Day at the Mall

Had a great day at the mall today with Daniela and Kayleigh. Jayden was excited about spending time with Kayleigh all morning. He kept talking about when we were going to go play with her and what they were going to do when we got to the play area at the mall. "And we are going to play at the play area in the mall. And when we go to the mall Kayleigh is going to be there. And we are going to play together."

Well, we managed to spend the whole day there! We did have a little shopping to do at Old Navy (I needed a belt to hold my pants up!HAHAHA) and Baby Gap and Sears and Target. As an added bonus, we ran into my mom at the mall. Yep, weird, I know. I live with her and I ran into her on separate outings at the mall. Small world I guess! :) Anyway, she encouraged me to stop at The Children's Place where she proceded to buy Ellie a cute new outfit. We tried to find something for Jayden, but they didn't really have anything nice in his size. Oh well, we'll get you next time, Bubs!

All in all, we had a fun day and got home quite exhausted! But, we still had play left in us. We took out our new GeoTrax set (thanks Grandma Tess) and played with those for quite a bit before dinner and after as well. Glad he likes those! :) But as an added surprise, when it was diaper changing time, Jayden decided that he was going to wear his Bob The Builder underwear instead. So, he put them on and a short while later, peed in them. Then, he chose to wear his Mater underwear over the pull-up. He peed in those, too, right before dinner; but, again, chose underwear instead of pull-ups. I was ok with all this, but then he peed in those, too. However, I was not going to give in to pull-ups! And he got another pair of underwear (good thing we have lots!) Well, he didn't outright pee in those, but he did leak a little. Fortunately, he did finally pee in the toilet, but that was right before bed. SO, he was destined for a pull-up for sure! Hopefully, tomorrow will be a drier day! :)

Merry Christmas to all my Christmas celebrating friends and family!



May this message find you in great health, surroundings of love, and deep in your cups of eggnog and brandy! :)

New Friends

Today we made some new friends. Ina and Sasha came to visit and play with us. Jayden and Eliana had a GREAT time sharing their toys and drinks and food with their new friend. It turns out, that Eliana and Sasha have the same birthday! What a small world it is! :)

We had such a good time playing this week, that next week we are going to their house to play. Jayden said he was really looking forward to that.

The best part of their playdate is that it wore them both out and they are both sleeping soundly. Jayden went willingly upstairs for a nap at 4 and even now at 7 hasn't even stirred despite my several attempts to wake him up. Eliana had more to eat before she crashed at 6 and even though she woke up about half an hour ago, she plopped right back down on the pillow and went back to sleep. I wonder if I should really try hard to wake them up and keep them up for a while, or let them sleep.....what to do? what to do?

Flat Tire

Nope...not the beer. On the car! We had a busy day fixing it too! Started off the day going to visit Grandma Tess at work so we could drop off the concert tickets with her. One the way there, the tire went flat. Called AAA when we got there and they were going to be 45 minutes or so. Now, I probably COULD have changed the tire myself, but 1) I've never had to change a tire before and I wasn't entirely sure knew how or had the strength to do it properly and 2) let's face it! That's why I pay membership to AAA.

So, there I was freezing my butt off waiting for the guy to come change my tire. The kids were off playing with Grandma Tess and eventually heading to the cafeteria for an unplanned lunch stop. And, the guy shows up. YAY! He changed the tire and the spare was flat too. Yep...flat! So, I'm thinking," Good thing I didn't try to do this myself or we would be here all day!" And, he pumps the tire up with air and we are ready to go. Now, why don't I have an air-pumper coming out of the hood of my car? Because when would anyone need that? TODAY! :)

I decided that after our impromptu lunch, we were going to the tire place to get the tire fixed. I tried to think of a good reason to delay doing it (out of pure laziness) but there was too much driving to be done last night to put it off. I took the non-freeway route all the way across town to the shop where I got the tires. Took me about half an hour to get there. And then, it took them about 1 1/2 hours to get to the car and tell me they couldn't repair the tire and they just replaced it. PHEW! That was a long outing for such little reward!

On the plus-side, my choir performed the first of two concerts last night and it was quite an enjoyable experience. I am tired, but hopefully today will prove restful and tonight will be another good concert. Mom, Dad, Dave and the kids will be there tonight along with some other familiar faces. Hope they don't make me nervous! :)

Last Weekend

So last weekend was super busy...especially Saturday. I went to Asilomar for the math conference where I gave my presentation and then up to Monterey for lunch with my mom and Charlotte. Then up to Boulder Creek to drop off the kids and San Francisco for the Masquerade Ball. Here are the pics from that busy busy day!
This is the gorgeous view from the window of the FishHopper restaurant where we had lunch




















Here is Mom and Charlotte in front of Monterey Bay.








These were just fun shots that Dave and I took in our hotel room before we headed out to the party. Don't like the pictures of me at all. The one of me by myself was of me acting goofy because of what Dave was saying right before he snapped the photo. I look slutty! (Is that a word?) I think he said something about my big boobs. And, the one of us together was off-center and I was trying to push Dave over but he wouldn't budge. Not sure why it came out so fuzzy though. Anyway, enjoy! :)

My Internet Places

These last couple of weeks have busy internet times for me. I recently started a MySpace page. I didn't think I would want to, but it's kind of fun. Tammy set me up on Turkey-Day because "Everyone else has one". So, why not me? Mostly, because I thought Dave would make fun of me....and he did! And, he still does!

Anyway, I found an old friend through MySpace. (Hi Lisa!) I hope that we can chat and keep up now that it is SO easy! I also found a new song that I LOVE LOVE LOVE!!! (Thanks B!) It's called "She Won't Last" by The Panic Channel. I LOVE LOVE LOVE it!

And, lastly, Julie sent me some pics of the kids from our visit in August.

WOW!!

When life is slow, I wonder if there will ever be anything to do. BUT, when life is busy it is CRAZY busy!

This past week was a prime example of what I mean by crazy! It all started last week with Thanksgiving actually. We had about 25 people over here for Thanksgiving dinner. Dave cooked up 2 turkeys and we made the stuffing, yams, and cranberries. Everyone who came brought a little something to add to dinner, which is always nice. We had a great holiday and enjoyed all the family and friends who came over.

The rest of the weekend was pretty tame with just a couple of outings and some tutoring for me. But, then the week started! Wednesday Aunt Judy came over in the morning and we took the kids up to Walnut Creek for a photo shoot for the next Discovery Toys catalog. They fixed us up with hair and make-up (that was really fun) and took about a thousand pictures of Judy and Jayden with a book-toy-game and Eliana and me with a little ball and Eliana by herself and Judy and Ellie and more and more. The original plan was for them to shoot Jayden on Wednesday and Eliana on Thursday. So, I booked us a hotel for Wednesday night and we stayed overnight. We decided to stay overnight anyway even though they did Ellie's photo shoot on Wednesday because it sounded like fun. We went to CPK for late lunch/early dinner. The food was GREAT as usual. And did a little wandering of the downtown plaza, but decided to hit Safeway for a bottle of wine and some munchies and go back to the room. Thursday morning we got the kids the free breakfast from the hotel (which was perfect for them with fruit an instant oatmeal) and drove back to the plaza for Starbuck's for us. While sitting in Starbuck's we saw Sephora across the way and decided to stop in. That was the cause of our tardiness and we got a parking ticket (WWAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH). Neither one of us had ever gotten one before! Bummer, but not a big deal.

Then we came home. I put the kids down for naps and spent time printing out overhead slides for Saturday's big event. Then, before I knew it, my babysitter was here and it was time to start tutoring. Friday was my day to get to Kinko's and take care of last minute things for the weekend. Then, it was Saturday morning! 6AM--Get up and leave for Asilomar. The annual math teachers' conference is held the first weekend in December at Asilomar conference grounds in Pacific Grove. I signed up to speak at the conference last year and re-upped to speak again this year. Last year, my session was at 2 in the afternoon. This year, 8:30 AM! Since we (my mom, Charlotte, and I) decided we were not spending the whole weekend down there, we had to leave insanely early to make sure we had enough time to get there for my 8:30 session. We got there with plenty of time to spare. My session was packed and a lot of fun, but I'll tell you, it's going to take many many many many many more of these conferences before I am not nervous to speak to a group of adults anymore.

