Updates and Photos

I finally downloaded some pictures. Here is our life from the last few months:

My in laws visited. Here is my MIL making bread with the kids.



Then my brother in law visited with his wife and my niece, Claire. Here are the three kids:



A few weeks later we took our kids to a nearby farm. Here is Ainsley with a baby pig.



And Brandon with a goat.


And Ainsley riding a pony.


And Brandon riding a pony. (The pony rides were $4 per child, people. I am posting the pictures!)
Then we picked peaches - after all, it was a peach festival.


Then it was Brandon's last day of kindergarten. He got the "milky way" award for most creative and imaginative.
Then the kids all sang/screamed out the lyrics to 4 songs.


And we got a new puppy!!! She's a mastiff - her name is Maya.



Here she is meeting our other dog - Kali. (the stupid, but lovable daschund). Kali wont be the bigger dog for long!(Please ignore my filthy area rug. I didn't realize how dirty it was til I looked at these pictures)

Happy Halloween!

Here's the slideshow of the kids - they had a great time!

My Baby Girl

You turn three today - baby girl. Even though you still tell me that "i two anna half!" when I ask you how old you are - I know the truth. You are growing up before my eyes. You came into my life quite unexpectedly and continue to surprise me everyday. I LOVE LOVE LOVE having a little girl, and love how we are starting to do girly things together. Here you are - as you turn three:



Sometimes you don't look quite so precious:

But you'll always be my baby

Birthday Slideshow

What I did on my summer vacation

I've been gone for a couple of months - taking a little break from blogging. Here are some upcoming posts I would like to write:

• Why my whole family had a mustache at the cabin.

• Brandelion's first day of school - guess who cried?

• I'm twice as busy at work because everyone keeps quitting.

• How to get heat exhaustion by drinking too much water when moving a family of four all by yourself in 110 degree heat (subtitled, how to get your wife to come home early and drive you to the doctor)

I guess I'll leave for now with a couple of shots of Drama Queen who has been quite a trooper through all of the recent changes. I wish I could fall asleep like this!

Pictures!

I realize these photos are a bit random, but they are a snapshot into my life...

DramaQueen's latest performance was pretending to be asleep. So Hubby also pretended to be asleep. Trust me, if his glasses are on - he's awake!

She kept saying - look mommy I 'seep!

The dog - not so fond of the flash going off!

Brandelion does yoga. He follows the Rodney Yee videos, and insists on doing yoga with no shirt. He's actually getting pretty good!

My Grandmother, who the kids call Grandma JoJo sent them Easter ears.

Brandelion liked them, until I got the camera out. Then I think he started to consider that maybe he didn't want his picture taken looking silly. He shouldn't worry, though. I'll wait until he is on at least the second date with a girl before I pull this one out.

Here is DramaQueen asleep for real, after having all of her requirements met. She has to have the sippy cup. And then she has to have her baby (swaddled, of course). Finally, she has to have her own blanket. This is a photo of what may have been her last nap for a while. I think she's given them up.

Don't send out the search party

I'm just a bad, bad blogger.

You don't care how my life has been busy, work has been crazy, just finished a jury trial and about to start another one...blah blah freakin blah.

At least I didn't let it go a month without posting. Here are the highlights:

My job has gotten EXPONENTIALLY (hah! and I said I'd never use math!) busier and I can no longer really post from work (although, I am doing it right now - stickin it to the man). Also, by the time I get home, I am barely willing to expend the energy to help feed the kids and get them to bed.

If you want a true accounting of my exhaustion, just ask my frustrated, yet VERY understanding, hubby. He hasn't complained, and I mean not even once. Eventually, I'll get used to my new pace. I've taken a bunch of pictures (well at least 10 or 12) in the last month, and I'll try to post some.

The kiddos are still adorable, and doing and saying cute stuff. DramaQueen can climb out of her crib now - making for tons of fun early in the morning for AtHomeHubby.

We have been agonizing over kindergarten enrollment, and didn't get into the one school we really wanted (we are on the waitlist), so, he is enrolled for fall in full day kindergarten at our district school. This is an entirely different post - we have just gone round and round on this subject.

This past weekend my parents were in town overnight, and we went to the Phoenix Museum of Art (I'd put a link, but I'm just that lazy - google it if you want to check it out) and the kids had a great time. Brandelion told me yesterday that he LOVED his "cheesy cake". This took me a minute to figure out, but then it dawned on me - we went to Cheesecake Factory (feel free, once again, to google it), and he had pizza and "cheesy" cake. Cute!

We have set a vacation in July - and I am PSYCHED. We are going to this cabin for 3 nights with my inlaws, and my brother in law and his family, including my adorable niece who will be about eight months old.

Okay, thanks for enduring the boring "catch up" post. I will try to keep up with it more.

