You Mean I Can Leave My House To Get Away From My Husband And Kids And Get Paid For It???

In other words I went to work today. Don't confuse this with me getting a job, but Roy hasn't been working this week and I mentioned this to Andrea and she said that she needed some help in the office. Which coincidentally is my old job, so I already knew the job and most of the people.

So this morning I got up and got ready to go to work for the first time in a year and a half. The kids cried when I left, but I knew they would get over it. It was after all only one (tomorrow will be two) day. And they were with their Dad.


I really haven't had any desire to work since Carter was born, (mostly because I don't know what I want to do. I don't want to go to work every day but I want to make some money. I am looking at home party businesses right now, but you need money to invest in those and we are currently broke) but I had fun. It was nice to be someone other than a Mom for 7 hours today.


And then I came home. And the house was a mess (which it wasn't when I left), and the kids started whining and everybody was hungry so I had to get something out of the freezer and defrost it and put it in the oven, both the kids needed diapers and seemed to need to go to bed (at this time only one of them is in bed) and I had to pee. And you know what? I was irritated by all of this.


I am not saying that one day of working means all of this is not my real job, but I guess I just expected that someone who has been watching me clean the house up all week while I take care of the kids could have picked up everything before I got home. I called when I was on my way. That will teach me to have high expectations.


My friend said she could use me anytime so I might consider working a day or two a week to make some extra money (and get out of the house) if I can find someone to come over and watch the kids for me. My Mom volunteered Matthew and Krystal (probably to get them out of her house for awhile) and I might have to talk to them about it.


On a totally different note here are some pictures of poor Carter's eye taken yesterday and today.

He still thinks he is a puppy

He really likes to yell at me

He was really ready for bed when I took this one

Look at that shiner!!

I am going to hang out and watch One Life To Live (shut up) and Two And A Half Men on dvr and then go to bed. I have to work tomorrow!!!

Poor Baby Carter

I knew it would happen. I knew that one day we would have to go to the ER for something more serious than constipation. And tonight it did. Carter was mad because he was hungry and tired and I told him to leave the kitchen (he likes to stand in between me and the cabinet while I am at the counter cutting food for dinner) just like every night when I am getting dinner ready. He left the kitchen and was yelling (I swear he was cussing me out) and when he went around the corner to the living room he stumbled (he may have had his eyes closed) and fell. His head hit the corner of the bricks that go in front of the fireplace. And there was blood. Not an extreme amount, but enough for me to turn off the stove and for us to pile in to the car and drive to the hospital.

Once there we were seen right away. The Doctor told me they could stitch it or glue it. I told him to glue it. Out of curiosity I asked how many stitches it would have taken. 4 or 5 was the answer.

My little boy is a tough one. Here is the proof.

Right after we got home

Being tickled

He looks like a boxer in this one. This also freaked Morgan out a little when I took the Band Aid off. She keeps asking if he is okay. What a nice sister.

Yelling at me.

He is going to be fine in 5-10 days. He will also have a black eye for about the same amount of time. I have to wake him up tonight in a couple of hours to make sure there is no concussion. He is already back to normal.

Poor baby Carter.

Painted Pots And Pictures

Yesterday I took Morgan to the store to pick out some flower seeds and get some pots. I told her she could paint the pots before planting the seeds. First thing this morning she was ready to paint. She got three packs of seeds and three pots. I got three packs of herb seeds and three pots. So while Carter was taking his morning nap we painted and planted. Here is the result.

Morgan's seeds she picked out. Zinnia's, Petunia's and Marigold's.

Morgan's painted pots.

My painted pots.

I also bought this cool thing for 5 dollars. Hopefully Roy will have my garden box built by the time these are ready for the ground (or I will put them at Marly's house).

Other than that I have been hanging out in Awesome Town (Animal Crossing City Folk. Yes I am so un-creative that I named my town Awesome. I am lame, I know). I got it for Mothers day and am addicted. So is Roy, even though he almost didn't get it for me because he said it looked lame. And in a way it is. But we are hooked. Here are some more pictures to look at. I will try to write a real post tomorrow.

Living Room Picnic.

Tea Party with Claude and Penguin, Morgan and I.

Sharing a Tootsie Pop.

Carter watching Roy finish the deck. Waiting to be big enough to help.

My Momma

I am not really the sappy kind of person. I buy the funny cards instead of the sappy tearful ones. I don't really do sentimental. It just isn't me. If I suddenly started doing that my family would probably freak out.


But Mother's Day is kind of different. Not only because I am a Mom, but because mine is so darn special. She is the smartest, open hearted, open minded, giving person I know. She has always been there for us when we needed her. She has talked me through many tough times. She always give good advice (and maybe some day I will learn to take it more often).


She was there for the birth of both of my children (and her three other grandchildren). When I had a miscarriage four and a half years ago (that is another story I probably will never tell on this blog) my Mom was the first person I wanted to see. When Roy lost his job when Morgan was only a year old and I was pregnant with Carter she offered us a place to stay when we were about to be evicted (and recently did the same for Matthew and Krystal).


She is also the only person I could ride in a car with for five days with a five month old baby and not drive me absolutely crazy. Whenever we are together we have a great time. Some of the best laughs I have ever had were in a car (or more recently a hotel room at 3 am while Morgan was puking in an ice bucket, not at Morgan but at our "vacation") with my Mom.