Anyway, we toured the conference for a couple of more hours and didn't find much more of interest to us. We found that without teaching in the classroom full-time, there really wasn't much we were going to be able to take away with us from the conference. So, we left really early and stopped on Cannery Row for lunch. YUM!! Then off to home. At home, I had a short amount of time to pack and shower before Dave and I packed the kids in the car to head up to Judy and Gary's for the night. Well...the kids were staying at Judy and Gary's for the night, but Dave and I were off to SF for Symantec's Holiday party--a masquerade ball--and we stayed overnight in the city. Typically, the trip up the hill was wrought with anguish--Jayden puked in the car about 15 minutes from Judy and Gary's. We were expecting it to be Ellie, but I guess you never can tell! :(

Despite all the troubles, we managed to get to SF and have a GREAT time. It was the first night we spent together without the kids since Ellie was born and except for the one night we left Jayden with Grandma Tess one night right after I got pregnant with Ellie (I was SO miserable) it was the first night since kids we spent alone! It was nice! We will definately be doing this again! Perhaps next time, though, we will go somewhere more our speed. SF is a little too busy and crazy for us. We are more beach, lake, country type people.

Happy Thanksgiving!!

Hope you are all enjoying your family and/or friends on this exceptional holiday! Thanksgiving is one of the two most special holidays (the other is Passover) we celebrate at home. It's a day to spend with the people who make you feel good and to allow you to reflect on the great things you have in your life.

I am thankful for the loving, caring people in my life. I am thankful that my parents' house is large enough to hold 7 people and a dog even if we are in tight quarters. I am thankful that we are able to get along well enough that we aren't killing eachother or fighting all the time. I am thankful that Dave is working in a job that he likes and in a place where they like him. I am thankful that we are able to live comfortably within our means and that eventually we will have a nice house of our own to live in. I am thankful that I am surrounded by friends and family, that we are able to enjoy their company and have them enjoy ours. And here it is, I am thankful for my children! I thank God every day for their beautiful faces, healthy bodies, quick minds, easy smiles, and charming personalities! May they grow to be happy, successful, and healthy adults with loving, caring family and friends surrounding them!

To you and yours, Happy Thanksgiving!

OMG!!!

Can you believe a woman was recently kicked off a Delta Airlines flight for discreetly breastfeeding her child!? Here's an article on it:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15720339/?from=ET

Personally, I am hoping that there is more to this story than was written in the article, but just in case there wasn't...

Join me in telling Delta Airlines to get a clue and be supportive of breastfeeding mothers; and also in telling Congress it's time to pass the Breastfeeding Promotion Act, which amends the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to protect breastfeeding mothers. Clearly this law is needed now!

*SIGN THE PETITION TO SUPPORT BREASTFEEDING:

http://www.momsrising.org/breastfeeding-petition

MNO--YAY

Thanks for the great evening out last night, Ladies!

Last night the MonkeyMoms had a Mom's Night Out to spend some quality time with Julie while she was up here taking care of Roz after surgery. Prayers for a speedy recovery, Roz! We went to The Summit, which is a little steakhouse down the street from here. The food was ok, but not great. The desserts were really yucky. But, the company was good and the conversation was good. The best part of the conversation is that it wasn't centered around our kids and what they do, but around us as adults and our interests. It was a good time!

Don't you just wish...

you could fall asleep anywhere you wanted when you were tired?
Yep....just conked out at the dinner table. She was fussing for a minute, then she was quiet. I figured that she just went back to her dinner and didn't look because I was tending to Jayden on the other side of me. When Jayden got down from the table, I looked over at Ellie and this is what I saw!

Clowns and Witches!

Thank you all for the comments last time. I was feeling like I was out here in cyberspace all alone for a while. But, now that I know you are out there, I feel like babbling a little more. And, Kris, OF COURSE I REMEMBER YOU!!!

Actually, we have been so crazy around here, I haven't even had a chance to post our halloween pics!! Now that we are sporting colds, there is a little more down-time and I am able to get them posted. I managed to finish Dave's costume just in time for my boys to be clowns. For trick-or-treating, I put on a little make-up myself and wore a clown hat...just to fit in! :) My girls were witches...all 3 of them....Eliana, Ashley, and Grandma Tess!




This one was taken at the play area in the mall, where Mom and I took them to burn off some of that early afternoon energy, but it was too cute to pass up. I just love her little hat! :)

Woe is me!

Ok...so I am not so woe...but I am missing my friends and my kids' friends. I miss having regular playgroups where we get to see the same folks week after week and keep up in the lives of those around us. We are doing fine, don't get me wrong! I just miss the old days.

For those who read the last post, Jayden is doing fine. There didn't seem to be any reactions to the pills at all. Eliana is also doing ok. She fell down a few stairs yesterday so we rushed off to the store to get a baby gate for the top of the stairs. Of course, my mom and I were both on the stairs with Ellie when she fell yesterday, so a baby gate is not the be-all-end-all answer to the problem. But, it made me feel like I was doing something about it. Then, she broke out in the nastiest of all diaper rashes today. One diaper change was totally normal and then, BOOM, a short bit later (and I mean short...she has been pooping little pellet poops all day long), she had another poopy diaper and KERBLAM! Nasty rash all over. Poor girl...she wouldn't sit or stop crying and fussing and stupid me... I didn't know why. Once I cleaned her up and put half a tube of Desitin on her bum, she felt much better and wolfed down some dinner.

Anyway, I babble. If you are out there, I would love to hear it. :)

HOLY AROMASIN, BATMAN!!

Aromasin?? You are wondering what Aromasin is?? Well, let me tell you! Aromasin is the medication that my mom is taking for estrogen surpressants. Jayden, who is so independent it makes me cry sometimes, took 4 (yep that said FOUR) of these Aromasin pills. It made me freak out. I called Kaiser as soon as I found out. Unfortunately, that was nearly 3 HOURS after he swallowed these pills. My mom and I asked him about it and he said he took them and he described the little tiny pills. I'll tell you....I got a surge of adrenaline tonight! YIKES!

Bottom line here is that all is well, no reaction to them thusfar. Hoping it will pass through his system with no adverse affects!

CONGRATS JUDY AND GARY

Congratulations to Judy and Gary and all of the other 12,000 participants of the Inaugural Rock N' Roll 1/2 Marathon in San Jose! Judy and Gary completed the 13.1 mile race in just under 3 hours! ROCK ON!

As I posted previously, I was planning to join Judy in this race, but since decided I didn't have time to train. I was clearly right, but it turns out that a sneaky twist (get it...twist) of fate determined that even if I did train, I would not race on Sunday. I sprained my left ankle stepping off the curb (right into a @#$%^ing pothole) in front of my in-law's house Saturday night. I was hoping that it wasn't broken and x-rays Sunday morning assured me of that. But, the sprain was so bad that I couldn't put any weight on it at all. The crutches however were WAY more painful than the sprain (after several hours at the marathon rooting on Judy and Gary and hanging out for music and then lunch). I decided that I could walk (very carefully) and to Pittsburgh with those dang crutches! :)

Anyway, it's much better now even if it is still a bit swollen and hurts if I bend, twist, or move my foot in any way. :)

I'm on for next year's 1/2 marathon. I will start training as soon as I am able to fully walk again.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!

Whoa!! Hang on there! HOLD THE PHONE!!! I said I love fall! I like the cool overcast weather! I NEVER SAID I WAS READY FOR RAIN!!!!!!!!!

We all went to our house to work today and as I was slaving away to vacuum the GINORMOUS amounts of filth, dirt, drywall, sawdust, nails, and other crap off the carpet Dave says we are keeping, Dave asked, "Did you hear anything about it raining today?" Well, of course, I am not one to read the paper, listen to the news or pay attention to the radio. So, I didn't know about any predictions of rain. However, I said, "Sure looks like it anyway." Apparently, I was a better weather-forecaster than I expected. Not five minutes later, HUGE drops of rain started to appear on my patio. Then it came down like a real rain. I couldn't believe it. A real rain!

Ordinarily, I love rain. I will go out in it and let it pour on me like nothing. But, right now my house is in a rather delicate stage. Sure as shit though....Dave called me on my way home.

"Can you come back and get Jayden?" he asked. "The rain is coming in the bedroom window in three places and the water is starting to pile up. Plus, the window in the kitchen is leaking as well as the new French doors that are still unfinished wood on the inside."

