Last Weekend of February

I accomplished about nil point five this weekend. On Friday night Jim and I didn't have plans so we took it easy with the kids and watched Night at the Museum 2 (C+) after then went to bed.

I don't think I've mentioned it but Nicole has come in our room around 1:00 every night for about the last three weeks. I thought it was having to go to the bathroom that woke her up but she's often dry in the morning so that killed that theory. She's a relatively good sleeping addition - I don't get woken up too much and she likes to cuddle. Consensus of parents I've talked to is that it's okay for now....

On Saturday I met Jenna at Jazzercise. We both really like it but it's kinda pricey if we buy in and still only go 1/week after our Groupon sessions are over. 8 more to go before we have to decide....

Saturday night we didn't have plans either so we milled around, ran errands, ate dinner at Meijer of all places (their Bistro was our 4th place choice after our first three tries bombed but the whole family ate for less than $8 so not so hateful) before we went grocery shopping.

This morning we skipped Church, had a great breakfast and lunch. I went to Kohl's to go shopping and got about $85 worth of stuff. I've been goodwilling a lot of my things away lately so my wardrobe is taking a noticeable hit in the variety department....

TMI Alert!
OH, to make you groan, I got my 9th period since September of 2006 (that's 9 periods total in 39 months). I've been on the lookout for it for several months though so I was a bit excited when it came this morning. Then I realized that I'll pretty much have no reprieve of it for the next 20-25 years and I groaned.

Jim starts his NEW JOB tomorrow which means he'll be picking up and dropping off the kids from now on.

I'm sad that the Olympics are coming to an end. They always make me emotional and all hopeful for world peace and such.... I really enjoyed watching the Aerials this year. All the things I'll never experience but look SO cool. My DVR will most likely go from hitting 99% full at one point back to the normal 13% or so starting tomorrow.

Yeah, I really did just blog about poop

Nicole is OFFICIALLY potty-trained (#1 & #2!). Today marks day 5 that she's been in panties only (except when sleeping but even then she's only wet about 50% of the time when she wakes up). HOORAY! Now comes my "terror" that we'll be in the far corner of Target when she announces she has to go, forcing me to tear ass across the store in mad panic to get her there on time....

On Tuesday Jim predicted that Nicole was constipated as she said her stomach hurt and she hadn't gone in a few days. Wednesday night she told me she had to poop and it clearly took a lot of effort. When I asked her if she was doing okay she told me it was "stuck". Eventually all worked itself out and I thought the problem was solved.

When she was concluding her bath though she said she had to go again. Out of the tub and onto her potty she went. After several minutes she announced she was done and needed toilet paper. When I went to empty her potty I got the shock of my life - the whole thing was about filled with poop. It was like 2X what an adult should poop and it just came out of my 2.5 year old. Where did she store all that poop!? It was so amazing I actually called Jim upstairs to see it.

Yeah, being so awed by a bowel movement that you call someone else to look at it and then that person willingly comes to see... now that's what you call a "parenting moment". No one else in their right mind would do this....

Chris - 8 months old!

Yesterday Chris officially turned 8 months old. AWWWW!

He continues to be an amazingly happy baby. Each time he sees me his whole body wiggles with excitement and makes me all smiley. He's even gotten so excited and wiggled so much he's fallen over. awwww!

Some things he's up to:

• He clearly knows his own name and responds by looking or talking back to you if you say it


• Separation anxiety has set in over the last two weeks specifically (this is the reverse of all the wiggling I previously mentioned).


• He's starting in on the Gerber pick-up stars (the kind that melt in your mouth) but isn't so sure about the whole solid food thing yet.


• He likes to sing along with Nicole in the car

Some general things about him:

• He's a belly sleeper


• When he wakes up and can get in "walrus" position to look at me he smiles so big. This is promptly and always followed by lifting his arms and legs off the ground and balancing on his big pot belly while he wiggles in excitement and squeals


• He's nursing 3X, getting formula 2X and eating food 2X/day. I'll be upping him to 3 meals a day this weekend. His favorite foods are black beans, pineapple and yellow squash with rice cereal.


• He likes books but I think he's a little confused by the 2D nature of the pictures because he tries to grab the objects


• Poor thing's on his way to tubes in his ears. We'll know 3/3/10.


• Bathtime = splash time = big fun


• He LOVES to be tickled and cuddled


• Every night before bed (8-8:30ish) he gets rocked and has 3 versus of Amazing Grace sung to him (and one verse of humming for good measure). He holds his "sleepy bear" while we rock and sucks his thumb.

Life Update (LONG)

Things here have been busy. I feel like I open up every blog that's a "general life update" that way. hmmmm.... The following are totally random and a bit out of order but should sum it all up nicely.





I had big plans for Nicole's Valentine cake for her class. She still gave out regular Valentines to her friends but they were having a party so I wanted to make something special with my newfound skills. I went in on the 11th for lunch as usual but brought my camera to take the kids pictures (which they LOVED- what cheeses!). That night I made the cake and the morning of the 12th I got up early to decorate it. I think it turned out pretty good. I don't want to post other people's kids' pictures on the internet but if I did I think you could tell who's icing face belongs to who's real face. Can you tell which one is Nicole?

The other night Nicole and I had it out. She didn't want to brush her teeth. She wouldn't put on her pajamas. Nothing about the end of the evening was going well. I told her that if I counted to 3 and she didn't put her pj's on we weren't reading books. Fast forward... she's finally in bed and wants to read. I clearly and calmly explained the phrase "Good choices, good things happen. Bad choices, bad things happen" and reminded her that because she didn't put on her pajamas she wasn't getting any books. HOLY COW did that sink in. I've been hearing all about the good choices she makes several times a day since; especially at night while she's picking what books to read.

Chris and Nicole went to the doctor last weekend and got diagnosed with ear infections (double for him, single for her). Another round of antibiotics for both of them. Chris goes to an ENT on 3/3/10 and if the infection is still lingering he's getting tubes.

