"I want Eeeeeeee"

Oh man, that is all I hear these days. I have been doing the alphabet with Reis on a website called Starfall.com and if I have done it once, I have done it a million times. I have all of them memorized as in what Starfall has after each letter..."e" is for egg, "s" is for snake, "i" is for igloo...need I say more? I love that he asks for it and wants to learn. I just wish I could find another site for something a little new...something, anything I'll take it:)

Ladies Night!!!!!!!

A couple of gals are going to grab dinner tonight, see the Time Traveler's Wife, and then grab drinks afterward. I am very excited. I think having a night out keeps me sane. Alan is going to take Reis to his girlfriend's house so the "men" can have a beer and the kiddos can play. It's so nice to have a theater, BJ's Brewhouse, and of course a Chick fil a literally right around the corner. I could walk if I was feeling frisky:)

Reis has a girlfriend

I don't think he realizes he does but according to Anna, she is his girlfriend. We were at the pool yesterday and Anna declared Reis was handsome and therefore, her boyfriend. So cute.

She's only 3, Reis looks like a baby standing next to her.

So very neat

Why didn't they have this kind of stuff when we were growing up? Crayons for the bathtub and dye to turn the water all these neat shades. I am tempted to steal them for my bath time:)

Forever

It feels like forever since I have blogged. I stayed with my mom for a week and a half for my surgery and she doesn't have internet. I have never felt so disconnected in my life...sad to say. I even started working the hubby for a Blackberry and he's slowly caving but now it may be iPhones for us both...woohoo. Anyway, back to where I was going with this. My surgery went well, it was the days following that were interesting. You can't eat after 12 the night before surgery and mine was scheduled for 12:15 so I hadn't eaten since 6 the day before. They actually took me back at 2:15. Everything went well, 2 hours and I was done. First thing I managed to say coherently was Chick-fil-a. My glorious new boob first meal. That was all I ate and then dozed off until the morning. I got up starving to make myself breakfast and started getting dizzy, hot, and sweaty. I knew what was coming so I sat in the chair and managed to call mom from her bed. Before I knew it, I was out cold...fainted. I have done this a couple of times before. My mom freaks out and calls 911. I came to shortly thereafter so she hung up and they called back to make sure I was ok. Just like to keep my mom on her toes is what I tell her. So, the next day, July 4th, I told mom to go do what she wanted I was content to lie in bed and watch some good reality tv. She got dressed and was about to leave and I told her my legs were numb, especially the right one. It felt like they were asleep and wouldn't wake up. I started to walk around thinking that would help to no avail. My mom started freaking out thinking it may be a blood clot but we didn't want to bother my Doctor; it was July 4th. We called his office and left a message but made the mistake of not paging him. So, off to the ER we go...woohoo...rockin 4th for me. We waited for 2 hours, my Dr. called and said he would have told us to stay home, and the ER doc said it was probably a weird thing due to the anesthesia. Go figure, something like this would happen to me. I guess I can say these pups are already working out pretty well. The Dr. gave me his card and said to call him if I had any trouble and he would get me right back without waiting...alrighty, I'll take that. Thanks Dr. Kirbo! The numbness mostly went away but the top of my right foot is still numb but I can tell it's slowly fading. The surgery was way worth it. I was sore the next day and couldn't lift my arms but by day 3 I was able to move around pretty easily. They are wayyy better than before I got pregnant...it's crazy! I would recommend it to all mothers anywhere and everywhere.

Judge Ye Not

Well, Thursday is the big day for me. Call me selfish or whatever but mommy is getting the girls a little overhaul...aka, a lift. No more than necessary, I would just like them where God intended them to be...before children. I am uber excited and a little nervous but my doctor is a longtime family friend so I know I will be fine. I am heading to Tallahassee on Tuesday, have my pre-op Wednesday, and then the finale on Thursday...yay! I may not be saying that on Thursday when the pain sets in. My rebuttal to those who ask if I am worried about the pain would be the one thing childbirth WILL prepare you for is any procedure postbaby. I believe there is nothing in comparison to the pain of childbirth so I think I can handle it. I will be happy to give anyone referrals if wanted:)