I just love remodeling. I will tell you plain as day. I am gonna LOVE my house when it's done. I just hope that happens before we have to choose between carpeting and sending Eliana to the college of her choice. :)

Walking and hugging

Eliana has finally made the switch from crawling to walking. I noticed it at a playdate this week. She was wandering all over the playroom on her FEET! I also noticed at home that she has taken to wandering around with stuff in her hands. I think when she discovered it was easier to transport her special treasures while walking and carrying than to drag the stuff and crawl, she was motivated to make the switch. Today she woke up from her nap on the living room floor (yep, I am a terrible mother, I let my kid nap on the floor!) she got up and wandered into the kitchen before I caught up with her. She had to be the cutest thing ever just tottering on her little feet with her eyes only half open. What a loving cuddle-bug she is, too. Just loves to toddle over and give hugs when she is playing, but when she is sleepy (just going down to sleep or just getting up) she likes to sit and hug and put her head down. I LOVE IT!

Jayden loves her, too. Today, he wanted to nap with her. He saw her sleeping on the floor and tip-toed around her. He asked if he could sleep with her. I said no because we can't wake her up or she will cry. He asked if he could give her a kiss. I said that would wake her up. So, he came over to me and gave me a big hug and kiss instead. LUCKY ME!

I love my kids! I love my life (today at least anyway)! I love that I get to stay home and watch them grow and change and learn! And, today is a beautiful fall day with grey overcast skies and a nice chill in the air. We are at home quietly cuddling and enjoying being together. Daddy is at our house slaving away to make it livable (hope that happens in the next decade or so). What a great day!

Fall begins--A New Year!

Last week marked the beginning of fall. I love autumn when the leaves turn their pretty gold, red, and brown colors and the weather begins to chill. I think fall is my favorite season. Of course, it has my favorite "secular" holiday in it---Halloween! I know...if you know me (and I would guess you aren't reading this unless you know me) you know that Halloween is my favorite non-Jewish holiday. I say "secular" because technically it is religios based holiday, but the way we celebrate it here in our fabulous country, it is secular. Halloween is actually a Pagan holiday that the Christian leaders adopted into practice when they tried to convert the world to their new religion. They knew that the people would not easily give up their traditions so many of the Christian practices are of Pagan decent. Halloween as we celebrate it in America is one of my faves, so thank you Pagans! (Funny what you learn working for the Catholics, eh?). I am thinking about hunting up my Halloween decorations and bringing them to my parents' house and decking us out, but I am not sure how my folks will react to that. Gonna wait until after Yom Kippur (Monday) to bring it up.

Speaking of...I am taking this opportunity of the Jewish New Year to reflect on my year and try to bring about change for the better. That is the purpose of these holidays as well. They are to give you time to reflect on how you have been and to develop a plan for improvement. I have decided on some things I need to work on this year. I hope to be a better person for it. SO...For all those of you that I have wronged in any way (by talking too much, not talking enough, failing to listen or failing to hear, doing too much or not doing enough, or doing the wrong thing or saying the wrong thing) please forgive me as I try to forgive myself. I am turning a new leaf and make you this promise that I will do my best to be a better person, friend, wife, mother, sister, daughter, neighbor, aunt, cousin, team member.

Jayden and Eliana

Things are pretty typical around here right now and there is not much to say. I keep thinking to myself, "It's time to post on your blog, Lyn." But, as I sit here thinking there isn't much time to type anything, I am also thinking there isn't much to say.

Jayden is liking preschool. When I pick him up, he asks me if he can stay and when he can go back to class. He likes his teachers and his class, it seems. He doesn't talk much about his classmates, so I am presuming he hasn't bonded with any particular children yet. He is still not potty-trained although he will go most of the time I put him on the pot. Sometimes, he flat out refuses...other times, he goes almost as soon as his tush hits the seat. Dave caught him trying to poop under the table the other day and dragged him to the bathroom. He was so proud of his "rocket ship" poop. Not much else to report on Jayden.

Eliana started music class on Thursday. She seems to like it. Daniela signed up Kayleigh and Ryan for the same class but an hour later. We stayed for their class last week and we will attend their class again this week because Daniela asked me to. I'm so nice! :) There are not too many people in her class so I am hoping for a merger between her class and mine that will end up meeting on the hour between our current schedules. I would really like that. The timing would be so much easier for me! And, Ellie seems to like the class and the extra attention she gets from me during the class now that she doesn't have to share it with Jayden. I like that part too.

Ellie is walking, now. She does crawl a lot still and when she can find something to hold on to while walking, she holds on. She doesn't need to, but I think she likes the security. She loves to wear her new little shoes. I didn't actually NEED to buy her new shoes, but when I was out getting Jayden shoes that he DESPERATELY needed, I couldn't help but look at her little feet and want to buy some for her too. :) She is all about shoes. She loves to go to the shoe pile where we (my mom, me, and Jayden) dump our shoes and play with them. She puts them on her hands AND her feet and wanders around with them.

If it isn't the shoes, though, it's the books. She has also turned into a real bookworm. She is so good at just sitting and playing with a pile of books for really long stretches of time. It's a real treat because not only did Jayden not do that, but he would destroy a paper book inside a New York minute if you didn't watch him like a hawk. Ellie is not exactly gentle with the books, but she is looking to "read" them and play rather than destroy. I think with Jayden, though, it is the engineer in him that makes him tick. First destruction, then construction. He wants to see how "it" goes together so he can make it.

Anyway, for someone who had nothing to write about, I seemed to have used up quite a few words. Now I need to seek solice elsewhere as my hide-out has been discovered by the children and the babysitter is still on the clock.

Preschool cake!

Today was Jayden's first day of preschool. I got the call last week that he was admitted to Temple Emanu-El Preschool which is the school of choice for us. So, early this morning, I got us all up and we rushed him off to school. He was pretty nervous about it. He was saying, "I don't want to go to school. Nobody likes me there because I am different."

Now, of course, this is not true. He was making up a story to cope with his nerves, but he was still nervous when we got there. Never-the-less, he smiled pretty for the pictures.

Ok..it may have been more goofy than pretty, but he was nervous.

Here he is meeting his teacher for the first time.


And, before I get accused of never posting pics of Eliana....here she is in her cake-y glory! Happy 1st birthday, Princess!

Happy Birthday to Me

I made it to my 34th birthday today. Nope...no surprise. In fact there is really no surprise because the one surprise that was being planned, my mom vetoed. My dear sweet loving brother who hates everyone elses messes is planning to take my car (which desperately needs it) to be cleaned. He was going to try to work out surprising me with it, but my mom told him that it was too complicated to work it out and he should just tell me. What a party pooper!!!

Speaking of poopers....Jayden, Eliana and I went to our friends' birthday party on Thursday and poor Jayden got a case of the trots. But, he was timely enough with it that I managed to put him on the toilet and he got to poopy in the potty! He was very excited about it. He talked about the "snake-y" poopy he had in the potty in Capitola and how this poopy was "runny" poopies. He is still talking about how he "poopied in the potty at the party". Unfortunatly, he can't carry that excitement to using the potty at home.

Well, I am off to celebrate my birthday at a baby shower for a woman I see about twice a year and then a wine tasting event with my parents and a bunch of their friends where the average age will be about 65. No...it's fine. I am actually looking forward to going.

Life's lessons

Well, I have learned 2 things since this weekend's travesty. They are not necessarily good things, but, then....we usually learn from our mistakes.

The first: Some people SUCK! Some people have no concept of civilized behavior or social acceptancies. Some people SUCK! Other's however, have more empathy in their little toe than those "some people" I previously referred to.

The second: I can't spell! Holy moley! I spelled THIEVES wrong! I need to go back to the 5th grade!

All's good. We are moving forward on our house project. Dave met with an insulation guy today that really seemed to know his stuff. The other guy that Dave talked to was clearly less than knowledgable in regards to the work that was capable of being done and how much it should cost to do it. So, now we are hoping to get some serious stuff done and be able to move back home soon....well, a couple of months probably, but maybe not next year now. :)

THEIVES!!!

