Being Sick

I am sick.

I can't stand being sick, but being prego and sicko and having this vein thing/alien growing out of the side of my leg is totally debilitating me. Add to that Hayden, AKA GREMLIN is up to his old tricks and has now caused the malfunctioning of the door locks on the kids bedroom and bathroom doors... which happen to be upstairs... far, far away from the comfort of my living room sofa. So I have been making a gazillion more trips up the stairs than I normally would to rescue him from the baby-eating dresser drawers, soap drawings on the bathroom floor that have trapped him in a *stand up, fall on butt* sequence, and the play make-up that belongs to his big sister.

Put up a gate you say? Oh please, do I really need to re-educate you all about the advanced mechanical and just plain brute force skills of my 18 month old Weapon of Mass Destruction? In great desperation I did attempt to put up a gate. 5 minutes later after much banging and wailing the gate came tumbling down the stairs in 2 pieces.

But alas, all this whining and griping will soon be over, for my knight in shining armor will come home in less than 4 hours and install new locks on the doors. I know he will do this without a complaint because he is completely aware that it is all his fault. Hayden got his advanced dexterity and mischievousness from his father - and his father, I am certain, received the "mothers' curse" that all naughty children receive at times of critical frustration. You know the one. "I hope you have a son as naughty and yadda yadda yadda as you!"

I will try to find something to be grateful for today... Okay. I am SUPER grateful to have my friend Carlee for a babysitter. My kids love her - probably more than they love me at the moment - and she loves my kids... And I am grateful the have the gospel in our lives. And I think it's very sad when wolves in sheep clothing use tricker and lies to *teach* people about Jesus Christ and how to be saved (according to the word of the Wolf). It's just wrong in so many ways and if I wasn't hired as the photographer at the wedding where said Wolf went off on a 45 minute sermon/born again revival extravaganza, I might have confronted this quack with a few choice words of my own - but I was STARVING and tired and working my way back towards being a quiet, tolerant person... and I REALLY, REALLY needed chocolate.

(...sorry for the rant)


So like I said, I am grateful for the gospel and for knowing the truth... and chocolate.

Pictures!

I know. It's been forever. And there are none of Amanda. She's going through a stage that I will lovingly refer to as "the grungy, fake smile, Hannah Montana poser stage"... and no I am not referring to the Annie Liebowitz photo session for Vanity Fair. YIKES!

But anyway, back to the pictures!

This would be Hayden and his first rice krispy treat. Yummy! Couldn't ya just eat him up?

Hayden - after the clean up, before the haircut...

Hayden @ 18 mos. of age. What a handsome little cookie-faced guy!
He's such a sweetie pie. He loves to give you full-on-lips smoochies and tickle your belly.
He plays so well with his sister.
It's really amazing how well they get along.
He says Thank you, uh-ohhh!, uh-uh (as in NO),
Amanda, Dad-deeeee!, and *sometimes* Momma.
He has a special way of saying shoes that comes out sounding like a
bad word, but we all get it.
He can fall asleep almost ANYWHERE just like his mommy.
He's just starting to learn to jump and has skinned his little knees quite a bit lately.
He's growing up so fast!

It's a...

Girl - or so the ultrasound tech says. From the crappy (yes I said C*R*A*P*P*Y) ultrasound pictures we got I am not totally convinced that we aren't having a faceless alien, let alone 100% confident of the sex of the baby. But for now, we will say

It's a GIRL!

((Sarcasm Alert...)
Too bad all of Amanda's baby clothes were sold for .25 a piece at a yard sale 2 years ago and the rest went to Goodwill. Oh how sad I am to have to shop for new, cute little girlie things and plan the wedding of yet another girl.

On an even crappier note, I was prescribed to wear compression hose due to my horrible genetically passed down issue with varicose veins. To add insult to injury, our insurance won't pay one cent of the cost of these $95 pantyhose. Do we have that kind of money laying around? I don't think so. I searched the www and found them for $55 with shipping, but still. That's a big wad-o-cash to wear on your legs while your toddler is in his pinching and climbing mommy like a jungle gym phase.

Still I don't know. 60 bucks or eternally ugly legs? I may never be able to wear a swimsuit in public again. Is it worth it?

Busy Busy Busy!

It's a busy week for me and it has started off great so far! Yesterday I used my "Mother's Day Cash Allowance" from my hubby to buy some *sweet* well needed maternity clothes. I went with my friend Carlee and she found a few things for herself as well!

Today I get to go to a TOP SECRET viewing/presentation of something new that will be at a local amusement park sometime next year. Why am I being so vague? Because in less than 6 hours I will be handing over a signed agreement to not disclose one iota of information about what I see or learn or hear at said presentation other than what can be obtained by going to THIS site.

Attn: NSA
If I am successful at keeping this secret you may feel free to recruit me!

Tomorrow (Wednesday) is my birthday. I will be old. Not too old to birth a baby. Just old.

Thursday I have an evening Primary Presidency Meeting. I may try to squeeze in a trip to IKEA during the day, but that depends on how wild Wednesday is.

Friday - It's Family Movie Night/Basket Bonanza at Amanda's school. I bought tickets. Now I must go.

Saturday - Amanda has a birthday party to go to. I am hoping to shop for a present in the morning and turn Amanda over to her daddy for the party. I have no desire to go to a putt-putt at 2:30 in this heat with a 18 month old and an 18 week old pregnancy.

Sunday - Amanda is giving a talk in Primary and it's Mother's Day. Better make it a good one!

That's it for now!

Tag, I'm It.

Beth F. tagged me and here are the answers:

Our names: Amy and Michael

1.How long have we been married? 9 years on June 12th

2.How long did we date? FOREVER. No, really - our first date was in October 1997, Michael got baptized in March 1998, and we got married in June 1999. It felt like FOREVER till we got married.

