Funny

Gabe's newest word is "funny!" It is so adorable. He will knock down some blocks, laugh, and say "funny!" Little does he know how funny he really is. He also calls all animals "horse" and any moving vehicle he calls "truck". I will often hear Evelyn correcting him in the back seat. "No Gabe. That's a bus. B-u-u-u-u-s-s-s. Buh Buh Bus."

Evelyn has a new favorite outfit, which she has now worn two days in a row. She actually asked to get dressed this morning, which never, ever happens. I usually have to keep after her for about 15 or 20 minutes to get herself dressed. And, since she is 3, there is no way she is going to let anyone help her get dressed. I am thinking it might be interesting to see just how many days in a row she will want to wear the same outfit. I will have to sneak it out to wash it, but if she is going to volunteer to get dressed herself, and do so quickly and happily, why should I care if she wears the same outfit all month long?

Yesterday, I looked into little Gabe's mouth, and he has a molar! And not just the beginnings of a molar, but a full fledged one, and another on the way. I feel like such a slacker mom, because I was totally oblivious to it. It did not just break through recently from the looks of it. I would guess it has been there for a few weeks...at least. Maybe it is because I have been engrossed in Harry Potter for several months now. I just finished the last book today. Loved it.

My ring finger problem persists. It is so weird. I have never had this issue before even though I have been wearing it for 6+ years. I keep getting this painful red rash underneath it. Oddly, the same thing happened to my sister several years ago, and she turned out to have a nickel allergy. So, she can't wear her wedding band anymore. I am hoping it is not the same thing for me.

Tonight, I am making chicken stock. I always freeze chicken bones, necks, etc until I have enough to make some stock. This time I had a bit of a breakthrough with my technique. I am a very Mastering-the-Art-of-French cooking kind of cook. I love perfection in food. So the fact that my stock was sometimes too cloudy, really bugged me.

I was using the wrong spoon to skim off the impurities. That's it. When I showed Joe my new skimming tool, he said that my new spoon would have been that one he would have chosen, too. Next time I need cooking advice, I will ask him.

Evelyn's first day of preschool

Today was the first day of preschool. Evelyn was very shy. I asked her if she talked to any of the other kids, and she said no. She told me she was too shy. I guess she will be fine, but it is really hard for me to sit back and watch her play all by herself. Not only that, but she looks down at the ground, and turns away when other kids talk to her. She usually talks to adults just fine, but kids seem to intimidate her. I am just trying to reassure her that the other kids want to be friends with her. I am really trying not to criticize her for it.

Tonight, I got out my guitar for the first time since before Gabe was born. I am a really crappy guitar player, mostly because I never practice. But, I really wanna get better. It just doesn't come naturally to me. I only got through about one song before I had to give my fingers a rest.

I have not been wearing my wedding band/engagement ring for the past few days, because I keep getting this rash underneath it. It has happened twice in the past two weeks. I think it is a fungal infection, but I always think everything is a fungal infection. I had shingles right after Evelyn was born, and I swore it was a fungal infection until my doctor told me otherwise.

So, if you see me not wearing my wedding ring, don't start thinking my marriage is on the rocks. Its nothing a little Lotrimin can't handle.

Tagged by mg

RULES:
1. You can only say Yes or No!
2. You are NOT ALLOWED to explain ANYTHING unless someone messages you and asks!
3. Tag 5 people to complete the survey!
—————————————-
————–Danced in front of your mirror naked? Yes
Ever told a lie? Yes
Had feelings for someone who didn’t have them back? Yes
Kissed someone of the same sex? Yes
Kissed a picture? Yes
Slept in until 5 PM? No
Had sex at work? No
Fallen asleep at work/school? Yes
Held a snake? Yes
Ran a red light? Yes
Been suspended from school? Yes
Totaled your car/motorbike in an accident? Yes
Been fired from a job? No
Sang karaoke? Yes
Done something you told yourself you wouldn’t? Yes
Laughed until something you were drinking came out your nose? Yes
Caught a snowflake on your tongue? yes
Kissed in the rain? Yes
Sang in the shower? Yes
Gave your private parts a nickname? No
Sat on a roof top? Yes
Been pushed into a pool with all your clothes on? No
Broken a bone? Yes
Shaved your head? No
Slept naked? Yes
Blacked out from drinking? Yes
Played a prank on someone? Yes
Had a gym membership? Yes
Felt like killing someone? Yes
Made your girlfriend/boyfriend/spouse cry? Yes
Cried over someone you were in love with? Yes
Had sex more than 4 times in one day? No
Had Mexican jumping beans for pets? No
Been in a band? Yes
Subscribed to Maxim? No
Tripped on mushrooms? No
Donated Blood? Yes
Video taped yourself having sex? No
Eaten alligator meat? No
Eaten cheesecake? Yes
Still love someone you shouldn’t? No
Have a tattoo? No
I tag Maureen, and Becky S. I know I am supposed to tag 3 more, but everyone I know has already been tagged, sorta.

Ok, now I am tagging Charles Okonkwo. Charles YOU NEED A BLOG!!!! I would read it.

