool gadgets that I can't afford since I'm not working, and had an overall great time!! On top of that, I'm still married and my husband still loves me....until my next attempt at entertaining.

Are You Making a Wig with Mommy's Hair??

Lately, I've been finding myself asking my non-speaking, eight month old daughter the age-old question (Why do we constantly ask them questions when we KNOW they're not going to answer?? I do it all the time. Since I am an academic snot a former teacher, I say it's because I'm helping her language develop, BUT I really think I'll start talking to myself and become the crazy mom if I'm not talking to her. This way, I can actually weirdly talk to myself process things aloud without getting gawked at. You know, "Do you like this centerpiece for the table? Is it a little too red? I don't know if it'll match the fall berries." I'm helping her language develop, right??)

Oh, back to this age-old question:

"Are you making a wig with Mommy's hair??"

Now, I'm sure you read all the things I did about hair loss around pregnancy, birth, and post-birth. I'm also pretty sure many of you moms are now hairless chiuauas like I will soon be. Cute, huh?? But why did I think I was going to be the exception??? My daughter is now 8 months old and I'm just starting the hairloss process. I thought I had already crossed the hairloss bridge and made it safely to the other side. Don't get me wrong, I've got mounds of hair so I could probably afford to lose a good 50% of it, but why did I think my chemically golden locks would make it through the fire??

If I really analyze it, it doesn't even come down to the actual loss of the hair as much as to the annoyance of it all. You know what I mean!! You've felt that tickling on the back of your arm and have spun around like a dog chasing its tail or have continued to feel yourself up in search of the guilty suspect only to look like a complete CRAZY to anyone who passes you and doesn't see that innocent, invisible hair driving you mad! You have seen the random long strand floating teasingly from your boob or your butt, if you're really lucky (had to get one of mine off my husband in that prime location the other day). I feel like I'm covered from head to toe with hair!! It's all over my shirt. It's in my car. It's in my daughter's hands. It's on her pacifier (along with some dog hair for another tasty treat). It's on the floor, and in my bed, and in my sink.

IT. IS. EVERYWHERE....EVERYWHERE!!!

I'm contemplating using our dogs' Furminator. You've seen the commercials. It gets out all the dead hair in the deep underlayers of the dog's coat (No, this is not an advertisement...on second thought, Furminator, call me!). Wouldn't that work for me?? Just check out what it does for the dog (and honestly, it REALLY gets that much hair! We've done it on our little Cavalier King Charles Spaniels and the result is pretty disgusting)!

As you can see, I'm getting pretty desperate to stop this insanity before I lose mine. Calling all fellow hairless chiuaua moms....what should I do??

Spiffy New Technology

So I've finally entered the world that many of you found a long time ago---new technology. I've always considered myself quite technologically capable, so I needed my blog to match. ANYWAY, for your reading pleasure (or maybe just for your reading convenience--pleasure is probably a strong word...hehe)----------------EMAIL SUBSCRIPTION!!!

Yep, I figured out how to add that neato little widget (Is that what they call it?? I feel so much more authentic just typing the word...maybe I'll type it again just for the rush:  WIDGET!!) that allows for email subscriptions and other types of subscriptions that I don't quite understand. I was on the quest to figure out how to do the email subscription when I accidentally landed on the other one, so that came first. I decided I'd leave them both in case the other one is this groovy thing that I'm just not cool enough to understand....YET (guess that'll be my next goal). How exciting is that?? You can now follow me, subscribe via email, and subscribe via yahoo/google or whatever else that other thing is!! You can now blog stalk follow me in multiple technologies! Why not do all three so you can grow to hate me and feel annoyed by even the title of my blog LOVE me more?

Oh, I also changed the background and whatnot of my page, in case you didn't notice. Even better, I figured how to do it myself. I made my own header using scrapblog.com (which I'll totally have to post on that later because that's the best thing since sliced bread) and saved it as a JPEG. Are you totally impressed because I felt like I had just climbed Mount Everest!!  So how do you like the new page?? Is it easier to read?? Does it look more professional?? You know, I've been doing this blogging thing a whole week....practically a professional, right? :-)

On another note with this technology theme....How come in this new editing format (which I love because it has the scratch out option), I don't see the spell check?? Please tell me they did not leave Mr. Spell Check by the wayside, that it was one or the other---scratch out or spell check--and they chose scratch out! Honestly, isn't there room for both?? Can't we have our cake and eat it too?? Please advise!

My First Award

Yay!! I'm so excited to have been given my first award!! I feel like I'm moving up in the world.

Thank you so much to FeliciaE over at Living Just Like Grandma for awarding me with the One Lovely Blog Award. Go check out her blog!

So here are the offical rules:

Accept the award and post it on your blog. Make sure to link back to the person who awarded you. Then pass it on to 15 other blogs you find worthy and make sure to let them know they have been awarded.

It's kind of hard for me to come up with 15 blogs, given the fact that I've only been doing this blogging thing for a week. But I've done my homework, and here are some blogs that I love for various reasons: some are funny and witty, some are touching, some have links to save us some cashflow--gotta love that, some have awesome Do-It-Yourself projects, some have helpful blogging tips, reviews, etc. but ALL are fantabulous. Yes, I'm aware that's not a word, but don't you think it should be? :-) Definitely take the time to enjoy these blogs like I have.

In no particular order, the award goes to..........(drumroll please):

The Suburban Jungle

Confessions of a Slightly Neurotic New Mother

MommyLite

"Deal"ightfully Frugal

Jenna in the Ditch

Taking Time for Mommy

Saving Cents With Sense

The Edwards Edition

MckMama

A NYC Housewife-In-Training

MommyB Knows Best

Pickles and Cheese

The Shabby Chic Cottage

Mommy Words

A Soft Place to Land

First Time What?????