Jim's final interview for a new role (still at P&G) took place this week. Four candidates applied and he's been unofficially told he's a finalist. Should know this week. Good news - [the new worksite will have a gym (that insert is for Jim, I could care less about the gym part) and] it's only 3 minutes from daycare! He'd be in global finance for fem care which constitutes a lateral move.

Jenna and I started Jazzercise yesterday. I was blissfully rewarded for my efforts upon returning home. :) I liked it (Jazzercising I mean). She and I could laugh about being new and the ensuing learning curve but I felt good at the end - I was sweaty but not gross and I wasn't sore the next day. I'll work harder next Saturday. I think though that this is something I could maintain in my life. For the record there were about 30 people there, we were on the young 25% (average age was about 43 I'd guess), and there was only one leotard in sight (worn by a 65+ no less!).

OH, and I finished the Kabballah book a week and a half ago. Biggest surprise was that Jewish people believe in reincarnation! Few interesting tidbits:

• The soul enters the body 40 days after conception which means that Jewish people are fundamentally okay with abortion until that time and not after.
• We are all a part of one single soul - each of us is a small part and has to complete our "mission" on Earth by returning as many times as it takes to do so until with time the soul is whole again and we can all live eternally with God
• Jewish people have a prayer for everything. I'd be a bad Jew as I could never remember 1) all the prayers or 2) to say them at every appropriate occasion
• Hebrew is an amazing language for so many reasons - even the shapes of the letters and numerical value of each has a meaning that gives the Torah several levels to understand. My Hebrew = not so good.

Lastly, a funny thing when the girls came last weekend. She's a good sport so I hope she doesn't mind my sharing this.... Viki let Nicole dress her up as a mermaid by wrapping a green afghan around her waist. Nicole was all about dolling her up with a crown and calling her "my mermaid". At one point she stood back and looked at her mermaid and declared that Viki needed to "take your shirt off". Because mermaids don't wear shirts of course. She had us both dying with laughter.

On a daily basis I

• brush the bottom row of teeth first
• wear a bracelet
• tell Jim I love him at the conclusion of every phone call
• eat sweets of some kind
• remember something I should have done but didn't
• check my email
• shower in the morning even if I took a bath the night before
• put on mascara at a bare minimum
• ride in/drive a car
• reminisce

I'm not going crazy, I KNOW I saw...

• Several years ago I watched an MTV "documentry" on "Fuzzies" - people who like to dress up in mascot costumes for sexual purposes. Somehow I appear to be the only person on the planet watching MTV that day and it's such a weird subject that when I attempt to explain it to people I'm the one who gets weird looks. Update- it is "Furries" and I'm glad I'm not alone!
• My second cousins and I watched the movie "Fortress" about a farmtown school that got kidnapped and was held in a cave for ransom. I found the link to it on Yahoo! movies (see above for more info) and was pleased to see it got an A- even though no one I've ever talked to has heard of it!!
• At our old house I was constantly seeing things, shadows, movement, something out of the corner of my eye. I was so convinced of this and the possibility that there was some kind of ghost in the house that I went to a "seer" that my co-worker hired because he was seeing/hearing things in our office [of all places]. Sure enough, the seer said that at least two of us were brining spirits to the office with us daily. Not sure I totally buy it, but...

Sport Physics

LOVE LOVE LOVE the Olympics. I've been watching videos on the "behind the scenes" of the sports for a while. Here's the one I watched today on the science of bobsledding. Way cool! (no pun intended)

Top 10: MOVIES

I've been thinking about movies lately and if I could pinpoint my TOP 10. Here's a stab that I came up with on the drive into work. These are in no particular order

1. Gone in 60 Seconds
2. Oceans 11
3. Traffic
4. The Wizard of Oz
5. The Proposal
6. The Notebook
7. Overboard
8. Sweet Home Alabama
9. Forrest Gump
10. 10 Things I Hate About You

Thinking about this more today (Thursday) I think I'd replace Traffic with Dirty Dancing.

Happening around here...

1) I got my Ruminations email this morning and cocked an eyebrow at one comment:
There seems to be a lot of confusion about proper post-first-date protocol. To me, it's very simple. Ladies, if a guy takes you out, common courtesy calls for you to email, text, or Facebook message within 48 hours to say thank you. You can't believe the amount of courage it took me to ask you out. So even if there is no connection and you never want to see me again, at least thank me for trying. It's like the participation trophy of dating.
Clearly I've been married too long. I had no idea....

2) Nicole is fully into playing pretend. She started a few weeks ago when she shared her Sleepy Bear with Jenna and now can go full-out pretending she's a princess, Dora, or an animal.

3) Nicole is also pretty big into emulating people. The two 'people' she wants to be most like are Ryann and Dora. Nearly every time we go to the bathroom and she needs to get changed I hear "I wear panties like Ry Ry." Fortunately these role models are more than acceptable to me.

4) Speaking of Ry Ry, I saw a super cute thing that I'd like to get her for her birthday (she'll be 3 on March 18). I know she'd really like it but the $20 price tag is, in my opinion, too much for what the item actually is. We spend more than $20 on her present so I'm half tempted to say "screw it" and get it anyway but the cost-conscious buyer in me still doesn't like to overpay...

5) We were the ONLY team in our bowling league to actually show up for our 5:30 league time. Since I could really care less about the Super Bowl that was just fine with me. I had to look on Yahoo! to see who won this morning and even then I only saw by reading the article they had with the best commercial clips.

6) Lastly, since I have more free time on my hands lately while the kids sleep I've been watching some new shows. So far I haven't been overly impressed but I have been moderately entertained. Things I've seen for the first time just in the last week: The Ultimate Cake-Off, Rich Bride Poor Bride, Toddlers & Tiaras, & Project Runway. I did DVR ANTM per Jen Johnson's enthusiasm. I'll keep you posted if there are any diamonds in the rough....