3. How old are we? I'm 33 and Michael is 34

4. Where does he work? An architecture firm

5. Who is taller? He is

6. Who eats more? Michael eats more in one sitting, I eat more often throughout the day.

7. Who said I love you first? Oh no... I don't know if I know the answer to this one! I'm 85% sure that Michael said it first.

8. Who mows the lawn? We have no lawn. We have concrete.

9. Who sings better? Michael knows more words to more songs, but I sing better.

10. Who does the laundry? Me

11. Who does the dishes? Usually me

12. Who pays the bills? Michael

13. Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? I do.

14. Who cooks dinner? I do now. But for most of our marriage Michael has. He can cook a mean Chili!

15. Who is more stubborn? Michael.

16. Whose parents do we see most? We see Michael's dad much more now that we live in the same state.

17. Who proposed? Michael.

18. Who has more siblings? I do.

19. Who has more friends? That's a tough one. When we lived in Laveen AZ, I felt like everyone at church was my friend. But here in FL I have one really great friend (the kind I can talk to about ANYTHING) and a handful of friendly friends. Michael has good friends, but I don't know that he has THAT great friend here that he can go hang out with - but I think he's working on it.

20. Who wears the pants? We've both got a leg in.

I tag Carlee and Deon. Make 'em good!

Earth Day - How Green Are We?

Today was Earth Day and as the day closes I have to stop to think about our family what we do and don't do to help keep our earth clean and healthy.

It been a topic of discussion between Michael and I for several years now. He's a LEED certified Architect and all through grad school he had his hands in ideas for greener building and building structures that fit into the environment. He's kind of passionate about it.

When it comes to our home habits I'd have to honestly say that we are sort of 'Light Green'.

What Light Green Means to Me.

1. We are pretty good about not wasting electricity, though we could improve.
2.Cleaning is Overrated. I don't mop my floors more than once a week. I avoid using harsh chemicals to clean, however I do have some that are used about once every two weeks for deep cleaning. My kids are rarely sick and my friends are still my friends whether the house is sparkling or sticky.
3. We live super close to the grocery store (close enough to walk) and 80% of the time we remember to use our reusable grocery bags. And for those of you who are not yet using them: did you know that they are SO MUCH MORE COMFORTABLE TO CARRY GROCERIES IN? Plus, you can fit about 3 plastic bags worth of groceries into one. It's he avier, but the bag is sturdier. That means fewer trips from the car to the kitchen!
4. I combine trips and carpool with friends on a regular basis. I can't stand the whole routine of getting Hayden out of his car seat and into the house and up all those stairs - so I try not to have to do it more that twice a day. And when I go long distances (like to Ikea or the Temple or whatever) I bring a friend along.
5. The whole family is pretty conservative about water usage. We *could* do better with shower minutes, but we're not too far off the mark. Especially since at least 2 days out of the week I don't get to take a shower (I know it's gross - but you moms out there know what I'm talking about).

I'm sure there are some things we could improve on, but right now finances don't permit. Besides, I'm not completely sold on the whole Hybrid vehicle thing - I'm not sure that it's the ultimate solution.

So that's our green-ness in a nutshell.

How green are you?

Yesterday...

I went to my OB appt. and FINALLY heard our little baby's heartbeat. It was so cool - even the third time around. This one is a very active one so Michael and I both tend to believe it will be a boy.

While I went to the doctor, my friend Carlee watched Hayden... and cleaned my living room, playroom and kitchen! What the heck? How cool is that?! We were on our way out the door for some lunch when I just *had* to show her the cute new outfits I picked up for Hayden. I stepped into the laundry room in an ever so awkward, backward way and stepped on the vacuum cleaner, twisting my foot. It hurt like Holy Heck and then felt fine less than 5 minutes later. So we walked to Tijuana Flats and back without a second thought.

Later on in the evening however, the pain from earlier that day returned. I could barely walk on it last night. It's a little better this morning, but dang!

Amanda has been such a great helper this morning. She made a sippy cup of milk and waffles for Hayden, put him in his highchair and was totally taking care of everything *breakfast*. I love that girl!

Remember "The Gate" ??????

Ever since we installed that silly gate at the top of the stairs, Hayden has made it his mission to disable it. Well, Mission accomplished. He has figured out how to push the little button and slide it out of the lock and escape from the 2nd floor. Boy are we in trouble now.

Our current way of securing the gate seems to be working, but I give him 2 weeks max. before he figures it out. I've attached a carabiner to the gate and the handrail. After he figures that out, well, I guess all we can do is pray... or set up some sort of shocking device like they use for dogs. (Just kidding - don't call CPS!)

Surviving Spring Break

We (I) survived Spring Break! It was unusually long thanks to an early visit from Michael's brothers' family. They have Spring Break a full 2 weeks before we do. Which almost made our Spring Break the longest in history. You see, we (Michael) got a little mixed up about the dates for our S.B. and I totally bought into it because quite frankly, it made sense, but anywho... Amanda got an extra day off from school as a result and if it hadn't been for my good friend Carlee, she would have had two weeks off from school!

Whilst the family was here we went to Islands of Adventure at Universal Studios. It was a blast! Even with me prego. I had fun with the kids at the Dr. Suess land and really didn't feel as cheated as I thought I would by the ride restrictions elsewhere. We had a full day of fun and I got to know my niece and nephew a little better. My favorite thing about Universal is that Amanda didn't really know and love many of the characters and didn't feel that overwhelming need to beg for merchandise like she does at Disney. No princesses, no Mickey = No Whining! Yippee!

The camera was left at home, but Michael got some pics from his brother... just waiting on my hubby to send them on over to me to post.

Amanda is back at school today and it's a little weird... I miss her!

"He was a skaterboy..."