Acknowledgements, Awards, and Whatnot

I would like to thank Mommy B Knows Best and Big Teeth & Clouds for my second award. Super excited about this honor. You all should go check out these ladies' blogs. You'll be glad I sent ya. Mommy B has just completely redone her blog--had to start up from scratch because some creepo messed up her blogger account. So please stop by her new site.

Since it is better to give than to receive (and since these are the rules of accepting awards in bloggerland), I would love to pass this award on to some blogs I LOVE to follow. I'm super into all the DIY, crafty, money saving, make-me-laugh blogs. So to acknowledge some of my favorites, I'm passing this award to: Our Suburban Cottage, Coupon Clippin Mommy,  A Soft Place to Land, Confessions of a Control Freak, and  Puget Sound Prudence

I've also received my 3rd award from Southern Sass. Thanks so much, girlie! You all should go check her out.

In order to accept this award, I need to come up with 10 honest things about myself....will you still promise to follow me after reading some of these??

1. I hold my pee for a ridiculous (and unhealthy) amount of time for no other reason than just not feeling like going at the moment. SHEER LAZINESS!! Yep, this is the first one on my list because I'm doing it AS I WRITE and the bathroom is maybe 10 ft. away.

2. Since I'm planning on writing a blog about these later on (as embarrassing and inappropriate as it may be), Bug has left me with the gift that keeps on giving---hemmoroids! I read about them in every pregnancy book and have heard the hard truth from several of my friends after giving birth. I thought since I didn't get them during pregnancy that I had lucked out...........Guess I had another thing coming. I didn't realize you could have hemmoroids unless they were external and visible. For someone that actually does have a brain, I tend to pull a Jessica Simpson every now and again and am so dumb I surprise myself. Yep, hemmoroids can also be internal and are painful as heck!

3. I always, ALWAYS brush my teeth beyond the 2 minute requirement (I know that for sure now since getting the Sonicare toothbrush--best one EVER. You NEED to buy it). I also always wash my hands while mentally singing happy birthday TWICE and rubbing like crazy to get that friction going. For someone who's not exactly a clean-freak---I'm kind of OCD about this. :-)

4. I must, must, MUST always drink with a straw at restaurants and even with to-go cups (I feel ya Southern Sass).  I don't know what or why that is. I mean, I'll gladly eat off their plates and use their utensils...for whatever reason, I can't put my mouth on their cups.

5. Part of me enjoys the fact that I know have a built-in excuse not to do something because of my Bug. At the same time, sometimes I hate it (case in point: probably be chillin with Darling Dearest alone on New Years cuz friends will wanna be out doing something more fun).

6. I'm not completely disgusted with myself if I don't shower for a day or two. Part of me hates the hassle of showering and having to dry my formerly ridiculously thick hair (I say formerly because I just got my hair majorly layered and am not too pumped about my lack of volume at the moment--another post for another time).

7. I love doing and saying things that make people completely uncomfortable---especially my fam. There's nothing I love more than embarrassing people by embarrassing myself in public. Sometimes I like to have a jam session in the store with Darling Dearest hiding in the corner. I can't wait until Bug is older and I can do the same to her. :-)

8. I'm obsessed with google. I google EVERYTHING. I think I would be lost without it.

9. I'm equally obsessed with HGTV thanks to Cleopatra. I have yet to find a show I don't love. I'm particularly Obsessed with Get It Sold, Design on a Dime, Design to Sell, and Divine Design. I think just maybe I'll become as talented as them through osmosis.

10. I don't know where I'd be without my family. Truth: Sometimes I actually think of horrible things happening and having to live without one of them (most often my husband) and I get overwhelmed with sadness. I have the most amazing husband and baby girl. I've also been blessed to have pretty much the greatest family and extended family. I never realized how awesome I had it with these relationships until I've seen others with broken relationships. Truly blessed by God.