Cake Decorating

I asked for cake decorating lessons for Christmas and my mom got them for Dad and I. We took a 4-week course at Michael's Craft Store. Here's our progress!

Week 2, our first cake! Mostly star techniques used.

.

Here I am making a house warming present for Karen C. Don't I look official?

Dad's Results


My results. Clearly my wording needs lots of work....

I forgot my camera the third week. We did lettering, swirl flowers, star flowers, vines, leaves, shells, hearts and clowns. I got the shells down pretty well but my hearts still need some work. Dad was a big fan of the clowns. He used one on his final project in week four.

Dad's icing strategy is clearly "More is More". His writing isn't too bad. His spelling and humor on the other hand....

The fourth week we worked with all stiff icing to make roses. I was encouraged by Martha's comment that they are a skill quickly developed with good results. Our icing was not the right consistency though so my ramp-up was slower than I'd like. When we finally got the right stuff in the bag things went better.

Mom and Mike's birthday was the night of our final class so I made a HB cake. Clearly my writing skills still aren't' there...

.

There's another class, Course 2, that starts next Saturday and covers basket weaving, royal icing (like for gingerbread houses), and a plethora of other flowers. I have friends coming in that weekend (YAHOO!) and Jenna and I are starting Jazzercise (a Groupon buy) that morning so my cake decorating pursuit is on hold for at least 3 more months....

.

I do have what I hope is a great idea in mind for Nicole's Valentine's Day party though!

Giving Back

I use the Internet for a lot, like most people my age.

• I blog
• I Facebook
• I read the news at Yahoo! and CNN
• We watch YouTube with Nicole
• I place orders online after researching deals at a variety of sites
• I get recipes at Meals.com
• I read parenting articles at BabyCenter.com
• etc. etc. etc.

Jim and I both feel like we take a lot from the Internet but don't really contribute back very much. Obviously no one probably cares about my specific input but I often don't feel like I'm doing my part in helping others electronically.

Jim started writing on Yahoo! answers - a forum where everyday people ask questions and everyday people who know the answers respond. Yahoo! in fact "rewards" the person with the best answer (which Jim has had) to help encourage you to keep responding.

I'm trying to write more online reviews of the products I buy. I read others reviews and take their feedback into consideration as I investigate products/services. I assume others do and I should help them if I have something useful to say.

Maybe some would politely argue that my blog serves as entertainment for others and that's a type of community contribution. Honestly though, this is more for my needs than yours (sorry) so I don't really count it as "service" to the greater online world.... Strangely I feel like others' blogs are a positive contribution as I do enjoy reading them, I'm glad that someone took the time to write, so I DO count their blogs as positive contribution.

Life around here

1) Nicole's had some weird symptoms in the last three weeks. She pukes 1-2 times in a fifteen minute period, most often the morning, and then has two days of diarrhea. Five days later the cycle repeats. Strange thing is that she's full of energy and other than not eating much she's her normal self. Kendall gave us some suggestions and we have one other lead on the issue. If she pukes again we'll be taking her back to the doctor. It was strange last night to be cheering for solid poop.

2) Chris's 4th tooth came in yesterday.

3) School is good for me - I have a core group of about 8 students (out of 27) who have an opinion on every single thing I throw out for discussion. There's another 8 who give thoughtful responses to several, but not all, questions and the rest sit and listen. I need to learn names quickly so I can call on the other 11. I have a great classroom though.

4) We've decided on our vacations for this year - we'll be headed to NYC in May, Michigan in July, and Arizona in October. NYC and AZ will be long weekend trips (one with kid(s), one without) to visit friends. Traverse City, MI will be the family vacation. I'd like to squeeze in another long weekend in there too but we'll have to see how the year plays out with vacation time. Nicole is very excited to go to NYC because she'll take her first airplane ride. I asked her how people get on the airplane and her deliberated response was "a big ladder". too cute!

5) I finished my cake decorating class this weekend. My roses were 80% successful. I need more practice but that's kind of the way it goes with perfecting any new skill. I think I'm going to hold off on course 2 for a little while....

6) I think we're back in 1st place in our bowling league! We have to bowl on Super Bowl Sunday though- bleh.

Coming of Age

My co-worker just came in. He is letting his hair start to grey naturally (something he'd previously taken effort to cover up in the past) and for the first time his temples are all salt and pepper. I told him I liked his hair. Then I really looked at him.

I was caught off gaurd by a sudden, "wow, ___'s kind of attractive."

Promptly followed by "Did I just think ___'s attractive?"


I'm offically stating that physically "my type" is a middle-aged guy (30+). This is something some of my other girl friends might already have recognized in themselves but I'm typing this still in sort of a self-wonderment haze. What's kind of funny is that ___ noticed that I was in the middle of some sort of revelation and asked "Are you checking me out? You've got some devlish little smile on your face." Geesh.

Now, I know that a few months ago I blogged about super-hot Taylor Lautner but the more thought I give to the subject I'd rather spend a candlelit dinner with a half-naked 30-40 something. ;)

I don't even feel "old" admitting this. I do recognize this as some kind of weird official acceptance that I'm middle aged too above and beyond just the number of years I've lived.

Chris - 7 month update

Chris turned 7 months on Saturday and continues to be a happy, healthy baby. Some things he can do:

1) in the last week he's started clicking his tongue which is funny to watch since he over-exaggerates the motion and smiles right after

2) he gives kisses - he's done this for about 2 months but in this last month he's gotten the suction down so he leaves your cheek extra slobbery. He seems to only kiss women though....

3) he's out of the baby tub and takes "regular" baths with Nicole. He especially likes splashing.

4) He claps

5) While on his stomach he'll push himself up on his arms like a walrus - good first control towards crawling, but he hasn't gotten the knack of getting his knees under him except while sleeping

He's a real momma's boy and I L-O-V-E it. When I come home from teaching and he first sees me his whole body wiggles with excitement and he beams as he reaches for me. Melts my heart.