Joe's family just left. They visited us today. It was a really nice visit. Evelyn is really getting into having grandparents. She used to be a little more shy, but now she just talks up a storm. She was really badly behaved at times, but overall, her cuteness made her completely irresistable. I did not give her any snacks all afternoon, and at dinner she kept saying "Oh mommy, this is the best hamburger I have ever had. This is the best watermelon I ever had." And so on. I think no snacks in the afternoon is here to stay.

More soon.

Yesterday, Gabe slept until 7:30am. We would have been in shock over it if it hadn't been for the fact that he cried off and on from 3:30am until 5am. But, today, he is back to his old tricks, so I guess it was a fluke.

Gabe has started talking a bit. Here are his words:

• thank you
• uh-oh
• more
• milk
• daddy

I am sure there are more, but I just can't remember them right now, and it is still in that phase where most people cannot tell that he is saying anything. He understands everything we say to him, and he usually does what we ask. I just started doing time-out with him this week. I don't think I started this young with Evelyn. She was a little more mild mannered at this age than Gabe is, and I am a little wiser the second time around.

After vomitting yesterday, Evelyn was passing on some of her experience to her doll baby. She kept changing her doll's clothes and would say to her, "Oh baby, we have to change your clothes because you got vomit on them". What a good mommy.

Some of you may know from talking to me that Gabe has been waking up every day at around 5 or 5:30am for about 6-8 weeks now. But....this week...he has slept a bit later on two days. One day he woke up around 4am and cried off and on for 10 minutes, then slept until 6:30. And today, he woke up at 5:30, but he went back to sleep after a quick diaper change.

Ohmigosh! Could this stage of crack-of-dawn-waking be coming to an end? I hope so.

Last week, I sorta had a little revelation, thanks in part to an insightful friend who was praying for me. I need to stop trying to micro-manage my kids....even when they wake up every day at 5:30am. So, I am trying to let it be right now.

I love the age that Gabe is right now. He is 14 months. He's starting to talk here and there, and he and Evelyn are getting along a little better. This morning, Gabe was tickling Evelyn's feet. So cute. He loves getting into the recycling (he's very eco-contious), and he takes off as fast as he can when I say "put that down" or "what do you have in your mouth?" He understands everything I say.

As for Evelyn, she woke up crying this morning. She said her tummy hurt. We came downstairs and she vomitted twice, and then slept on a blanket on the floor for about an hour. She seems fine ever since. Her appetite is back, but we are on the BRAT diet for the rest of today. Does anyone know if something is going around?

Weekend with the in-laws

Well, we got back yesterday from a weekend in Indiana. Maureen had to pray for me the day that we left town to head over that way, because I sorta have a crummy attitude about visiting with Joe's family.

It was a pretty good time. The kids didn't get enough sleep, but they never do when you are visiting family. Joe's mom always makes homemade ice cream for the July 4th holiday, and since she was having everyone over on Saturday, that is what we did. Two flavors--vanilla and peanut butter. Now, normally, I LOVE peanut butter anything. But, I am a bit of an ice cream snob, I must admit, so this particular ice cream is not my thing. All around, I ate way too much sugar. I hate that.

I also nearly broke my ass playing soccer with one of the cousins. Seriously, I fell right on my hind-quarters and did not break my fall at all on the way down. It hurt like hell, and I have a pretty high tolerance for pain. I actually took two Aleve. I never take pain medication. I have been trying to make myself remember to take pain medication when I am in pain, lately. Some pharmacist I am, huh?

We were exhausted yesterday when we got home, and the kids were really messed up. Gabe took forever to fall asleep. He was hysterical. Poor little guy. Fortunately Joe's folks don't really have much of an expectation that we will visit them except for this one time in the summer. They always come over to visit us. I know they are trying really hard to do things to show us that they love us. Like, they hardly turned the television on at all. And, they did not get out the camera right as we were getting in the car to leave and the kids were falling apart. I am very thankful for those two things, and I am going to try to focus on that as much as I can.

The Cliks- Oh Yeah

I finally found this song. I have been looking for this. I can't stop singing it.

My inner rock star

I have a rock star somewhere inside of me. I just know it. But I gotta go look for her if I want her to come out. She is just so tired of trying so hard to be a rock star when there is so much other crap to do. Boring, mundane crap. So I don't really have time to get her out much. I just keep telling her to wait. I think that might be a mistake in the long run, but its not really something that I ponder much. It just happens.

I need to give her a name.

More later.

Our siding is done! It took one day. The crew started at about 7am, took a break between 9am and 11am because they were waiting on the siding to arrive, and finished by 6pm. They were a great crew, very polite, and the foreman wanted to make sure that we were happy with the siding. Some of our plants got a little trampled, but we were warned that would be the case. The house looks great, and we are really pleased with the job, especially since it has been totally free. We are even getting money back. :)

I was struck by the contrast between the painting crew and the siding crew. They were here on consecutive days, and that made it easy to compare the two. The painting crew didn't start until 10am and they were ready to leave by 4pm, even though the job was not finished at that time. I had been at home all day because they told me that I needed to be there so they could paint the doors, and then we would need to let the doors stand open for several hours afterward so they could dry. So when 3:30pm came, and they had not started on the doors, I called our contractor to see if he could light a fire under the owner. I did not want to be stuck home all day again the next day. The owner came over and painted the doors himself.