A little bit of seriousness

I'm not sure if anyone has ever dealt with someone with an addiction, but I feel like it is almost a death. Our family has been through the ringer and is still there with a glimpse of hope in sight. I have felt like an only child now for many years with the exception being that a lot of the time my problems came in a close second to my sister's. I was not allowed to have problems because hers often overshadowed mine. And, that's ok. I just want my sister back. I want her to know my son and my son to know her. And right now, he has no clue who she is. She has missed out on 2 wonderful years of being an aunt to a precious little boy. Not to mention a sister that I could call to complain about what I thought were "real" problems of mine at the time, someone who knows you better than anyone else...literally, your other half, one I can hang out with or spend a weekend at the beach, shop with, all those little things that sisters do and thrive on. I have not had that in a long time. Part of me is so angry about everything. But, I have to think her problem is bigger than one she can fix on her own. She has been given another gift or chance which is an offer to enter a treatment program called Teen Challenge. It is Christian based and a year long AND they have agreed to take her for free...it is not cheap. I hope this is an answer to prayers that have been sent up for a long, long time. I need and want a sister and my parents want a daughter...not one but two.

Gunky the Monkey

Reis had named his monkey that we NEVER go anywhere without "Gunky." It is so cute. He is starting to develop his own personality sometimes bad but for the most part he is pretty good. Although I wonder, is it normal for toddlers to sleep a lot at this age? By no means am I complaining but he sleeps a lot. Today he got up at 8:30 and I put him down for a nap around 1 and he didn't get up until 4:15...crazy! I am about to put him to bed and it's 8 so he gets his 12 hours in for sure. And, he goes through phases where he eats and then doesn't. I swear he has been 23 pounds for a year now...so tall and thin. But, I have to say, he is pretty darn cute.

Alan's mom took this pic and had it made as wall art with no frame for our new house...I had a fit.

Nothing to blog about

I haven't been feeling "bloggy" these days. Nothing exciting here really. We have moved and are settling in. My mom has been here for the past couple days but is headed back today. I told her she should buy the place next to us and be my full time nanny. I don't know that it will ever happen. According to her, we live in the "big city" and everything is confusing to her. I am proud she made it down here for the second time although it was quite interesting. I told her to call me when she got off the exit. I didn't think she would have to hang up the phone every time she had to switch lanes...it was pretty funny.

Alan went to Ft. Lauderdale this past weekend to see his family. He won $300 at the Hard Rock playing black jack. I told him that was payment for him being able to go out and me being home. I guess because we are mothers we will forever be the primary caretakers but sometimes it can be a little frustrating because you just want to get away too. It's not that easy though. It seems like it's a given that we take care of the little ones. Some days can be really challenging. I guess it comes with the age but you feel like pulling your hair out at times. I'm sure all mothers can relate. Anyway, hope all is well with everyone in blog land:)

This is pretty good

Subject: Installing a Husband...

INSTALLING A HUSBAND:

Dear Tech Support,

Last year I upgraded from Boyfriend 5.0 to Husband 1.0 and noticed a distinct slow down in overall system performance, particularly in the flower and jewelry applications, which operated flawlessly under Boyfriend 5.0.

In addition, Husband 1.0 uninstalled many other valuable programs, such as Romance 9.5 and Personal Attention 6.5, and then installed undesirable programs such as NASCAR 6.0, NFL 5.1 and Golf Clubs 4.1.

Conversation 8.0 no longer runs, and Housecleaning 2.6 simply crashes the system.
Please note that I have tried running Nagging 5.3 to fix these problems, but to no avail.

What can I do?

Signed,
Desperate.



DEAR DESPERATE,

First, keep in mind, Boyfriend 5.0 is an Entertainment Package, while Husband 1.0 is an operating system.

Please enter command: ithoughtyoulovedme.HTML and try to download Tears 6.2 and do not forget to install the Guilt 3.0 update. If that application works as designed, Husband 1.0 should then automatically run the applications Jewelry 2.0 and Flowers 3.5.

However, remember, overuse of the above application can cause Husband 1.0 to default to Grumpy Silence 2.5, Happy Hour 7.0 or Beer 6.1. Please note that Beer 6.1 is a very bad program that will download the Farting and Snoring Loudly Beta.

Whatever you do, DO NOT under any circumstances install Mother-In-Law 1.0 (it runs a virus in the background that will eventually seize control of all your systems resources.)