He wears all 9 and 12-month clothes now. He's tried several solid foods (more new ones to come in the next 2 weeks include nectarine, lima beans, peaches, & pears) and by far his favorite is black beans and oatmeal; he leans in so fast and furious for the next bite that sometimes the spoon goes too far in and he gags!

He's getting his two front top teeth now and has been waking up mid-night in pain lately. Update: His third one came in this morning - top left center!

2009 Recap

Year 5 of recapping the previous year....


Age: 30
Weight: 147 - this means i have 8 lbs. to get back to my pre-Chris weight
Height: still 5-6
Hair: Blonde and getting LONGER


NYE Activities: absolutely nothing. I think we ticked people off in past years with declining NYE invitations and therefore didn't get invited anywhere by anyone. That was a bit of an ego bruise but overall staying at home with Jim was not a dissapointment.


Best Of...
Movie: New Moon was probably my favorite for the hype and my low expectations based on Twilight the movie

Song: I'm in a Sideways kick by Dierks Bently. Oddly, when I YouTubed it to watch the video I discovered i apparently like a lot of his music per the suggestions YouTube sent at the end of the song.

Friend of the year: I know it's probably cheesy but Jim gets the title this year. Having a second kid, parenting the first in a way that makes me proud, being patient with my career changes, the expert managment of our household finances even in bad economic times, keeping me abreast of news when I don't make time to stay current, and having random philisophical conversations that keep my mind working put him over the top this year. Oh, he's got nice arms too.



Most fun thing of 2009: Having Chris

Most disappointing thing of 2009: Honestly, probably the same thing as 2008- the paycut that I took and the nagging feeling that I could be making more someplace else and *probably* be as happy...

Most impressive: beyond the daily wonders that are my kids, I'd say how much I like my new job. I'm really glad I moved over to the new department, I like my co-workers, and I like my daily responsibilities.



Looking to 2010...
Most Anticipated Thing: All the milestones Chris will be hitting in rapid-fire. Nicole getting potty-trained.

Most nervous About: losing touch with my friends, especially my kid-less friends, as family becomes more and more important and time-consuming in my own life.

Goals: to become a very good cake decorator. To make our house landscaping something envy-worthy. To get back to my pre-baby weight and just maybe put effort (working out) into doing it.

Resolution: To take all of my vacation days and put them to good use. Good use = taking the kids/family to places they haven't been to do things they haven't done (craft class for Nicole, music/play class for Chris, Michigan for the family, etc.)

The Institution of Marriage

Here is an excerpt from a recent Cincinnati Enquirer article about marriage license trends:

Last year, 4,537 couples applied for a marriage license in Southwest Ohio's most populous county. That's the fewest since 1957, when 4,467 couples sought to tie the knot, according to figures provided by Probate Court.

The trend is also evident in other southwestern Ohio counties.

In Butler County, the 2,041 marriage license applications in 2009 were the fewest since 1970. Clermont County processed 1,115 marriage applications last year, the fewest in 21 years, and likely longer. (The county's Probate Court could provide numbers only back to 1988.)

In Warren County, 1,140 couples applied for a marriage license last year, the highest numbers since at least 1993. (The county's Probate Court could not provide earlier figures.) That does not necessarily mean Warren is bucking the marriage trend. Indeed, the county's population has almost doubled since 1990, but marriage applications have remained relatively flat.

...

Reasons for the decline, the report said, include people delaying their first marriage until they are older; the growth of unmarried cohabitation; a small decrease in the tendency of divorced people to remarry; and an increase in lifelong singes, although the actual won't be known until the lives of young and middle-aged adults run their course.

Since 1960, the number of cohabiting couples has increased more than 15-fold from 439,000 to 6.8 million the report said.


As a person who previously co-habitated I can attest to the fact that living together is barely different than being married. Co-habiting is also so prevalent with the famous and economically smart (shared expenses = cheaper than single living) that I'm not surprised to see the "15-fold" jump.

A point the article didn't make that I think also contributes to the low marriage application rate is the fact that for some it's not financially advantageous to get married. Unfortunately (I say "unfortunately" because people taking advantage of the system unnecessarily frustrates me; for the record I am supportive of people getting help to make themselves better, I have very little support for people who could afford to be self-sufficient and aren't) we know several people who are using government assistance for food stamps, tuition, etc. that they would otherwise lose if they got married, hence why they specifically don't tie the knot. In fact, we had friends who wanted to get re-married but "couldn't afford to" because the government paid her so much on a monthly basis for her "single mother" status so they just lived together [again] all the while wearing their old wedding rings & acting like like they did before when they were married.

.

While these numbers don't surprise me and the reasons hypothesized seem reasonable, I have to admit it makes me sad. It's the old-fashioned person in me who values the institution of marriage and thinks that the legal commitment, at least for me, made things more "official", even though, as I said, emotionally, financially, and physically there was no difference versus living together.

Getting Dressed

This past season I spent a lot of time purging my closet. I got rid of "clubbing" tops - the sexy ones I haven't worn in years, pants that were too big and too small, shoes that never fit quite right to be considered comfortable but looked perfect with 1-2 outfits.


I don't miss any of it.


This morning an article on Yahoo! News caught my eye about the new things for 2010 that I "should" have in my closet. Here's one trend that I stopped at:

I get it. the socks (especially the pink ones) are kinda cute and certainly trendy. SJP wore things like this on SATC all the time. I don't think that I could ever pull this off though.

First off, where would I wear an outfit like this to? Second my heels aren't meant to be worn with foot-covernings as thick as socks and therefore I think they'd fit pretty tight. Third, I live in Ohio and think 90% of the population would look at me like I got dressed in the dark.

I won't even bother commenting on the whole "someone my age shouldn't wear...". I will say that while I'm always a fan of shorts, especially the frequently trendy tailored ones, my legs do not look like the models' above so the style on me wouldn't have quite the same effect as it does for 6 foot beanpole them.

Sticking to a closet full of staples is boring but reliable....