I'm passing this fun award on to a few people who's blogs are awesomely honest and keep me entertained.
Mama Still Wears Gucci, The Obnoxious SAHM, The Edwards Edition (my hilarious girlie IRL), and Confessions of a Slightly Neurotic New Mother. Hope you stop by these blogs and show them some love.

***If there are spelling or grammar errors in this post, I just don't care. I am going to fight the urge to re-read this because Bug is up and quite frankly, I'm over this post. :-) ***

Worst 40 minutes EVER

They say in the case of emergency, a person can lift a car with all the adrenaline flowing through his/her body. Well, I'm here to say.....not this girl!!!

I just went through the scariest 40 minutes of my life. I was in the shower while Bug was spinning around in her jumper. We were going to head out for some Christmas shopping, when I heard the chime of my alarm system go off. Since I don't have the alarm automatically on during the day when I'm home, whenever someone opens or closes a door or window, it makes a chime sound. The dogs heard it too because they went downstairs expecting Darling Dearest to be home. After about a minute after the chime went off, I realized that my husband wouldn't be home---not at that time of day and not without calling me. He hadn't been on Instant Messenger all day, though....so I didn't know if something strange was up. So I hopped out of the shower with my pumpkin hair treatment dripping down my back and called my husband--TWICE. He didn't answer either time. So I called his work extension--no answer. Finally, I called his work for the support line to talk to ANYONE. When one of his co-workers answered and said that he was at his desk on a call, my heart stopped-----He WASN'T HOME. So who was??

His co-worker quickly got him on the phone to talk to me. Now let it be known that I sometimes do scare myself over nothing. I think I hear something I don't, but THIS TIME I had proof. The alarm system said "01 not ready" meaning that my front door or garage door was open,  and I really DID hear the chime. I closed my bedroom door quietly and locked it. Poor pups got locked out of the room. They were downstairs and I was not about to call their names to come upstairs and let someone else know Bug and I were home. I pushed the police emergency button and let the alarm go off. I thought it would scare Bug, but she kept hopping and spinning along in her jumper seat. It must've scared the dogs though because they came straight up to the room door. The problem was, I didn't know it was them. I heard something against the door, but it sounded higher--closer to my head than my feet. At this point, I'm still on the phone with Darling Dearest and I'm now freaking out that someone is by the door. He tells me it's probably the dogs....but I don't think so. I'm scared to death. He tells me to go in the closet, but I'm convinced I need to use my man-power to hold the door shut in case anyone tries to come in through my locked door.

This is when I decide to try to move my dresser in front of the door. It moves all of an inch and won't go further. My towel is falling off and I'm trying to keep it on in case someone does come in...I'm not about to be giving a peep show to my intruder. I give up on the dresser and continue having my heart attack. Hubby says that I may want to try to put on some clothes before the cops get there. That was the last thing I was thinking about, but I decided he was right. Finally, Darling Dearest tells me to call 911 (at this point, the security people already called a dispatcher). After calling the police, I stayed on the phone with them until the deputy arrived, checked the area, and was at the front door. When I finally went downstairs, I saw that the garage door coming inside was open. I told the deputy that, and she assumed that it had been blown open by the wind---a definite possibility because it had done so prior to us having an alarm system.

Before I could have her check the garage, a phone started ringing.....and it wasn't mine. It was coming from inside the house. It was one of those ugly automatic ringtones that are on your phone when you first buy it before you change it. Here comes heart attack number 360,754 of the past 35 minutes. I repeat to her over and over that it isn't my ringtone. Was someone in my house? Did they leave their phone behind?? When I moved toward the sound, I found....MY PHONE. What in the world?? Hubby was calling me back to check on me.