People SUCK!!! There are so many selfish shitty people out there in this world that it makes me MAD! So moronically stupid SCUMBAG(S) (don't know if it was one or more scumbags) broke into our house and stole HUNDREDS UPON HUNDREDS of dollars of Dave's tools! They took hammers, screwdrivers, his WHOLE DAMN toolbag with all of his electrical tools as well as some power tools and the chargers for battery-operated tools. GRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!!!!!! We haven't really been able to assess what else was missing, but it is ssssssssssssssssssssssssssssoooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo frustrating.

Yep....this post was not fun to read. But, I feel better having expressed my anger even with a lack of vocabulary, punctuation, and proper grammar.

The good news?? My children are having a great day. They are relaxing at home (well, my parents' house is going to be home for a while) and playing together and watching too much TV and all is good here. I feel like my personal space has been violated, but my family is healthy, happy, and safe....at least we are mostly healthy, mostly happy, and about as safe as you can expect to be in a big fucking city of evil-maniacal savages!

I'm calm...really. I'm calm! :)

Happy Birthday, Baby Girl!

Today is my baby's first birthday. I've spent the whole day remembering exactly what we were doing at this hour last year. It was a lot of fun to recall how we spent her first day, who came by to visit, how little she was then versus how big she is now, and mostly, I've been thinking about how much we have both changed and grown in the last year--more she than me, though! :)

As I type, I am watching her try really hard to play with her big brother (who I might add has also changed a great deal since meeting his sister for the first time last year). She is just starting to walk but chooses to crawl. She is not as strong as Jayden is (obviously) so she is easily scared and frustrated by his method of play. Right now the game is "hide under the big cardboard box". Since she can not get out from under the box, she doesn't really like that game. But, she still wants to play with him....and he, her! :)

It is a happy day!

Fun at the park!

Today we went to the park and met 3 new friends! We were off to meet Daniela and Kayleigh and Ryan who invited Anne and Cooper and Josie. I got there first and met up with 2 other moms who were having a little playdate. These 2 moms live near my house and they are really friendly. We got to talking when another one of their friends showed up. She was also really nice. As they all left we exchanged phone numbers. I will have to expand our playtime to include the park a little more often so I can call them up and invite them to play with us! :)

Apparently the outing was really good for the kids because they both crashed into their respective beds for nice long naps right away!

Now Jayden is whining like he didn't sleep for 2 hours this afternoon. I don't really know what I am going to do with him!

Capitola weekend!

What a fantastic weekend! We went to Capitola this weekend with our Sit-n-play families. There were 4 families there. We stayed in a 4 bedroom house near the beach. Fernanda and Alex know the owners of the house from their church. They (the owners) rent out the house to other families to rest and relax for a week or a weekend. So we were walking distance from the beach in a large comfortable home for the weekend. We ate great food, spent time visiting with the others in the really nice hottub, and got to know the other families much better. A good time was had by all. ESPECIALLY the kids. Jayden particularly had fun. He played with his friend Johnny ALL weekend. They were inseparable.

No pictures...we forgot the camera (not sure if that was on purpose or not).

My week

This has been a rather challenging week for me. I haven't felt like blogging about anything since we got back from vacation because there was so much to say, I didn't know where to start. Now, I am not sure I feel like blogging because I have so much unpleasant news that I would almost rather not share it. But, it's not ALL bad...maybe a list in no particular order.....

1) My mom saw a dermatologist last week and it was determined that she has a patch of cancerous melanoma on her back. They tried to cure it with a topical treatment to no avail and she sees a surgeon next week. Bad, but hopeful.

2) A friend of mine called to tell me that her "mom" and my friend has liver cancer and that her plan is to refuse chemotherapy. No updated on that, but not good.

3) A different friend of mine called to say that a fantastic woman, and friend, passed away on Sunday from ovarian cancer. The funeral was last night. It was the most beautiful, inspiring memorial service I have attended--and unfortunately, I have attended quite a number. Sad to say the least...she was only 56.

4) Daniela called me this week and we planned a get-together for Thursday. We had a fun outing to McD's for lunch and then Target for some shopping. I am pleased to announce I spent less than $25 on things that I didn't need and a really cool life-sized puzzle of Winnie the Pooh for Jayden and a small 100 piece puzzle for myself that I have high hopes to work on someday. Then, we made plans to go to the park together on Friday. YES!! TWO outings in the same week! But, we changed Friday's plan to a playdate at my house because I couldn't get my butt in gear fast enough to make it to the park and as long as the kids played together, they didn't really mind. I sent out an email to the playgroup about the park just in case anyone else wanted to join. To my ultimate surprise, Vesna called me about 11ish on Friday and asked if we were still at the park. I explained the change in plans and she joined us here at the house as well. We had a mini-playgroup! The kids had a great time and the moms had an enjoyable visit. We pledged to make these playdates happen more often. I am really looking forward to it. Happy.

So, there is a lot going on, but I think it's all going to work out for the best. I am thinking about Eliana's birthday party. It has been decided that we will not celebrate on her actual birthday (except a little bit) and the party will actually be on Sunday, September 10 around 11ish I would guess. It's going to be very small...just family and a couple of friends. I was thinking about inviting the playgroups and all that, but really....that is too complicated with all the family around. I hope no one gets offended.

BACA

I just read the most incredible story about Bikers Against Child Abuse. BACA is an organization that started in Utah and now runs nationwide. They are all about making abused children feel safe and comfortable and healing. If I were a biker, I would love to join! But...alas...I am not a biker.

BUT---For those of you that are bikers here is the web link:

http://www.bacausa.com/

Family Vacation

So this was our first real family vacation since Eliana was born. I suppose you could say we have had vacations twice since Jayden's birth, but last year we went to Wyoming for Aunt Michelle's college graduation and because it was such a family thing, I am not sure it counts. Although, Wyoming was beautiful and I would love to go back there and see it again at my own pace.

Anyway, we took a trip down to SoCal. I drove down to Julie's house on Thursday 8/3 with just me and the kids. We made it there before the sun came up on Friday and all in one piece so it was a great drive! Poor Ellie got beside herself and cried hysterically for the last 1 1/2 hours of the trip, so we were a little frazzled when we got to Julie's house. But, despite the long drive, we had a great visit! We took the kids to Ontario for pictures. There are fantastic pics of each of the 3 individually and then of Jayden and Ellie together, Jayden and Rebecca together, and all three of them together. I am guessing of those that read this, you have already seen the pics so I won't post them redundently, but I have to say this. I got my free 16X20 today of Jayden and Eliana with the beach background and the pirate hat, and I am sooo proud! I love my beautiful kids and Jayden's love of all things pirate warms my little heart! :)

So, after a great visit with Julie, I drove to San Diego with the kids and checked into our hotel for the week. We got there just in time for dinner and the kids and I were HUNGRY! So, I scanned the local map for places to eat; chose the Olive Garden; and we set out. We got there pretty quick only to find that they (and all the other eateries) were shutting down (at 6 pm) because there was a report of water contamination in the main water facility. GRRRR!!! After some consultation with Dave and the locals I drove to a grocery store down the street and shopped for some frozen dinners, cereal and milk, and a couple of other things to put in our full-sized fridge at the hotel and set back for dinner. We dined on a lovely combination of Cheerios, milk and bananas. It was unfortunate though, because Jayden ended up with the green-apple trots! Not a result of bad water (which turned out to be fine) but too much milk and virus (I think) in his system.

We picked Dave up at the airport in San Diego on Sunday and spent the rest of the week as tourists. We visited the Maritime Museum (which was WAY SUPER COOL), the zoo, Sea World, and the USS Midway. All were good times. The best part of the trip to SD, though, was dinner Wednesday night. We went out with friends Lori, Garrett and the girls. It was good to see them and do some catching up and getting to see their great new house! The floors look AWESOME!

Anyway, I am off to my real life now with the two kids (all by myself because yet again, it is after 8 and Dave isn't home) both needing my attention. Still living at my parents' house means there is no place for them to be confined to play with toys and not get into trouble. I hope Dave gets it together soon and gets us home! It is long past time to move outta here.

Mastering the Art of Language

Those of you with kids know how frustrating they can be at times. Often talking non-stop or doing some annoying fidget that wears on your sanity. Driving around the southern part of this lovely state put me in one of those positions this past week. My darling little boy whom I love to death was spouting every sentence beginning with, "I want....". It went a bit like this:

"I want my toy!" "I want my shark toy!" "I want my little airplane!" "I want I want I want I want I want my this!"