Around the house

This weekend was CRAZY busy. Bright and early my dad and I headed over to Michaels for our first class of cake decorating. We both got lessons for Christmas. We learned how to make buttercream icing and how to properly ice a cake. On saturday we start dots, shells and writing.

Jim's family came down from Spencerville for Christmas on Saturday afternoon which meant that I spent hours cooking and entertaining. All my food finished at the same time which, in my opinion, is 1/2 the battle of good cooking. We had chicken & dumplings and beef strogonoff as the main dishes - both of which I think turned out pretty good.

All 11 of them spent the night in order that they could join us for Chris's Baptism on Sunday morning. Unfortunately Nicole ran a fever the night before and started puking right after she got up. She stayed at home while we all headed to Church.

Chris did great- very cooperative and happy. Mom's Christening outfit fit him really nicely and we got lots of compliments from folks. Here he is with Jim and I and his Godparents, Lindsay and Mike:

On Sunday Jenna asked me to be in her wedding party - I was honored and said yes!

Chris's wheezing was pretty bad all weekend so I took him to the doctor on Monday. He has acute bronchialitis but since he didn't respond to the breathing treatment he's just got to tough it out. He did get a prescription to fight the double ear infection.

Believe it or not other than the wheezing he has been acting so normal I might not have gotten him an appointment at all. While at the doctor he clapped for her which impressed the doctor - "he's an early clapper" she mentioned. "How early?" I asked. "Well, most kids clap for the first time around 9-10 months". Go Chris!

Here's my sick kid on Monday night:

Nicole's been eating a lot less since the bug got her on Sunday. She's back to her normal personality though and the diarrhea is subsiding....

A fun side note... Jim and I use coupons. Jim wanted to know how much we were saving so all of 2009 he kept a running excel chart of our grocery spending and coupon usage. We didn't count sale prices as savings because everyone gets those prices.

• Not counting the prescription incentives we saved $551.90 by using coupons which constituted 11.9% of our total grocery bill.
• If you do count our prescription dollars (that we get by filling or refilling at a particular pharmacy) we saved $897.16 or 19.4% of our total grocery bill.

KICK ASS! so worth the effort!

Snowing Thursday

1. Know what's annoying - getting off work at 1 but not being able to do anything with the extra time. We got off because road conditions were getting bad with snow. But I still need to work from home and even if I didn't the road conditions are too bad to go anywhere. I want to use my LNY 30% off coupon and today's the last day!!! ugh!

2. I know i haven't mentioned it before but i love Craigslist. i like the entire idea of it economically, socially, and conceptually. Here Nicole is showing off a purchase I made last month - what will be Chris's Halloween costume in 2011 (how's that for planning ahead?). I saw it online from a mom who's kid was supposed to be a dragon this year and then freaked out and refused to put it on. I got it for just $8 and Nicole likes to play in it now.

3. Since I'm home and have some down time between projects i checked my blog and kept hitting "next blog" just to see what the world is up to. Not sure if Blogger did some kind of profiling but the 6 clicks I made were written by women just like me - all us, english-speaking moms with kid(s) under 4. hmmmmm One chick had this really annoying background music. I'm glad none of my friends have that.

4. I just like this picture so i'm posting it.

5. As you probably know, Nicole goes through spells where different things are her favorite song (Ice Ice Baby, Beth, etc.). Right now she's in a "I love Rock-n-Roll" phase. I clearly need to expose her to a little more "Sideways" and "Hey, Soul Sister" if we're going to listen to tracks on repeat....

What's going on here

1. Chris bit me yesterday to the point that I was bleeding. HOLY CRAP. Problem is that the kid still needs to eat which is now painful on a new wound. Further, any further nibbling (unintentional on his part, he's still getting used to his teeth) is in the EXACT SAME SPOT. Oh my God.

2. I'm finished with my school prep for this year (syllabus, schedule, project, 3 guest speakers all confirmed, etc.). I have 25 students and this is, so far, my lowest enrollment in any of my classes ever. Part of my ego is wondering if I'm getting bad press even though my reviews are always very good. Part of me is happy that fewer students = less work.

3. Nicole's hair is getting wacky. I think I need to start using conditioner in it because it's FRIZZY in the back. I'm also going to pick up a spray bottle and try to get her to sit long enough to have it styled.

4. My brother is getting married. As I hear more details and give my opinion/suggestions I realize more and more that there are things that I'd change about my own wedding. Not that I didn't like my wedding but hindsight and attending more formal events helps clarify what the true potential could have been.

5. I had a nightmare last night about a serial killer that was after me. He put his previous victim's head in the trunk of my car. The last nightmare I had was months and months ago and it was about an anaconda trying to eat me.

Yearly Financial Planning

This might seem strange but I am a planner so maybe not....

Jim and I have decided where the kids are going to go to High School (pending any major changes in the next 12-14 years):
Nicole: McAuley
Chris: St. Xavier

Jim really likes the academics of Summit Country Day but I think Karen C's courses are skewing his admiration of the school as a whole. Further, the tuition rates are "a bit" <insert sarcasm> high now, muchless a decade + from now.

This was a semi-important decision for us to make now because it lead to us opening a Coverdell account for each.

Strangely, we do not have a kindergarden or grade school selected yet. Our religious denomination (Methodist) is a little tricky when it comes to private grade schools which are often Catholic in nature...

Between these new accounts and the 529 accounts we have already started for their college we're banking pretty heavy on their education. We think they're a good investment though.

Christmas 2009 Recap

Christmas at the Eutsler household was a good one. The festivities started out with my brother Greg's engagement (congrats again!) followed by two nights of family, gorging on good food, and opening what seemed to be an endless amount of gifts.

Nicole wanted two things for Christmas - a purple, Dora backpack and a bathing suit. Fortunately for her she got both. :)




On Christmas Day Nicole changed her clothes 5 times - from her original outfit to princess dress-up clothes, to PJs to her bathing suit back to PJs.