When I let my friend pierce my nose she told me I would hate it. When she was right and I took it out a week later she told me she was starting to like it. The only time she said anything when I colored my hair was when I colored it blue/black, but she was still cool with it. When I pierced my tongue she told me it was gross but eventually quit noticing. When I came home with my first tattoo she thought it was cool. When I came home with the next six she admired them (as a Mother would, not like the creepy people in Sam's Club that walk up and lift the sleeve of my shirt to see my sleeve) even if she didn't really like them all.


So Mom, I hope you know how much I truly appreciate you and everything you do for me. I can truly say I have the coolest Mom in the world.

I love you. Happy Mother's Day!!!

One Small Step (very very small)

Something I don't talk about much is potty training. That is because I have never done it. Morgan is allergic to dairy and we have had a lot of issues with her pooing. We have had trips to the ER, nights with no sleep and we have gone through more A&D ointment than a tattoo shop uses in a year. I really think the "issues" are the main reason potty training hasn't happened yet. There is also a small control thing going on too, but I don't really like to bring up the fact that I am being played by a three year old.

I have brought up her using the potty daily for the last year and a half. I have tried two different types of training seats, the traditional one that is a mini toilet with the "tray" you empty and a mini toilet seat that you place over the big one (this is the one I let her pick out herself trying to make it her deal), She told me it scared her.

I bought her panties (again, that she picked out), which she insisted I put over her diaper. I wouldn't, but she figured out how to do it herself.

I have tried every bribe I could. She wants to take ballet classes, go to preschool, stay the night at her Grandma and TaTa's house. I told her she could do all three of those things when she was potty trained. When we are at the store and she sees a toy she wants I tell her I will buy it for her when she is potty trained. To all of these she replied "Maybe Later" or "I'm scared to go on the potty".

Last night we were going up the stairs for bath time and I had a diaper in my hand. She told me she didn't want a diaper. I knew she meant that she wanted to take a bath and doesn't want one on in the tub, but I took this as a great opportunity to try the potty. I put her panties on her after the bath and we went downstairs with the promise of rainbow sherbet. This was not as pleasant as one might think it would be. The whole time (including in the bath) she was screaming so loud about wanting a diaper that I though the ringing in my head would never stop.

After a couple of bites of sherbet she started crying and screaming that she wanted a diaper. I told her she had to sit on the potty and pee and then she could have her diaper for bedtime. We went in to the bathroom and sat for 5-10 minutes (she screamed for about 3 of those minutes until I got out the hair clips and let her pick out which ones I should put in my hair) and then she finally went pee. I was so excited and gave her big praise, she started yelling at me for her diaper.

It was the first step in what I think will be a long long battle.

Why I Am Going Green (Kind Of)

I never jumped at the whole "Go Green" movement or way of life. I have two small children and recycling is not the easiest or most convenient thing to do in Colorado. In most cities you have to hire trash companies that offer recycling for a cost that I always thought was a bit high. I mean, when you have two small kids and are living on one income that sort of thing is not at the top of the list. But when we moved into our town home we are lucky enough to have city trash service. Along with the trash service they offer free recycling. So I signed up for our dumpster.

But I will admit, I was doing it for a kind of selfish reason. I am too cheap to buy a bigger trash can for my kitchen (come on, have you seen the price of these? I have diapers to buy people!! I'm not green enough to use cloth diapers) and I was sick of having to empty my small one every day. I started looking at our trash and realized that between the bottles and cans and boxes I could recycle my tiny trash can would only need emptied every third day. So we started recycling.

And now I am the proud owner of reusable grocery bags. Again this was kind of a selfish reason. All of the grocery stores around here have big boxes in the entry for recycling plastic bags. But I always out them under my sink and forgot about taking them with me until they were jumping out at me when I opened the cabinet door, and at that point I would have to carry the bags along with Carter while I was holding Morgan's hand. It was not easy. The other day I was looking for something under the sink and this is what I pulled out.

Yes, I took them to the big box in the store.

And these are my (selfish) reasons for going what I would call light green. Happy Earth Day!!

Easter And A Bridal Shower

I haven't written in what seems like forever. I was so busy planning Easter and then Samantha's bridal shower, I just didn't have time. I had plenty to write about, just not the time. So here is a re cap of everything.

Easter was nice. Morgan was sick on Saturday night so I was up with her all night, but I managed (with some help) to get everything done. My plan was to have everyone arrive at 2 and hang out for a while then we would do the outside (plastic) egg hunt, and then we would come inside and eat. But I was so tired and the weather was rainy and cold so that didn't happen. What did happen was that everyone was her by 2:15 and sat around talking and watching tv until 5:30 when the food was finally ready. Had I not been up all night with Morgan I would have been more on top of everything and my timing would have been adjusted for no egg hunt and dinner would have been ready earlier. But it was what it was. Everyone had a lot of fun and the food was delicious. Here are a few pictures.

My Easter Tulips

Coloring eggs. She wasn't feeling good but pretended to have a good time.

Carter tried to make her feel better. But it didn't seem to work.


This was actually the day after Easter. She refused to take her outfit off until Tuesday.

Carter decided to rest in David's car seat.

Morgan making him comfy.

David took his seat back.


Dessert table.


The best appetizer in the world. Jalapenos with cream cheese wrapped in bacon. I put them back in the oven on broil for a few minutes to get the bacon crisp, after I took this picture.

And then on Monday after Easter was over I started assembling the favor bags for the shower. I made 25 bags and each one had a scrubbie soap, two candles, citrus slice soap, rootbeer float bath salt and raspberry lemonade bath salt (which I don't have a picture of). I made all of this.

And my Mom made the food except the cake which was made by my friend Hillori.

And some beautiful ladies showed up for our tea party.