OK...now that gets to be really annoying very fast, but when he got to his 50th sentence beginning with, "I want" I had had it! I told him, "I do not want the next sentence out of your mouth to begin with the words I WANT!" So without missing a beat....

"May I have my airplane toy?" as sweetly as he can ask!

Day out with Thomas!

Today we went to spend a day out with Thomas the Tank Engine. It was less specatcular than I expected it to be. And, I think Jayden was less than impressed also. He was AWED by the life-sized Thomas engine that they had on the track, but the train ride was not as much fun as I think it should have or could have been. It just pulled us on the track backwards for 10-15 minutes, then turned around and pulled us back over the same path to the "depot". The "depot" was wet and muddy, and there were no pretty SODOR decorations to give the Thomas feel.

The exhibits were not wonderful either. There were no exhibits there that showed HOW trains worked or let the kids play with real train parts or stuff like that. The exhibits that they did have were face painting (which was free and for good reason); temporary tatoos (also free); a display of all the Thomas tracks and roads and train parts you could purchase inside the store (as long as supplies last); and a big inflated Thomas that you could look at and touch but it didn't DO anything. They had the Opera house filled with Thomas stuff that you could buy at full non-discounted prices. And yes, we bought. They had the food stations open with limited, over-priced, stomach-churning foods. And, yet, I fought off a bee who repeatedly dove in for a bite of my burger.

All in all, I was less than impressed. But, I am not a huge fan of the Thomas craze to begin with. The stories tell of unpleasant, competitive, snide, arrogant engines who each think they are better than the other. They are always fighting or complaining, and they get told they really useful if they bully to get "it" done faster or better. No...I don't like the underlying messages in the stories at all. Never-the-less, we had a good day. We did everything there was to do. I think the highlight of the day was the puppet show/magic act that was there because of the Thomas event, but not at all related to Thomas. Jayden got to participate and was totally enraptured by the magic. Definately the highlight!

Will I go again?.....Ask me next year. It depends on how into trains and Thomas the kids are.

Happy Birthday Jayden!

Yesterday was my baby boy's 3rd birthday! I can hardly believe that he has been with me for 3 years already, but then I can't remember at all what life was like before he got here. For as frustrated as I get with him on a daily basis, I love him to death! Seriously, I would KILL for that boy! I would mutilate, maim, dismember, castrate,.....WHOA!!!! Who am I kidding....I would protect that child (and his sister too) for all I am worth, but I am not the violent horror-monger that the previous sentence implies! or Am I? hmmmm.......

Anyway, yesterday was a ton of fun. I took the kids to Bonfante Gardens where we met up with Debbie and her son William. The boys had two TONS of fun running around the park together, going on the rides, chatting over hot dogs and ice cream, and enjoying the comraderie. I have some really great pictures that I will post later because they are stuck on my camera with a dead battery.

When we got home from the park yesterday, I though for sure Jayden would fall asleep in the car and be ready for a LOOOOOONG nap. I was SO wrong! He was totally wired by the present that William gave him (a ripcord Lightning McQueen) that he was running around the house in circles playing with the toy. I decided to try for a nap anyway. I told him he could take his car with him, but they both needed to rest....if he was playing with it, I would take it away. Within minutes of laying down, he was sound asleep!

Luckily, Jayden decided to nap nicely for a while, because Eliana didn't. Something she ate did NOT agree with her. She puked on herself in the car (not too much...she was just warming up). She puked all over me (and I mean all over) 3 more times since we came in the house; she got my dad once; and she nailed Dave's pillow (we were trying to rest) but I took the pillowcase off it fast enough that it didn't soak through. Poor little girl! She was miserable for a good couple of hours. But, by dinnertime, she was ready to eat a little something. She was good for the rest of the night.

Grandma Tess and Brian came over for cake after dinner. Mom made a yummy white cake with chocolate frosting (homemade cake is the most important birthday present--it shows you care enough to take the time). Tess is going to get Jayden a subscription to Scholastic Books for his birthday. Dave and I decided he had too many toys and he wasn't going to get more....Grandma and Papa got him a HUGE sandbox and Uncle Jeff got him a HotWheels truck that carries cars and some cars to go with it. So much for the "no toys" thing!

All in all, Jayden had a great birthday!

I'm a Cheese Pizza too!

Cheese Pizza

Traditional and comforting. You focus on living a quality life. You're not easily impressed with novelty. Yet, you easily impress others.

What's Your Pizza Personality?

Got the above link from Julie. We are both Cheese pizzas. I wonder how they determine that and if being a cheese pizza is good or bad.....

But here is something interesting...not sure about the truthfulness of it all, but...

Your Birthdate: September 9

You are a born idealist, with more pet causes than you can count. You prefer be around others, both when working and while relaxing. Generous and giving, you believe you can change the world one person at a time. You're open minded and tolerant. People feel like they can tell you anything. Your strength: Your go-with-the-flow flexibility Your weakness: Your flair for the over dramatic Your power color: Pine green Your power symbol: Circle Your power month: September

What Does Your Birth Date Mean?

ZOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

We had a great day! We went to the SF Zoo. Our thoughts on this trip were many...here goes:
1) Beat the heat! It has been so friggin' hot here, we figured San Francisco had to be cooler--especially near the water! We were right. It was still hot, but not HOT.

2) We needed a family day. Just the four of us to spend some time together. It would make for a nice outing. Well, indeed, we had a great time!

3) It's a practice run for our trip down south. We want to take the kids to the San Diego Zoo and to Sea World. We are now convinced that the kids can handle it and we can handle them there. So, I guess the trip is definately on.

We saw giraffes, gorillas, chimps, lions, tigers, and bears (OH MY) and a multitude of birds. We didn't get to see it all because believe it or not, the day went by way faster than expected! But, we decided on the way out we were going to upgrade our tickets to a full membership. That way we can go back again and again!

Our last stop in the zoo was the playground area. We ran into Debbie, Walter and William there. SURPRISE! That is the second time I ran into Debbie this week! She was at the library on Thursday too! While the boys played, the men chatted, we women chatted and the baby fell asleep! We hung around until they kicked us out of the park (the zoo closes at 5pm). So, we decided to continue our visit over a nice calm, quiet dinner at Fuddrucker's! Ok...if you've never been there....it's Johnny Rocket's meets Chuck E Cheese! OMG it was not the calm quiet dinner we thought we were getting into! What a crazy place! But, the food was good, the company was great, and the kids got well worn out!

Me...I had a great day! If only every day could be just this good! (HEY--isn't that a country song?)

Eliana Piranha!

Eliana is now getting a tooth! For real! No joke! There is an actual, real live, growing, cutting, sharp-as-hell tooth protruding from her tiny little precious, pink gums! Yep, she bit me with the darn thing, too!

We are going to have to go get pictures taken again this week because they will be the last ones to portray my adorable little baby with her great, big, toothless smile! WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! MY BABIES ARE GROWING UP TOO FAST! WWWWWWWWWAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH! :(

:)

Feeling better today. Thanks for the chat last night, D. Much appreciated.

:(

Well, potty training is going well. We are having daily "accidents" but I don't think anything really unusual. Our area of difficulty is particularly the poop. I suspect we are typical in this problem.

In other news, I'm sad. I feel alone, friendless, unimportant, uninteresting, and ....well...sad.

POOPIES IN THE POTTY!

HE DID IT!!!!!! He went to the potty and POOPED all by himself! We now have both the initiative and the success! YAY!!!! With a few more days of practice and praise he may make it through the day with NO accidents at all! Super exciting!

Initiative!

At long last, Jayden showed his first successful initiative today. He actually came in from playing outside to go potty on his own. AND, he made it to the potty without accident! YAY! Now, I know that mostly noone is reading this, but it makes me feel good to say that I think we are finally getting somewhere. The book said, "...less than a day." It now feels like, "...a few weeks." But, the good news is, it seems to be working some.

I didn't want to be training Dave and me to rush Jayden to the toilet every hour so he can pee. Instead, I wanted to train Jayden to recognize the need to go and get to the potty on time. I think a few more days of intense practice and he will be there.

In other news, Eliana went to HER first playdate today. We went to a playdate with Las Madres '05 just for Eliana. Jayden was good there. He played with the baby toys without complaint. We didn't spend a lot of time there, which was good, so he didn't have time to get into too much trouble. The daughter of our hostess has the name of Jaiden. I guess I am starting to see how spelling the name with an i or dropping the e makes it seem feminine. In fact, I can imagine that I might give my daughter that name if I hadn't first had a son.