The Grass is Greener on the Weekend

One of the big advantages in my move to downtown is the compressed work week schedule. Essentially, I get to go into to work at the ridiculously early hour of 7:00 and work "80 in 9" - 80 hours in 9 days, and then I get a Friday off - so...every other weekend is a three day weekend!

FRIDAY

This past weekend was my first "flex day" and I sure enjoyed it. We spent Friday going to the gym (work out with hubby!), the grocery store, and the mall (JCPenny - working gal needs a new suit!). Then the kids and I headed off to the library while AtHomeHubby went to work for the evening.

And, can I just say, love love love the local library. Even though our local branch doesn't have much to speak of here is my method: (1) find books I want on Amazon; (2) go to the County-wide library web site and find the same books; (3) request a hold on the books; (4) wait for an email telling me to go pick up books at the local branch. To me, it feels like shopping for free, and I have been reading a lot of vacuous "chick-lit" and I love it!

After the library, I made a healthy *NOT* dinner for the kids. Do tater tots count as a vegetable? Who cares! They had fun. While hubby was at work, I zoned out and watched TV - my idea of a perfect evening, at least, when I am tired and hubby is at work.

SATURDAY

Saturday did not go so smoothly. You see, I was feeling guilty for being in a bad mood last weekend and wanted to make it up to the fam. So, I found this chili festival going on about 45 minutes from where we live. Lured by the promises of "games for the kids" "lots of great food" "classic car and motorcycle show", etc, we decided to go.

In the words of the immortal Julia Roberts:

BIG MISTAKE. HUGE.

The entire event was windy, loud, boring, and expensive. We stuck it out about 2 hours, and then Brandelion said, "mommy, it's too cold here (windy, actually son), can we go back to the desert where it's hot?" So, off we went, back home to where the temperatures were over 70.

Unfortunately, little miss Drama Queen did not want to go home. Well, she did, she just wanted to sit in the other seat in the van. A couple of weeks ago, I let the kids switch, and now she wants to switch everytime. We told her no, hubby had to physically force her into her seatbelt, and she SCREAMED bloody murder for about 20 minuntes.

We managed to get home, rest for a bit, do dinner and put the kiddos down to bed. Hubby and I had a nice evening, even though we were both pretty worn out from the Crappy Chili Festival.

SUNDAY

Sunday we continued our new found commitment to going to church. It is sometimes hard for us to go, but we are always glad we do. Brandelion is starting to adjust to going to Sunday school, which we find encouraging given that he starts kindergarten next year. After, we headed out for Chinese food which went exceptionally well. Drama Queen however seemed to be trying to tell everyone in the restaurant that she went potty - but the waitress and the other diners seemed to take it in stride.

We headed home, and hubby, once again, headed off to work, only to return very early because the restaurant was VERY slow, and now that the minimum wage in our state went up his managers are very attuned to labor costs. It was a nice surprise to get to hang out with him for an hour or so before I had to head off to bed ridiculously early in anticipation of my 5 am wake up call.

All, in all, a nice weekend, and now I am back at work. At least I actually feel rested.

And yes, I know this was a VERY boring post - but, my life is pretty simple sometimes, and I like it that way. Thanks for indulging me.

My sweet girl

You know how some days you just find yourself totally in love with your kid? That happened to me last week, and inspired me to pick up the camera.

Enjoy.

DramaQueen needs a video too

This is DramaQueen getting her things gathered for bed.... (this came out way too dark -- but, still cute)



And the end result:

Yes, that's right, a blanket UNDERNEATH her...why fight it?

Fun With Technology

I have finally figured out a cool way to get pictures on this blog. Special thanks to Amanda at Mommy Diary Tales who helped me out with my HTML code.

Without further adieu -

What a fun Christmas we had!

It was a dark and stormy weekend

We had a rough weekend. It rained/drizzled both days and was cold (for Phoenix). Saturday, neither AtHomeHubby or I felt like even leaving the house - so we didn't. Cabin fever was rampant - AtHomeHubby slept until noon, after a long Friday night shift at the restaurant. By the time he got up - I was pretty frustrated with the kids - needless to say, we were just glad for bedtime.

Yesterday was better - we went to the gym (I haven't lost any more, but I'm holding steady) and the grocery store, watched football, AtHomeHubby went to work at 5:00, I made chili - and, OH YEAH - DramaQueen became obsessed with the potty.

We bought a kid sized potty seat for DramaQueen, and also put her in pull ups. She really seems to like the following pattern.

1. Put on new pull-up
2. Play for a while
3. Go potty in the pull up
4. Declare that she needs to go potty
5. Sit on potty
6. Declare, "I POTTY!!! Yea!!"
7. Flush lots of toilet paper
8. Repeat

I think she actually went once - but, as AtHomeHubby put it when he checked - too much toilet paper to be sure.

When we went through this with Brandelion - he was in daycare, and, to be honest, they did most of the work for us! I guess we're on our own.