In addition, please do not attempt to reinstall the Boyfriend 5.0 program. These are unsupported applications and will crash Husband 1.0.

In summary, Husband 1.0 is a great program, but it does have limited memory and cannot learn new applications quickly. You might consider buying additional software to improve memory and performance. We recommend Cooking 3.0 and Hot Lingerie 7.7.

Good Luck!

Tech Support

Moving sucks and I hate it...... But I really like my new house.

Some of the colors are hard to see in the pics. The office is a gray color, not purple like I think it looks in the picture. The painting and moving are done. Now I just need a little decor.

Tomorrow

Let the madness begin. We are closing tomorrow at 1 and Alan's parents are coming down to help us. Actually, his dad is going to be the greatest and do all of our painting. I guess that means I need to get my butt in gear and start going through stuff which I haven't. I have been sick since Monday with the whole sore throat and stuffy nose thing, but I woke up this morning and feel much better. I feel bad for Reis because he's been cooped up in the house with me this week while I've been feeling like crap. Hopefully, this weekend we can take him swimming or to the beach.

It's funny, but the saying, "It's a small world" is so true. Alan's company hired "a new guy" from Virginia and they invited us over last Saturday to swim and bbq. Come to find out, he and his wife moved from Alexandria, VA down here and his wife and I actually worked right next door to each other in Alexandria. My boss actually owns the building that she worked in. AND, we both have boys that are 3 weeks apart...it's so funny. So, we have mastered a plan to get the boys together to play and swim and then put them down for naps and we will head out to the pool to float, chat, and have some wine. Doesn't sound like a bad plan to me:)

After my mental breakdown at the Dr's office, I went to another doctor that a girl Alan works with recommended. She was having some of the same issues and said that her doctor was really great about listening and trying to figure out a solution which now I can say ditto to that. I saw her on Monday and she agreed that something was not right so she ordered more extensive blood work and I will see her again tomorrow. It was great to have someone that didn't think I was going nuts or just push me out the door with a prescription to fix ONE of the many issues I was having. So hopefully tomorrow I will know more.

Also, is anyone else completely addicted to Bravo's Real Housewives? Everytime a new season starts, I am addicted immediately. I watched New Jersey last night that I had dvr'd and it was really good...I can't help myself.

Any and Everything

Who can resist a good butt shot?

We spent lots of time last week in Grandma's back yard. This was before he got into an ant bed and I about had a heart attack.

I'm glad to be back home after 2 weeks. We close on our townhouse next week and I cannot wait. We had a notice on our door about renewing our lease, and I wanted to take it down to the office and show them my middle finger. If we renewed, our rent would have gone up another $75. So, our mortgage is basically going to be $275 cheaper than what we are paying in rent. That is crazy to me. Sayonara ole apartment...nice knowing ya.

I went to the Dr. yesterday about the results of some blood work I had done. I will probably never go back because I had a mental breakdown in her office and feel like an idiot and secondly, she wanted to put me on cholesterol medicine and would not listen to how I was feeling. I just want to scream, "would someone listen to me." Maybe that's what I am doing now:) I am so exhausted(like 1st trimester kind of tired), feel a little down, have not had what constitutes me being a woman since January, could cry in an instant and then be pissed off at the world, and now, have elevated cholesterol(which I have never had). My mom and sister both had the same problem with their cholesterol which led to them being hypothyroid. I do not feel like myself but since all my tsh levels are "normal" I guess maybe I am just going crazy, but I really don't think so. I feel deeply that something is off. I know exhaustion and mentally feeling crazy can in no way relate but it's like about 4 years ago when I walked around for 2 months with staph(yes, weirdo me got MRSA) and finally one day I could not walk and someone said holy crap, you gotta go to the hospital. Now, I just wish someone would say, "holy crap, you are not going crazy." Anyway, I have another appt. Monday and am going to try to get in with an endocrinologist so we'll see. Until then, that's my rant. I feel better:)

Nooooooooooooooo!!!!!!!!!

The time has come and such a sad time it is. Reis has figured out how to climb out of his crib or maybe I should say scale the walls of his crib? It happened the other day when I put him in there so I could get a shower. I thought it was quite possibly, hopefully a fluke but no, he has Batman skills now and I'm not happy about it. What I am really not happy about is the fact that he came in and smacked me on the forehead the other morning at 6:45. Batman is growing up. I will give him credit for today because he didn't get up until 8:45. My peaceful showers are now a thing of the past...not to mention my sanity some days....moment of silence please.