My mother did LOTS of sewing for the kids this year. She made the raincoat you see above, spent 200 hours cross stitching a baby blanket for Chris, made doll diaper bags for the girls as well as crayon carriers. (side note that she's in progress of making Chris's baptismal clothing as well!)

Dad bought Ryann and Nicole jump ropes which were also big hits as you can see (Note Nicole is jumping in high heeled princess shoes!):

I got cake decorating lessons, clothes, socks, jewelry, and a new reading lamp for the bedroom amongst other things. One of THE BEST things I received was from my brother Greg- a binder of all my blogs 2007-present, printed out and in protective sleeves in a nice binder. I get paranoid that blogger will go away some day and I'll have lost years worth of journaling. This was FANTASTIC especially since the time period brought so many life changes to us (2 kids, new house, etc.).

Chris was a good sport through all the festivities as well. I was disappointed to find that most of the 9 month clothes he received fit perfectly and 2/3 onesies and all the pants (all 9mo) that Lindsay/Mike/Ryann got him needed to be exchanged for 12 month size. WHY IS MY 6MONTH OLD WEARING 12MONTH CLOTHES!? I want him to stay LITTLE!

The toys he got were great as he's able to roll trucks on the floor and hug stuffed animals.

All in all, a great Christmas! One more with Jim's side of the family next Saturday.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Chris's Day to Shine

Chris had his six month check-up this morning. All's well physically- we confirmed again he's a BIG boy

2 feet 4.5 inches = 99%ile

19lbs. 3oz = 80%ile

I've reported recently that he can sit on his own and babbles a lot. He also has 2 bottom teeth and will probably cut the top two in January if I had to guess. The teeth and the sitting surprised and impressed the pediatrician as he's early for both.

He babbles, as I mentioned, and mom teased me last night if his "dadadada"'s count as his first word or if I'm waiting for "mamamamama" before it counts. ha. ha. :P No, I'm not counting it as he clearly has no idea what he's saying, he's just making noise. Cute but just noise nonetheless.

Nicole was a great baby, or so I thought. Truly though, Christopher IS a great baby. He only cries when he's tired or hungry and when you lay him down he falls alseep on his own. Obviously he's a good eater. :) So far he's had avacado, blackberry, rice cereal, carrots, & banana. We'll be trying yellow squash for the first time tonight. He's also a wonderful cuddler much to my joy.

I'm SO in love with this baby! Maybe because psychologically I know he's the last baby we [intend to] have. Maybe because he's just so easy to take care of that I'm appreciative he fits so well into our busy life schedule. Maybe because I'm more comfortable being a parent and can enjoy the ride more than I did the first time with a 6-month old. Maybe because he still clearly prefers me to anyone else and it makes me swell with loving him back. But WOW, even more than his sister at this age Chris consumes my heart.

Bragging about Nicole Today, Chris Tomorrow

I get these weekly updates from BabyCenter.com that I've found very useful. I got this one about Nicole and out loud said "what?!"

Let's Get Verbal
At 30 months, your child can name a few body parts, some colors, or even a friend or two. Her memory and speaking ability work in tandem. If she says "dog sleep" you might say "yes, Spot is asleep on the doggy bed". She can't imitate your complex language patterns yet, but her brain is absorbing them. Every time you repeat her words or expand on them you're helping her memory practice.

OK, I know every mother thinks her child is brilliant but if this is all Nicole is "supposed" to be able to do then WOW, my kid is smart.

Allow me to brag:

• Nicole knows every body part, even obscure ones like "heel" or "armpit" and has for 8+ months.
• She knows all major colors (pink, purple, gray, brown, black, etc.)
• We routinely talk about other kidS in her class and what they did or wore that day.
• She always speaks in complete sentences, often with adjectives.
• She sings multiple verses of songs unprompted and unaided by Jim or I
• She changes the inflection of her voice given her mood or intention. For example she'll sternly tell Jim "don't eat my cookie" if she has to leave it unattended.

What she doesn't yet know that becomes obvious the more she interacts with Chris is the pronoun "his". She's got "hers" down pat but mis-uses "him". For example, "Chris dropped him toy." Our approach is to repeat the exact sentence she just said but use "his" instead and really stress it.

One thing she has gotten down that I'm proud of is relationships. If I ask her about who her cousins are she can rattle off several. She knows who my brothers are, who her dad's mom is, etc. She's not perfect in her answers 100% but normally will hit about 9/10 of them.

Breastfeeding

Mom and Dad kept Nicole while we went out of town for my company Christmas party. Nicole was Mom's shadow all weekend and followed her upstairs to get dressed. Before my mom put her shirt on Nicole touched her bra and asked, "You have Grandma milk?"

-------------------

Yeah, I know this is personal but it's my blog so I'm allowed to be personal.

I really don't like pumping. I especially don't like pumping at work.

At home I see it as something functional - gathering back-supply for Chris most often. It's not something I really want Jim to watch, not because I'm embarrassed but because I don't want him to think of my breasts in a milk-producing way. I want him to only associate my breasts with sex (how's that for blunt?).

I don't like pumping at work because I have to lock the door and pull the shades and all my co-workers automatically know what I'm doing. Again, I'm not embarrassed but I worry THEY are embarrassed. Further, I do feel guilty about the 20 minute, 2-times a day break I have to take to accommodate it.

Last, pumping in general isn't fun. I don't have hands to really do anything. I can't type and to read anything online I have to do this balancing act to free up a hand to scroll my mouse.

Love my kid. Love the nutrition he gets from breast milk. SOOOOOOO looking forward to a Christmas break of no pumping.

Starting in the new year Chris will move to a eating schedule that only includes nursing when I'm doing it, not milk from a bottle. I'm already excited and I don't feel guilty about moving him to a permanent formula injection into his diet.

• He'll be 6 months old tomorrow which was my base goal for breastfeeding.
• I think formula is just fine
• I'll still be feeding him 4X/day
• He eats 5-6 oz at a time and I can't always collect that much pumping
• He's eating baby food (avocado, blackberry, banana, & rice cereal so far)

Hooray for vacation and all the many and different ways it'll release stress.