Another milestone

Two days ago DramaQueen wanted to sit on the potty (we still need to buy a kid sized potty), so she sat on the big one. She promptly pooped and was very proud.

Time for us to start the potty training. She seems even more ready than we are.

And yes, this was yet another (albeit icky) milestone I missed because I was at work.

Once again, commence guilt.

Still here..

A series of computer problems plagued my long weekend...but, I'm still here. First, a weight loss update - I'm down 2 more pounds for a total of 13 lost!!! Woo hoo!! We had a very nice weekend - Saturday 1/13 was my wedding anniversary (6 years) and also AtHomeHubby's birthday.

The kids and I snuck out of the house Saturday morning to buy party supplies - Brandelion was SET on having a surprise party for him. AtHomeHubby calls me while I am at the store - he woke up much earlier than I thought he would. I quietly informed him that he needed to go back to bed to be "surprised" in about 20 minutes. It worked out well, Brandelion picked out a racecar theme for his dad's birthday and DramaQueen enjoyed shouting " 'prise!!" We had cake (at 10:30 in the morning!) and I made breakfast.

For our annivesary, as we are short on funds, we decided to check out a big Asian supermarket that we had never tried. We felt like we had been transported overseas, and had a bit of culture shock -- we felt quite tall, and also, quite cramped, given that we Americans have an expectation of more personal space than other cultures. The kids loved looking at the the fish, crabs, and lobsters in the tank. I didn't have the heart to explain why the creatures were at a grocery store. Yikes!

We bought sushi making supplies and had an "in house" date after the kids went to bed. We made california rolls, shrimp hand rolls, and smoked salmon rolls. They came out pretty good, especially for a first attempt at sushi making.

As a side note - AtHomeHubby is a great cook, and I am decent at following a recipe, but usually leave it to him. When it comes to sushi though - it seems I have a knack! It was fun to make something for the person who is always cooking me all sorts of yummy stuff!

Overall, the kids stayed in bed and we had a nice night in - celebrating our six years together. It made me very nostalgic - and I just kept looking at him thinking how lucky I am and how much I love him.

Reason to lose #3 - I want to be healthy and married for a really, really long time!

Maybe if I put it in writing

I turn thirty this year on September 11th. YIKES. I am realtively happy with my life with the exception of my weight. It started creeping on in college (too much Lucky Charms and beer) and then only got worse each time I got pregnant. Really its my fault - lack of activity and eating too much crap. After AtHomeHubby and I went through a stressful year right after DramaQueen was born, I gained even more. In October, AtHomeHubby and I started a 4 week challenge for me to lose weight.

Side note: AtHomeHubby is a personal trainer who is not working in that capacity right now. He has an amazing body, but, like all beautiful people, is always trying to improve it. He is considering entering a body building competition this year - so, he is trying add mass while I am trying to lose it!

Between October and Christmas I lost 10 pounds. I held steady over Christmas, and have lost maybe one pound or so since. I would like to lose another 53 pounds between now and my birthday. That's about 34 weeks away (less than a pregnancy!) and works out to losing about 1.5 pounds a week - a lofty goal. So, I'm going to post about it, in the hopes that being accountable, at least to my blog, will help me stay on track. So, today, went to the gym 45 minutes of cardio. No major food slip ups.

I am going to post a weekly (or more often) reason I want to lose weight. Here goes:
REASON #1: I want to lose weight because then I will physically look like I belong with my husband. Right now, whenever we go somewhere (particularly the gym), I always imagine people thinking, "what is he doing with her??"
There, that's a good first reason. More to come...

He just might be a lawyer someday

Hearkening back to my days in law school, my son, Brandelion, and I had an "argument." You see, about a year ago when he was 4 he just walked out the front door one day. By the time I figured it out, he was across the street and down about 4 houses. After catching up with him and simultaneously sobbing and yelling at him to "NEVER DO THAT AGAIN!!!!" I employed AtHomeHubby with the job of installing a lock of some sort on our front door, up high. So, for about a year we have had sort of a sliding lock (like a door chain)....

Long story short, when I got home today AtHomeHubby was in the back of the house with DramaQueen (age 2), and when I tried to open the front door, the latch was keeping it closed, so I couldn't get in. I was just about to call AtHomeHubby's cell phone, when I heard the door unlock. Brandelion had pushed an ottoman over by the door and undone the lock.

Here's the conversation:

Me: Hi ... did you unlock the door?

Brandelion: Yes! (Proud...) I helped you.

Me: Thanks, but what's the rule about opening the door? You're not supposed to do it AT ALL, even for mommy.

Brandelion: But, mom, I didn't open the door - I just helped!

Me: It's the same thing -- don't do it -- it's dangerous.

Brandelion: But I didn't do it, I just helped you do it!

Oh my god - He is splitting hairs just like a lawyer! Next I am going to have to explain accomplice liability - if you help commit a crime it is the same as being the one who committed it!