So I meant to post this last night, but Hubby was stepping in with my love affair with DELL. So I'm sneaking in on the side while he's at work and Bug is sleeping. :-) It's funny how when you start a blog, suddenly you start thinking, "Oh, I'm totally going to have to blog about this!" Unfortunately, I said that thought aloud, and my Darling Dearest totally made fun of me by doing a Carrie Bradshaw/Gossip Girl impression. You know how Sarah Jessica Parker's character sits at the computer writing all of these deep thoughts in her lingerie?? So that's me, RIGHT??? Minus the deep thoughts or lingerie. Hmmm, guess that just leaves me sitting at a computer. :-( Oh well! Back to my hubby's impersonation--------- In the most girly voice ever (clearly not mine if you've ever heard me talk), he said, "Dear blog....bla bla bla bla bla bla bla....XOXO, FTM." He was clearly trying to make fun of me because he knew I was going to tease him by telling the following story:

Last night, I was spending some QT with Darling Dearest doing what I love most---watching So You Think You Can Dance---and forcing him to join me in doing what I love most. Anyway, he remembered that we bought goodies for S'mores a week and a half ago when my college bestie from Tampa and her fam came up to visit. Well, we didn't end up making the S'mores with them because we were so busy stuffing our mouths with apple crisp, cookies, and other delectable treats. So we still had all the S'more supplies ready to rock and roll for our eating pleasure. Anyway, I thought we'd make them on the stove for several reasons: 1. SYTYCD was on and I was not about to leave my television even for a minute, 2. I was in my pjs and was not about to head outside to get the fire pit going (even though we have yet to use it since we bought it, and I'm dying to), and 3. Did I mention SYTYCD was on??

Darling Dearest got all the supplies lined up and ready to go: Publix-brand (yes, I've become that girl on certain things) marshmallows and graham crackers and Hershey chocolate, when he asks me this: How do you melt the chocolate?? Do you put it in the microwave?? This was when the world stopped turning for me and my mouth hung open. Let it be known, that I've known my husband for over 10 years and we have been together for the vast majority of it...so there's not much that makes my world stop turning when he comes to him. It hit me---OH MY GOSH, Darling Dearest has never made a S'more before!!! Is that even American?? I couldn't even contemplate the idea that hubby has gone nearly 30 years of his life without making a single S'more and needed a S'more tutorial!! I mean, do you know ANYONE who hasn't had a S'more??

After he confirmed my suspicion, I suddenly felt like he was a small boy who needed all my attention. I paused my SYTYCD, got my p.j.ed booty off the couch, and went over to share this first time experience with my love. Major disappointment that his first time was going to be over a stove with generic supplies. Who wants their first time to be second-hand?? Boo to that! BUT, we proceeded with the American rite-of-passage and ate up our stove-made S'mores. Note to self for next time: Publix graham crackers don't hold a candle to regular brands.

All of this hype, and my poor, inexperienced husband's first time was "sub-par" in his words. SAD!! Maybe we'll make a special occasion this weekend to break out a couple firsts: Having a fire in our "new" (but purchased months ago) fire pit and making NON-generic, over a REAL fire S'mores, so the hubby can have his first time at a REAL S'more!!

And we're off......

This post is going to be short and sweet (for the record, whenever I say this type of thing, it always ends up the opposite--probably because of extra details I put in parentheses). I think Bug has officially become a crawler!! Now, she's been taking random crawling "steps" here and there this week--normally 3 at a time. But tonight, she was on a roll. What inspired all this action?? Cleopatra's silver, shiny heels (yes, my awesome friend came over to help me get my house cutesy for a get-together this weekend and even brought her fall decor)!!!

So here's the play-by-play:

Cleopatra took off her heels to stand on one of my chairs, and before she had even gotten the second shoe off, Bug's eyes were saucers and she CRAWLED toward that little piece of metallic heaven with a passion and persistence I have never seen. And she got it!!! So I moved it farther, partly because who wants their daughter chewing on some one's shoe and mostly because I wanted to see her little booty shake across that floor again to capture her a sexy heel. SHE DID!! I even completely changed directions and moved it AGAIN. There was no stopping her. That hot little number of a shoe kept her interest the entire night. Did I mention that she had toys surrounding her?? None of which interested her in the slightest once she found that shoe. I was sooo excited, I almost gave her that shoe she worked so hard to get and let her chew her little heart out....ALMOST!

So from this exciting milestone, I've drawn a few conclusions:

1. My little bug loves her some sexy heels!
2. She likes girlie things with some sparkle and shine (don't we all??).
3. She was trying to steal my very-put-together friend's cute shoes because she feels bad for her mother and the shoes she attempts to pull off (some with nails coming out that they wreck one of her best friend's mother-in-law's wood floor at a baby shower--YES, that happened--some with the wedge completely worn down that the "heel" is rounded and impossible to walk in, some with inserts that are coming out, some with the sole disconnecting from the toe, etc.). Yes, my Bug is embarrassed of the shoes I not only own, but attempt to wear and pull off, no less!!! Who does that??? Good thing I took advantage of my 50% off Oprah coupon to Payless this weekend and got some flats that are in shape...FOR NOW!

SO with her new skill, I'm thinking of putting her to work at my party on Saturday and maybe catching myself some new pairs of shoes. Ladies, hold on to your shoes.....I've got a Bug, and I know how to use her!!

PS. So much for short and sweet..........see what I mean??