In the Christmas Spirit

Last night we took the kids and my mom out on a Christmas adventure. We first stopped at our church for the live nativity. Nicole had no fear of the animals and, in fact, was very eager to let the goats eat cornmeal out of her hand.

After that the next stop was to a private residence near my grade school. My mom's bank customer put out 160,000 lights (all very tastefully done I might add) and the wife and next door neighbor dress up as Santa and Mrs. Claus and stand in the driveway for an hour and a half EVERY night for the children to wave to/visit. While Nicole did see Santa in the mall she was very shy and would only give him high-five and whisper that she wanted a "purple backpack" (like Dora). Here she was all about Santa and let him hold her and gave kisses.

I love people who are so nice and do things just because.

I know, I know...

The end of the year has me installing 2 phone systems a week which means late nights and days too full to blog. Makes me sad [too].


Some highlights since the last post which was, not coincidentally also a highlight post.


1) Chris can sit up now. His being able to do it on his own was a gradual process that was mostly me making him sit with his legs in a diamond until finally he could balance and sit straight. Sometimes he still topples but it's mostly from reaching for something and not being able to stay upright at the same time.



2) Christmas music, my favorite of all, is in full swing. I refuse to listen to anything else. I have preset 1 tuned to 98.5 and preset 2 on 99.9. If anything other than a classic that I like comes on I switch to the other station. Nicole likes the I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas song and doesn't understand why I can't play it again like i do Ice Ice Baby.



3) I tried to make cookies with Nicole like Laura did with Ella but my recipe sucked and cut-outs weren't possible without extending Nic's bedtime another half hour which I wasn't willing to do. They taste okay and she did have fun decorating them (and then sneaking the toppings off when I'm "not looking"). I put a big black X over the recipe in the cookbook with a comment to the side expressing that these cookies should never again be made.



4) Mike and Lindsay agreed to be Chris's Godparents. Which we're soooo happy about! he'll be Christened on 1/10/10 and so far it appears there will be a good turnout of both sides of our family.



5) Happy Birthday, Jim! The big 3-3. Jim wanted a hand-made card from Nicole which she colored and had help writing her name on the back. We shared some ice cream once he got home from his exam. I think he did particularly well with gifts this year (a wireless router for us to play Wii with distant friends, shooting range gift pass, under-the-cabinet lights, bullets, a skillet for cooking bacon, etc.). He was very touched with all the Facebook wishes he got too.




6) I sent the "present of the year" as crowned by my father this weekend. I was quite proud of it and hope that the recipient likes it too regardless if it ever gets used. Appreciating the sentiment is enough in this case. :)




7) We're #1 in bowling due to Jen's remarkable 160's game and my bowling 95 pins over average in my series! Now if we can just hang on to our lead through April....

Catching Up

I'm working on-site on a big project so blogging hasn't been possible lately. Fortunately my at-home arrival has gone back from 10 on Monday to 6 yesterday and today. :)

Some things have been happening amongst the chaos though....

Big sister Nicole starts the dressing up of her little brother early by trying to turn him into a purple flower.

1) Chris got his first tooth on 11/23/09 which happened to be his 5 month marker. It's his bottom left and i suspect that the bottom right isn't far behind. My suspicians are two fold - 1) his gums are swollen and hard and 2) he's been and continues to blow out of his clothes on a daily basis. These teeth are costing us a fortune in laundry.....

2) Thanksgiving was nice as was my grandparents
60th wedding anniversary party. Lots of family all crammed into one weekend but there was lots to celebrate.

3) Chris rolls but I have only seen it once. I find him on his stomach in bed or when I walk back into the room after stiring the pot but I can rarely catch him doing it. Strangely this doesn't upset me....

4) Chris can hold his own bottle but I've never seen this either. Apparently he's been doing it at daycare for a few weeks and did it for Jim on Monday. I'm always nursing him so this skill doesn't really come into play when I've got him.

5) Nicole and I made some Thanksgiving crafts and gave them to family and her school teachers (who seemed to especially love them). She liked making the hand-printed turkeys so much we made a batch both Monday and Tuesday before the holiday.

6) We started feeding Chris solid food last Friday. Here's how it went:

Since we've been practicing and he's sort of got the hang of it.... he eats a tablespoon of rice cereal each night for dinner. Trick is getting his thumb out of his mouth long enough to get the food in but, I will say, the thumb-sucking does help ensure that the cereal goes down....

Oh, we had our family picture taken too:

Babysitting Adventures

We babysat Ryann on Saturday while Mike and Lindsay went on a date. After playing with toys Jim got the girls watching YouTube while I fed Chris.

They marched to "The Ants go Marching" and rolled on the floor to "Roll Over"


By special request they got grooving to "Ice Ice Baby":

After the cousins settled down with some pre-bedtime fruit snacks.

Nicole wanted to sleep with Ryann and, though it has never worked out before, I gave in. They fell asleep right away - apparently too tired to keep each other up.

This is the picture I took of them when Lindsay and Mike came to pick Ry up.

Weekend of 11/20/09

Jenny graciously let me tag along with her and her friends to go see New Moon (the next in the Twilight series) yesterday. I just re-watched Twilight in preparation for this and disliked it even more for the first time. As a result of being re-disappointed it made me even more happy that New Moon was so good. The screenplay was true to the book, the director made good theatrical decisions and the acting was up to par. I was especially impressed with Taylor Lautner’s acting for his age/experience. There were some laugh-out-loud funny parts, only one really cheesey seen and just one part section that I felt for those who hadn't read the book(s) because it went too fast and didn't probably have enough detail for those not in the know the way you are when you read a book. Overall rating: A-

.