Given my new view on this, I have a little prayer. God, may my mind be open to new ideas; may my words be soothing to others; may my actions be mitzvot.

Potty Training--Day 5

Yesterday seemed like it would be the leap to success that I was hoping for. Today, I was proven wrong. With just 10 minutes of playing to himself, Jayden managed to waste a whole day of observing by pooping in his pants. I have been watching him like a hawk hoping to encourage him to poop in the toilet. I missed it by [-----that----] much. The rest of the day has been totally accident free. Now...if only that pooping could get under control.......

Potty Training--Day 4

"MOMMY!!!! THE POOPIES ARE COMING!", he cried as he hobbles down the stairs trying not to mess his pants.

"Hurry to the potty...here let me help you", the mommy said calmly, trying to bury the excitement of child-initiated pottying as well as the prospect of not cleaning the poop out of training pants! YAY!

With a terribly worried face, the tot sits upon the pot concerned about how the pooping will turn out. Mom sits idly by with a relaxed countenance for her young son to focus his attentions upon. They wait. The splash! Inner cheers are resounding in their heads. Neither mom nor son could contain the smiles and elation that came from that one small doody in the toilet. When the child's face broke out in a full-on grin, the cheering became external and they shared a hoot together!

With the wiping and cleaning of the butt finished and the restoration of the facility to adult-sized usefulness, the kinfolk shared in hugs and kisses and the "I DID IT" dance around the house! Phone calls to Daddy and Grandma commenced. Lunch was prepared.

The tally for the day---misses 3, on-times 5. Well done!

Potty Training--Day 3

Day 3 is off to a rough start. We had an accident first thing this morning because "we" were too busy watching TV in bed with sleeping Daddy. After breakfast, I took Jayden to the potty for a successful attempt. Then we had another accident after trying very hard. He pooped in his pants. I saw him trying to go, but Dave was locked in the bathroom with Jayden's seat. I rushed Jayden to another bathroom, but by then it was way too late. I guess we will have to wait until tomorrow for another attempt at pooping success.


Well...yes, we got off to a rough start today, but Jayden is doing great keeping his pants dry so far. He is napping in his big boy underwear and as of yet, they are still dry. I am being blessed by God right now for my patience. Both kids are blessedly sleeping at the same time! WA-HOO!! More later.

NEW UPDATE!! Jayden showed initiative! It is just after dinner and he ran to the bathroom all by himself without speaking a word. I was nursing Ellie or else I would have taken him there myself, but I am glad I didn't. I love the fact that he tried to do it himself. On the downside, he didn't get there in time, but on the upside, HE WENT BY HIMSELF!!!

We're on our way! YAYAYAYAYAYAYAY

Potty Training--Day 2

YAY!! We had a great day! When Jayden first got up this morning, he was wearing disposable training pants that looked as if they were holding in some liquid-turned-gel. But, he got to the potty and peed like a champ right away. Ok...Yes...I instructed him to pee in the potty and he followed my instruction. He is still not going willingly. This here is the key to our problems. I don't know the motivator we need to get this down well. But, anyway....

We went to Sit-and-play this morning after getting our change of clothes and extra training pants and the potty seat and...and...and...I felt like I was moving in rather than going for a 3 hour visit! Anyway, I intended to get Jayden familiar with the potty there right away, but stupidly, I lapsed in time just about 15 minutes too long and with a humongous poop, he messed his pants! We ran to the potty (of course, it's too late by then) and cleaned up and discussed how disappointed I was in his messy pants. After that, he has had clean and dry pants ALL DAY! He even kept dry during his nap! YIPPEE!!!

Poor Eliana has got to be feeling left out by now. I haven't given her nearly the attention she is used to since every minute is devoted to helping Jayden learn to keep his pants dry. Oh well...she will have her turn too! :)

Potty Training--Day 1

Unlike my marathon training day 1, I intend to keep up with the potty training. But, today felt like a marathon day! We spent the ENTIRE day working on the potty. Jayden is quite capable of taking himself to the toilet, fixing up his gear, lowering his underpants, and sitting himself on the potty. He is also quite capable of peeing and pooping (and knowing when he wants to poop) and cleaning up his pottying gear. So here is basically the run of the day...

Spend 3 hours working with Jayden on how to get to the potty, set himself up, get on, pee, get off, clean up and go back about his business. He peed in his pants twice and the potty once. No poop yet. But, he was practically falling asleep on the toilet at 1:30 so we diapered up and went to bed. His diaper was about as full as it could get when he woke up from his nap at 4. (yep...got a long one today...this learning business is exhausting!) But, we pottied and back into trainers. There was a lot of running around and playing while we checked for dryness. The minute he slipped under the table, though, Dave was after him to get out....we didn't want a pooping accident! Well....we caught him just in time to drag him to the potty and get that poopy in the toilet! YIPEE!! Our first day and we get pee-pee and poopies in the potty!

With only one more accident after dinner (but he tried) and a few more pee-pee attempts at the toilet, we can write today off as successful. Potty-trained...not yet. But, I think we are on the way. Hopefully, it will be as good as gold by the end of the week. He was pretty upset when he got his CARS underwear all wet. He got the poopies on his Mater undies and his after dinner accident got McQueen pretty wet. But, through the wash they go and tomorrow is another day! I hope the pile-up tomorrow is smaller than today. We went through about 5 pair of trainers and 3 pair of underwear today.

Fun in the Sun!

Sunshine; blue skies; warm, clear lake; soft breeze; and 23 of your closest family and friends! Yep...that was us this weekend! 4th of July is one of my 3 favorite holidays! (Halloween and Passover being the other 2). This is the holiday for the patriots! We drove up early Monday morning and were out on the water before noon. It wasn't long before we were suited up, sunblocked, and into the lake. Jayden was AWESOME in the water. He swam and swam all over the damn (place) and didn't once concern himself with what might be IN the water. He only took up his bug fetish when we were actually on the boat. Apparently, he took no notice of the bugs and fish IN the water. YAY!

Eliana wore her spankin' suit with the froggy on it and wooed everyone! She LOVED LOVED LOVED the water. It was hard to float with her because she wanted to splash and be IN the water but she really liked crawling on the raft. Unfortuately, we did not bring her floaty up with us and there was not a vest (or floatation device) small enough for her up there. But, she had a great time anyway. The only "tragedy" was when Ellie and I swam a bit far out to fetch a runaway floaty. I tried to hitch a ride back from the waverunner and lost my grip. This caused me to fall of the raft backwards thus pulling Ellie over with me. I think she was more scared than anything because almost as soon as we came up and I got her back on the raft, she panicked and dove in again after me! Dave came rushing to the rescue, but we were fine. I took her in after that though. Dave and I decided that either the baby or the adult needed to be vested (wearing a life vest) when in the water together to prevent this uh-oh from becoming a real tragedy. I also decided that I won't try to hitch a ride on the waverunner again with my bad left hand (still having shoulder issues on that side and it is getting way worse) unless it is just me. I don't mind toppling over in the water, but I don't want to topple Ellie.

The fireworks this year were WAY too awesome to describe. Not sure what they did different. Maybe it was that there were many fewer boats/people on the lake that made the difference. Usually the lake is wall to wall boats for the fireworks show. (that in itself is always something fun to see) But, the fireworks were able to reflect off the water this year because there were not as many people there. Perhaps because the marina changed ownership and they jacked up the prices of EVERYTHING. But, I digress...The finale was so cool that it looked almost like daylight for a second! Jayden loved it when I sang Happy Birthday to America. He asked me to sing it again and again. Then he told me it was his "dirt-day". (He can't quite get a grasp on the pronunciation.) So I sang one last time with Happy Birthday to Jayden and America and Kayleigh (since it was on the 3rd) and Brianna (since we celebrated her birthday earlier that day. He did not like my changing songs though. America the Beautiful was out! The boat behind us was singing "Oh Susanna" over and over and over and over again. I don't think they knew another song, but clearly they didn't know that it was a folk song not a patriotic song either. I was highly amused when the sheriff pulled up to them and asked to speak to the owner of the boat. I know it wasn't because of the singing, but I'd like to think it was! :)

Happy Birthday, America!