Now I look like a complete idiot. That's when I realize my phone said "emergency mode" which probably happens after you call 911 and must have its own ringtone in that mode (just FYI for anyone else who ever gets in that unfortunate situation).  The deputy checks my garage and sure enough---nothing suspicious is going on. At this point, I'm embarrassed and still shaking. I start crying, trembling, and apologizing. It was weird how the flood gates opened AFTER the police got there and I was safe. She was totally sweet and told me it happens all the time---better safe than sorry. TRUE, but I wish the "safe" feeling hadn't taken 40 minutes to occur. Now Darling Dearest thinks this is his way of getting a gun for the house. YIKES!

Needless to say, I'm still all shaken up. In fact, I have yet to hop in the shower again to wash out this pumpkin hair mask. Hopefully, I'll at least have gloriously moisturized hair to make up for all the extra gray hair I surely have sprouted in the last couple hours. Well, before my hair gets so greasy it starts sliding off my head, I should probably try AGAIN to finish up my shower.

Oh, rats!!!

The other night, I headed out to the grill to start making dinner when I noticed......

POOP!

It was on the side of the grill where you'd set the plate, grilling utensils, etc. I had a sneaky suspicion that it was mouse poop, but I was REALLY in denial hoping it wasn't. I made a mental note to have Darling Dearest check out the scene. Last night, he went to look at the grill and see what he thought.

All of the sudden, the sliding door is slammed shut, the doggy door is rapidly closed, our dogs are called inside, and the hubby is looking like he just saw a ghost. He's got the heeby geebies. What in the world happened??

A RAT!! That's what happened!

Darling Dearest opened up the bottom portion of the grill expecting to find a little mouse, when he saw a big old rat. IN.OUR. GRILL. Yep, a rat's been hanging out where we cook our food. Did I mention that we grilled hot dogs out there the other night WHILE the rat was in there? As if hot dogs aren't nasty enough (while oh, so tasty) I don't know how he missed it, but Darling Dearest thought he'd just made a mess while cooking (mistaking the poop for a food mess?? I have no idea!). Our dogs have also been sniffing around the grill all week, but we didn't think much of it.

I've gotta say that even if it was a baby mouse...I'd still be creeped the heck out. But, a RAT!!! I couldn't concentrate. I was having a hard time finishing my dinner. IT was out there--in.our.grill. I was standing right next to it in my bare feet the other day when I went to cook the chicken. UGH! Even thinking of it now sends chills up my spine.

Darling Dearest and I sat inside to discuss the plan of attack. It was a war against the rat. Hubby got all geared up to dispose of the rat. His gloves her tucked into his sweatshirt and he was armed with a shovel and rake. Gardening tools to the rescue!! I couldn't stand the thought of anything that was going to go on, so I took Bug and the dogs upstairs for our bedtime routine.

SMASH, CRASH, SMASH!!

How many rats were there?? This full-on war was LOUD! Was he killing a whole rat army?? Turns out....nope! The rat was gone. He turned the whole yard around in search of our furry little friend. NOTHING! So we sent out the dogs....NOTHING! The rat had vanished!!

While I'm happy that we didn't have to kill a rat (by we, I mean Darling Dearest), the thought that it's out there---somewhere---freaks me out. I imagine it crawling in through our doggy door and into our house to feast on our food and sleep in our beds. UGH!!! There won't be sweet dreams for me for a while.

Parable of the Poop

What has become of me?? I've been blessed enough to stay home with Bug since she's been born. That means, 9 + months away from the classroom. The former teacher in me wants to find lessons everywhere, and today I reached a new low........

POOP!!

The monologue conversation with Bug this morning during our diaper changing went something like this:

Me: Wow, you're one stinky girl. Did you go poo-poo?? (why we ask questions when we know they're not going to answer is beyond my understanding)

Me: Yes, you did. That's one little poop, but boy do you smell (said while throwing up in my mouth--just a little).

Me: I guess today's lesson for you (Bug) is that even though you're small, you can really pack a big punch!!


So I guess my Parable of the Poop is the modern-day translation of the verse, "Do not let anyone look down on you because you are young." First Timothy 4:12

Ahhh, the teachable moment! Teacher of the year right here!! Hehe!  :-P

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!!!