Two other New Moon points- I'm only slightly embarrassed that I'm falling in love with Taylor Lautner’s body like every other woman in America. But holy crap, how can you not?! The embarrassed part stems from his age (which, when you’re only 17 it’s “more than just a number”) and that I normally don’t get all ga-ga over any celebrity. I have no physical draw to Robert Pattinson at all. Especially when he’s all pasty white like he is in these movies.

.

I teased Mandy (Jen’s friend who saw the movie with us and was quite descriptive of her intentions for both actors if they were ever in her company much to my amusement) that there’s certain to be a porn version of New Moon that will eventually release. I can count the number of porn shows I’ve ever seen on two fingers but this one I would not only seek out, I’d have a girls night in party to watch it.

-------------------------

.

Jenny is letting me borrow her Anita Blake vampire series which I'm currently in book 13 (?) of. This morning Nicole climbed in bed while I was feeding Chris and reading it.

.

"Mommy, this your book?” she asked picking it up.

.

“Yes, Nicole, that’s my book.”

.

“What’s it about?”

.

At this point I was SHOCKED that she asked me that question- whenever she shows that she grasps concepts (not just nouns and verbs) I get amazed. I was even more overwhelmed by the fact that there was pretty much nothing about the book’s plot that I could describe to a 2-year old. This series is classified as “horror” and is some of the most sexual and violent work I’ve ever read in my life. My answer ended up being “Friends going on an adventure.”

.

After she flipped through it, closed it and announced “The end,” I asked how she liked it.

“Very good. Ocean book is better.”

------------

We babysat Ryann on Saturday – I’ll post some video up when I get home. : )

Parenting Lessons

Several of my friends had kids before we did. As such I was around them and their children subconsciously taking in parenting tips that now I find myself pulling out with Nicole. Some of my favorites:

"Use your words"- Anjali to Alex when he'd get so upset he resorted to whining and crying. This one is my absolute favorite and most commonly used. I use it so much that Nicole says it to other children in her class that get upset and aren't coherent and now the teachers say it.

"Good choices good results, bad choices bad results"- I don't remember where this one came from but the concept is too early for Nicole. I said it a lot at her other daycare to kids who were bad or to remind the sitter to hold firm on her punishment decisions for naughty children.

"I'm going to count to three and then...."- this one got used on me as a child but the ... was always to get spanked. Normally for Nicole it's a time-out. The Cetti's really reinforced this upon me when we were talking about parenting one time so I started using it more since. I work very hard to count one, pause, count two, remind her of the consequence and then say three. I ALWAYS follow through at "3" with what I threatened to do. She sort of recognizes this and frequently stops at 1 or 2 but sometimes she likes to push the limits a bit and finds herself on the step or getting her bottom spanked.

Lindsay works with Ryann to try to find something positive about everyone, even if it's small things - "doesn't that lady have nice hair", "look at her pretty polished fingernails" or whatever. I don't remember the context of why she does that but I like that she does.

Another mom I had dinner with at a party always used the word "naughty" instead of bad when referring to her kids actions. Her logic was that her kids aren't bad (as in bad people) and she doesn't want them to think that they are. They might be, however, naughty at times but that's distinctly different in her mind. While I can buy into the concept I haven't gotten into the habit yet....

5 Year Anniversary

On Friday Jim and I celebrated our 5 year wedding anniversary. Wahoo! Go us! For our "wood" anniversary Jim booked us in the Aztec room at the WildWOOD Inn in Florence, KY.

The Bed

.

.

The mirror over the bed

.

.

The TV and Sitting Area

.

.

The Spa

.

.

After checking in we got dressed and went to dinner at the Revolving restaurant in NKY for some filet mignon and reminiscing.

.

Jim and I at dinner at the Riverview 360 restaurant

.

.

The city view from our table

After dinner we walked around the Florence Mall for some Christmas ideas. Very relaxing, hand-holding stroll.

.

When we got back to the hotel we snuggled in to watch New In Town which I give a C- to (BUMMER). I looked forward to the end of the movie for more than one reason.... ; )

Neither of us slept well but we both liked breakfast at Frisch's and seeing the kids at my parents around 11am.

.

All in all a WONDERFUL anniversary - perhaps our best yet!

Chris's Nursery

It dawned on me the other day that I never posted pictures of Chris's nursery - rude after so much outside help from my blog readers! Here you go!

His dresser is on the wall next to the hamper. The lighting/flash was such that I didn't get a real great shot of it...

I hand-painted the dinosaur on the wall (matches his comforter) as well as all the letters. You might remember the curtains from when this was Nicole's room - the flowers came down and dinosaurs went up!

If I ever get around to it I'll paint the other two dinosaurs from the quilt pictured above on the wall to the left. The dinosaur at the bottom left corner of the quilt is the one featured in the picture above on the wall.

Nicole's Education

Before Chris was born Jim and I decided we wanted to move Nicole from the home-based babysitter she was going to to a more pre-school-like daycare. Like every other parent on the planet we think our daughter is really bright and [obviously] want to nurture this as much as possible.

I have to say that I am thrilled with where she's going (TLC Academy) and what she's learning. It used to be that Nicole would learn what we taught her - ABC's, counting, songs, etc. Now she knows things that I know I didn't teach her- she asks to sing songs I've never heard of, she knows 3 planets by name, etc.

Yesterday's report said she's studying the following:

Language Arts - Dd

Science - Dinosaurs

Art/Dramatic Play - Fall Leaves

Geography - Spain

Math - 5

Yeah, it's almost 2X as much as what we were paying but it's worth it.

All this aside, we still really push Nicole at home to learn new things. I realized last week that she has all the fundamental tools to play a basic version of Uno - she knows her colors and her numbers. My first attempt at teaching her had her too distracted with how cool shuffleing was- we didn't get any further than her trying to shuffle all the cards. Last night we pulled them out and had her sort all the cards into piles - black, red, yellow, green, and blue. She was very happy to sort. Afterwards Jim used the cards like flash cards to test her on her letters/numbers/colors.

Jim thinks that after doing this for another week we'll be able to actually try playing the game again less the word cards.