Don't know why this picture is so dark. On Dave's computer it looked great! But anyway, here a snapshot of Eliana in her little froggy bathing suit and matching hat.


Wanted to post a couple of other pics too, but blogger is being difficult again.

We are off to the boat tomorrow. It will be Eliana's first trip! Hope all is well and everyone has a great 4th of July! Happy Birthday, America!

Also, a very happy birthday to Kayleigh! :)

Silly me!

I seem to pack a lot of activities into some days and leave other days with no outings at all. I am not sure how that always seems to happen! But, today we went to our last music class. I am sort of sad about it. Jayden has really enjoyed music class for the most part. He may not always seem to be paying attention to what is happening, but he always walks out with some song rolling off his tongue. We have been playing the hiding game a lot lately and he always wants me to sing the song we learned in class. I think he has demonstrated that the program had great value for him. Eliana seems to really like it too. I will continue to take her to class in the fall even if Jayden can't come with. Since Jayden is on the waiting list for preschool, I can't say for sure when he will get in and whether or not he is going to be attending music class or preschool. I guess we have to wait and see.

Anyway, I said we pack a lot in on some days...We went to Bonfante Gardens after music class today. It was a little warmer than I expected, but I don't know why I expected it to be less than hot. It was GILROY for God's sake! Nevertheless, we had a great time. We met Fernanda, Santiago, Xaree, Ivana, Marek, and Mira there. Sorry Cristina couldn't make it. Poor Vincent had a nasty fever last night. Well wishes y'all! We went on several rides (Jayden enjoyed the boat ride so much that we stayed on for a second go-around!); had a nice lunch in the air-conditioned restaurant; visited the water play where the kids had a blast and got absolutely soaked; played a game on the midway (Jayden chose to go fishing and he WON!); and decided it was time to head home. Well, stupid, silly, dinghy me!! I left my lights on when we got to the park. My battery was too low to start the car. So, I called Fernanda to see if she had jumper cables--which she did not. Then, I went to the Guest Services counter to see if they had a guy out there just for this sort of thing (I can't be the only moron out there!) but they don't. So, I called AAA and they said they would be about an hour. More time out in the hot hot sun! Luckily, I was smart enough to pack some water bottles. Eliana was a really thirsty girl. She drank about 1/2 a bottle while we were waiting. We went back and forth from the car to the shady benches a couple of times while we waited. Sure enough, the AAA guy showed up while we were on the benches BUT not until we were totally blocked from view by a big ol' school bus! NO, I did not miss the guy. I heard his truck and thought,"I bet that's my guy!" So I looked and there he was! He took my keys from me; put them in the ignition; turned it....and yep...it started right up!!!!! I was out there for only 30 minutes, but HOW STUPID!!! I could have done that! BUT IT DIDN'T WORK WHEN I TRIED TO START THE CAR!!!!! What an exciting end to my day!....

Oh no! Not the end! Just after I get home and unload the car, my brother announces that he needs to go downtown and pick up his car from the fix-it shop. Who gets to go?!? Yep!!! ME! So, Jayden and I loaded back up in the car (my mom volunteered to watch Eliana) and with Jeff, off we went on the most round-about tour of San Jose. The cool thing was that we were right under the flight path at the autobody shop. While Jayden and I were waiting for Jeff to take care of business, we watched several planes fly by at very close range. Jayden thought that was way cool! On the way home, we drove by the Tech Museum. That was awesome just because of it's size and the bright orange paint, but also because of the big Superman Returns advertisment on the front of it. Jayden is WAY into Superman these days. Not sure what sparked his interest, but he makes capes out of the most interesting things!

In any case, we also saw a lot of cars (which are very fun for Jayden) and I quote, "...a TRAIN ON THE ROAD!!" When we stopped for the lightrail to pass.

All in all, it was an extremely exciting day! The good thing about spending such an adventure-filled day with Jayden is that he provides about 80% of the dialogue. :)

Bite picture

So here it is. This is the picture of Jayden's bite about an hour after the incident. I got him home and laid him down for a nap then snapped the picture. He was almost totally unaware of this.

Last evening, Jayden was playing outside with my mom and me when Dave came home. When I prompted Jayden to tell Daddy what he had done that day he turned his back to Dave, pulled up his shirt (sort of) and said, "Boy scratched me and I cried and cried and cried!"

Dave: "You did all that crying?"

Jayden: "Yes! I did! I cried and cried and cried!"

Dave then pulls out a candy bar from the brown bag he is carrying and Jayden settled down to eat it as though the world were totally on hold for that moment when he was enjoying his chocolate. Oh if only I could have moments like that! To be totally free of any worries or cares and just living in the pure enjoyment of a candy bar!

A bit of this and a bite of that!

First things first! Thank you to Julie and Lori for the comments on my last post. I was venting some frustrations that I wasn't sure how to deal with and needed the input. The advice to put the group down lower in level of importance in my life was great. I polled the group to see what they wanted to do, and lo and behold! The group decided to get together and talk about it!

Lori--I will always treasure our special bond over founding this playgroup. If not for your outgoing nature, our little group would not exist.

Julie--Thank you for taking over when we needed you. Your efforts made our little group into a great group for the moms and not just about the kids.

In other news, we had a crazy busy weekend with Dave's siblings in town. Katie and Wes flew in from Texas Friday morning and Michelle flew in from Wyoming Friday night. They were coming out for the wedding that never happened, but we managed to spend the time having a great time, laughing, talking, swimming, bonding, drinking...oh and the drinking!

To follow up the out-of-control weekend, we went to Kayleigh's 3rd birthday party today. After all the swimming we did this weekend, I thought for sure Jayden would not be interested in the kiddie pool or the sprinklers, but he spent a good deal of time in the water again today! I should have known that just because it was overcast did not mean that water play would be cancelled. It was just as hot as yesterday....just without the sun! The kids had a good time playing with the other kids and I enjoyed visiting with the other moms. UNTIL...

DUM DUM DUUUUUUUUMMMMMM

Jayden got into a tousle with another kid at the party. I didn't see it and neither did the other mom, but the end result was that her kid BIT my baby! He came running to me screaming and holding his back. I didn't know what happened and he was too distraught to tell me. But, I lifted his shirt and there were two distinct rows of teeth marks. Clearly, he got bit! Poor baby! He screamed and screamed until I put the ice on him. That seemed to calm him down quite a bit and then we put an alcohol swab on it just in case there was a germ carry-over. There was talk of goodie bags (to Jayden that reads--presents) and suddenly he was over the bite and on to the next thing! What a trooper! And he bounced right back.

My heart goes out to Daniela and the mom of the kid who bit mine. They both apologized profusely for what happened, but neither were at fault. Unless you know your kid has a biting problem (which she didn't), you don't know what random thing is going to happen. And, I know Jayden can be rambunctious. He may have provoked the kid (not that biting is acceptable in any case) by being his usually exhuberant self! So, time to put it in the past and not worry about it any more.

for some reason, I can't post the picture of Jayden's bite tonight. I will try again another time. :)

Playdate frustrations spilled....

Ok...so here I am trying to decide how I really feel about this playgroup. On one hand, the playdates have been a consistent part of my life and Jayden's life for nearly 3 years. On the other hand, the group is sort of falling apart and there is very little if any participation on most weeks. Getting people to respond to "do you want to go to this" questions is like pulling teeth from a duck and then the response is usually "no".

So, why do I continue to put myself in a situation where I feel the need to keep the group going?!? Well, I tell myself that I need the others in the group as much as they need me, but I don't know that that is true. I think if I left the group no one would be the wiser and life would continue on. Then, I tell myself that the group is just going through some changes now with new babies and new houses and such; that I should be patient and see how things go. I don' t believe it though. I know that with small changes, big changes occur and nothing is the same as it was. When a new baby is added to the family, it gets more difficult for the family to get out and about. If things were challenging before, they are even more challenging after.

So, what do I do? Stick it out and hope that we all settle down again and have our regular playdates? Plan activities that I want to do and go at them all alone? Dump the group and find new people to hang with?? HELP!!! I don't know what to do! What I do know is that I am frustrated and lonely spending all my days with little adult interaction. The playdates are as much for me as they are the kids.

For any of you that actually read this and are in the playgroup, please don't think I am directing my frustrations at you personally. This is just in general to about the group and lack of participation in it and a cry for help about what I should do about it. Patience has never been my strong suit.