The siding crew, on the other hand....well, you just should have seen them. I don't think they wasted a single minute. And they cleaned up WAY better than the painting crew. I wasn't looking to compare the two crews. It's just that the difference was so incredibly obvious, that you would have to be asleep to miss it.

I can never remember what I want to blog about when I sit down at my computer. Does anyone else have this problem? I am sure that I have lots to say, but I never get around to it because I can't remember any of it.

The biggest news that I forgot to blog about is Evelyn's thumb sucking. She has quit cold turkey, pretty much all by herself. At her 3 year checkup in April, her pediatrician talked her out of sucking her thumb when she was not in her crib, but she still sucked her thumb at night and at naptime. I would even catch her doing it sometimes when she was watching tv, but she stuck to Dr. Anne's recommendation pretty closely. But, one night about a month ago, she noticed that her thumb had shrivelly skin on it from her thumb sucking (like when your hands have been in water for too long). She asked me what it was, and I told her it was from her thumb sucking. She said it was scratchy, asked me to wipe it off, and said she did not want to suck her thumb any more. Amazingly, she totally quit at that point. I think this is a remarkable accomplishment for a 3 year old.

The next biggest thing that I forgot to blog about was a conversation that Evelyn and I had about buttholes. She wanted to know if I had a butthole, if Gabe had one, and if Daddy had one. I kept telling her to stop saying butthole, but I was also laughing so hard that it probably egged her on a bit. When Joe got home that night, the first thing Evelyn said was "Daddy, we talked about buttholes today". I was so proud.

That is about all I have forgotten....that I can remember.

So, today, we had some painters at our house. Painting. And now, I am like..."why didn't we paint like forever ago?". It makes a big difference. We had all of the trim painted white, and the doors painted black. Tomorrow, or someday soon, we will be getting sand colored siding.

The only bad part, is that there is no way the kids will sleep through the siding job. So, I am not sure if I want to be around for that.

Gabe's first birthday and more....

Happy birthday buddy! Gabe's birthday was actually yesterday (the 20th). I was going to have a big party, but we decided not to. Gabe is not really going to know the difference. At one year, he is already walking really well, but not much talking yet. He has started imitating me, he laughs out loud, and he will give me a kiss if I ask him for one. I could eat him up. He is so laid back compared to Evelyn.

Enough about kids....we are getting new siding!!!!! It is as a result of the hail storm back in October. We are finally getting around to it. I think it might happen this week. We get some painting, too. I cannot wait. Our old siding is aluminum, and it is pitted, old, and ugly. Goodbye ugly siding!

This morning Evelyn and I were in my room. She had been up for 20 minutes, and I was getting dressed. So she told me she was going downstairs, which is totally fine with me. Ten or fifteen minutes later I went downstairs, and I didn't see her anywhere, but the basement door was open, so I assumed she went down to the basement. "Evelyn? Are you down here?" I looked around the basement, and didn't see her. There is only one other place she could be. Evelyn never used to be brave enough to go outside by herself, but recently, that has all changed. She is allowed to be in the back yard by herself, but never without permission. I looked at the front door. Locked. The side door. Oh God. It's unlocked. Oh God. EVELYN?! EVELYN?! The back yard...empty. Garage...empty. My level of panic increasing exponentially with every passing second, I ran out front, still calling her name. She wasn't in the front yard. It is at this point that I know that this story could end very badly because I have no idea where else to look except for up and down the streets. Then I heard another voice besides mine. It wasn't Evelyn's. It was one of our neighbor's voices--a woman in her bathrobe who had apparently come out to get the paper and saw Evelyn. The woman was saying, "She's right here", but it seems like it took me forever to figure out what she was saying. My thoughts were racing. Then I saw Evelyn. She was just standing on the retaining wall in our neighbor's front yard. When I got to her, she was a little scared. I don't think she was scared of being there alone, but it scared her when she saw how I was acting and because the other neighbor lady was asking her questions. We talked about how she broke the rules and why it is not safe for her to be alone without my permission/supervision. To her, it was no big deal.

Later, I asked Evelyn if she had unlocked the door by herself. She said yes. I asked her to show me how she did it. She couldn't do it again. I think she just got lucky, but I know that soon, she will be able to do it by herself every time. I have such mixed emotions about Evelyn maturing, as does every parent. I am so proud that she is not afraid to go outside by herself. But I want to make sure that she never does it again. Sort of.

Don't laugh...

I really want to start a cosmetics review blog. You know, we have the CV cooking blog, why not the CV makeup blog? Its just that, when I score a great find in the world of beauty, I just want to spread the love around and let everyone know. Seriously, does that make me so bad?

The kids are driving me nuts today! Mainly just Gabe. He never wants to take an afternoon nap. I know I have just spoiled him by repeatedly going back into his room after putting him down and then rocking him to sleep. But it is a hard one to break since Evelyn is trying to sleep right next door. He was sick last week, so things got a little out of hand. Tonight we begin baby boot camp. Ugh.