Too Cool for School

Meanwhile at Memaw's

Reis was having some fun of his own.

Tennessee Tales

We went to Pigeon Forge, Tennessee for our friend's surprise birthday this past weekend and had a great time. I must say I am proud of myself for keeping the secret since December and not spilling the beans. Ashley didn't know where we were going until we got to the airport Thursday morning. Seven of us rented a cabin on a mountain and that is the way to go. It is inexpensive when you get a group to go and we all had our own bedroom and bath which was nice. On Friday, the girls went shopping and came home to a house fully decorated for a Hannah Montana party. It was the funniest thing. The boys went and got party hats, favors, and a pinata stuffed with skittles and some other dirty things I won't mention(boys will be boys). I think playing an over 21 version of pin the tail on the donkey and the pinata were definitely one of the highlights of the trip. Who knew it could be so much fun? We went out in Gatlinburg for her birthday and the cab driver that picked us up mentioned first thing that he was bipolar and not on his meds. Just the thing one wants to hear when winding through narrow mountain roads with no barriers. Saturday, we drove up into the mountains to Cade's Cove and stopped off on the highway, scaled down and played in the freezing creek. It was gorgeous. And Sunday, we spent the day in Gatlinburg shopping and took a chair lift to the top of the mountain.

The front of our cabin

Me, Ashley, Melissa, and VanessaAlan and I at Cade's CoveThe freezing creekTop of mountainAnother shot of the top

Sprinter

I was at the gym today and had gotten off the stairmaster(that horrible thing could be another entire blog) and went to finish the last of my cardio on the treadmill which is right by the gym's entrance. It is in a medical center so there is a cafeteria right outside and then the door. About 2 minutes in looking unrecognizable due to the ginormous amount of sweat dripping off of me, who do I see? My son, hauling butt out the gym door. Apparently, he "escaped" while another mom was picking up her child. It is really scary how fast things like that can happen. I saw him and ran out the door and got him before the babysitter did. They were very apologetic but it could have been a lot worse. You have to watch them constantly at this age...crisis averted, whew.

"I have a 19 year old; I can relate."

These words spoken by Alan's boss when we were figuring out our travel plans for the end of the month. The last week of March, Alan is in Tallahassee on business and then April 2nd, we are leaving for a friend's surprise birthday trip to the mountains. So, we have been trying to figure out our plan and getting Reis to Memaw while we are gone. Alan's boss was going to fly his plane to Tallahassee but Alan mentioned that he needed to take the baby and dog to meet his mom on his way up. His boss added that his plane was a 4 seater so put the dog in a kennel and the baby in a car seat. It's no offense to his boss, but we didn't really feel comfortable doing that and we would also have 2 nerve crazed grandmas to deal with. So now, Alan is driving up and his boss says he will ride with him. Back to my headline, he points out that he has a 19 year old so he's not so out of touch with kids. I laughed and said good luck on that one. A lot can happen in 4 hours. By the time they get to Tallahassee, he will probably be covered in dog hair, have a lap filled with nuggets and fries, and the ENTIRE Backyardigans DVD memorized...he's in for a treat.

Retail therapy

Well, for Reis that is. He is getting so tall that his shirts are quickly becoming belly, baring midriffs. So, after his nap, we are going to run to Old Navy(and Total Wine...oops) and see what we can find. It is so not fair the amount of cute and girly stuff most stores have compared to the mundane, always the same clothes for little boys. It's probably a good thing I don't have a little girl because I would be beyond crazy with frilly stuff. Reis is still in 12 month shorts and has been 22lbs. for the past 7 months. I think he has been in Pampers 3 for the majority of his life. He has just shot up and not out, I guess.

I have started to think about getting rid of stuff before we move in a couple of months and wish I knew someone I could unload a ton of stuff to. Any suggestions? I have a swing, clothes, toys, bumbo chair, walker(barely used), stationary play thingy they sit in, stuffed animals...anything and everything coming out the wazoo. Someone told me to call The Salvation Army and they would pick it up. If I can't find anyone, that's probably what I will do because stuff is overflowing here. I am most definitely a non pack rat...I cannot stand clutter.