Crash! Boom! Bang!

Well...If I thought Jayden had a record number of falls the other day, I was just fooled into thinking they were major deals. Today, he had a major head-on collision with is friend William. Apparently, they were playing separately and both decided to run into the other room. With great misfortune, that took them around the same corner but in opposite directions. I've been told that you could hear the from their heads colliding all the way across the house! Then, great pause as if the world had stopped turning for a minute...then the screaming began. But, thankfully, Mimi was there to cuddle Jayden and hold the bag of frozen peas to his swelling head for a long enough time for Jayden to relax and the swelling to halt. Phew! Could-a been worse!

And just when you thought the day was going to calm down and go smoothly with kids napping and peace and quiet.....

Jayden decided not to nap today. Instead, he was playing in his bed and dropped his pacifier off the top of the bed. I suppose he thought he could just lean over and pick it up off the floor because the house went from blissfully quiet to screaming at full-force from his room. Well, naturally, I took off running to find out what was up. When I got to the door way of his bedroom, I peeked in and all I could see of my screaming child was his tiny butt and flailing legs sticking out from the top of the bed where the head of the bed is supposed to meet the wall. The rest of him was stuck upside-down between the bedframe and the wall. Poor thing! No wonder he was crying!

Hopefully that will be all for today and the REST of the day will be calm and peaceful. WELL!! One can hope! :)

JUNE!

This week has been CRAZY busy! I didn't even realize that today was Friday because I am so busy running around spending the week! In summary, Monday came and went with Sit-n-play in the morning; Tuesday was workout day; Wednesday we went to Bonfante Gardens Themepark (which is a ton of fun, good for adults, and totally awesome for little kids if you've never been); Thursday was graduation day--Ashley's school celebrated the promotion from 5th grade to middle school in the morning and Max's High School graduation was in the evening. Today, Friday, finally, we ventured out to the park in the morning, fought over naps in the afternoon, workout was cancelled--thankfully, and Jeff took Jayden out to play baseball in the park before dinner. Phew!

But, wait, we are not done yet, after dinner tonight, my mom and I took the kids out for a stroll around the block. I decided that I am probably not going to do the half-marathon. I don't really have the time to train and I barely have time for outdoor (childfree) exercise now. I am not going to be able to generate the hours of running needed to be able to complete 13 some-odd miles for the event. However, I did determine that I will try to drag my mommy out for a stroll every evening after dinner so as to increase my endurance as well as hers and get us both some exercise. The biggest benefit I see to this for me is that it will help spend a great deal of time in between the completion of our dinner and the time that Daddy gets home to help with the kiddies! :) On bath nights, this should spend almost all of our time! What a great way to bond!

OH YEAH!!! I almost forgot the most exciting (even if not in a good way) news of the week! Well, as you are most all aware, Dave's cousin Tammy has been busy planning her wedding for well over a year. Jayden was designated the ringbearer as he would be the cutest little 3 yr old boy there in a tux! But, she has been living apart from her betrothed since late July. During that time, their love has failed to survive and she cancelled her plans to wed. BOO HOO! My heart goes out to Tammy and Chett that they may recover from this with whole hearts and few scars. But, mostly, I send much needed love, hugs, and good thoughts to Judy and Gary who are closest to the hot spot right now and are absorbing a good deal of tension from the aftermath of the cancellation. As a bright spot...here is the pic we took of Jayden in his tux last week when we had him try it on and one of Eliana just because! Ain't they CUTE!?! :)

Marathons!

Today marks Day 1 of my "half-marathon" training. Aunt Judy asked me to join her in the San Jose's Rock N Roll Half-marathon in October. I would love to do it, but I don't think I am physically ready for that kind of committment nor do I think I have the time to train for it with the kids and all. But, I asked Jeff to join me in training for it and today we started out to see where we were physically. We ran around the block twice. Well...the first time we took Jayden and the dog so I'm not sure how much that counts. Jayden ran more than halfway, but when he pooped out I had to carry him the rest of the way home. When we caught our breath, I sent Jayden in the house and Jeff and I took Shayna out for one more turn of the block. It wasn't too bad, but I got bored of going slow and sprinted the last leg home just in time to get to the potty to pee. I really need to see a dr. about my bladder. I have to pee every time I jump or run. It annoys me to no end! AND, I am sure you all wanted to know that!

In other "marathon" news, Jayden fell today the most number of times I have ever seen including when he was learning to walk. Ok...maybe not that many, but it must have been at least a dozen times today! I'm not sure if something is up with that, or if he was just being clumsy or careless, but he has bumps, bruises, cuts, and scrapes all over! Poor baby!

There but for the grace...

Supreme tragedy has got me thinking today. A 5-yr old boy drowned yesterday while swimming with his friend in the friend's family pool. The moms of the kids went in the house to watch through the window and chat while the boys played. I keep thinking...pools and bathtubs can be so dangerous! Living at my parents' house keeps me on my toes, but the pool in the backyard is really scary. Jayden LOVES to swim! I worry he will someday find himself tempted by the pool without enough supervision and.....

I know...I worry too much. But, all the same, better safe than sorry?

I guess I have a good sense of water safety and I am trying hard to teach it to Jayden. Perhaps I will have as much luck with that as I did teaching him about cars in the road. He is very conscious of cars coming and going. He often even remembers to look for them and PANICS when he sees them. Something went right there.

But, my oh my, my heart, prayers, and thoughts for strength and healing go to the family that lost their little boy and to the family who owns the pool.

Exciting news!

I am full of exciting news today!

First and foremost, Caroline is finally in labor! YAY! Hope baby Petal arrives soon and healthy and happy and at home the way Mama wants. May the labor be short, the delivery easy, and the baby healthy!

Next, I met with a woman today who has a very interesting job. She is an Educational Therapist. Basically, kids with learning difficulties take some tests to see how they respond to certain stimuli and answer questions. Then, she takes the results of those tests and applies them to learning math and language to find out what the student's strengths and weaknesses are. VERY COOL JOB! The end result is that the student will gain strategies to deal with the way they learn and will help them to most efficiently become fully-functional members of society. I think I want to research this to find out more. It is very exciting stuff! (For geeky-math-me anyway!)

In other news, Dave and I picked out French doors to go in our living room today. I was surprised at the variety of options that were available at Home Depot. Dave got there first s he scoped the place out. He then showed me. We went in order from the cheap ugly ones to the medium ones to the expensive pretty ones that we picked. I think he planned that! We looked at front doors and shutters as well, but not seriously. We are about a million years away from replacing front doors and putting up decorative shutters. I don't think I had seen a stucco house with shutters before, though. So, I looked around on my way home today. I saw a couple but not many. The ones I saw though, I liked! The front of our house will be very plain otherwise, so we will need something to pretty it up! :)

Lastly, we got our loan money today. That means we have enough to start the last legs of work that need to get done to the house before we can move back home. I am not terribly exciting about moving back home just yet, though. First, I love having all the extra hands here to help out with the kids. I am going to miss having family so close! But, secondly, and more importantly, we are going to be moving back home to a smaller actual living space than we eitehr have now or had when we moved out! The reason is, our upstairs room that we had before won't be available for use again until after it is finished. We will be moving back home when the downstairs is livable but upstairs won't be done yet. I expect it will be MANY MANY MANY weeks before the upstairs will be functional too.

That's all I can think of on the Stahl-front today. I am off to watch the season finale of The Apprentice! Gotta know who won! My guess--Sean.

It's finally happened!

My kids are old enough to play together! I just peeked in on them playing together in the family room. They have a video on the TV that neither of them are watching and they are sitting together pushing the buttons on the Incredibles book that makes noise. I know it won't last but a minute, but it was very cute to see them together.

Ah-hah! As I am sitting here expressing my pleasure of their shared play, Eliana begins to express her DISpleasure! Not sure whether it was Jayden that set her off or the fact that she finally had a decent poop! I started giving her Yo-Baby yogurt the other day. I am thinking that it loosened her up. YAY! And, as an added bonus, she likes it! Wonder what else she likes that we haven't tried yet?

hmmmm........

NUTS!

ok...I am ROASTING! Dave is telling me I am nuts. What I want to know is this....If I am the one that's nuts, why is my son the one running around looking out the windows for the spaceships? And, why is my husband the one chasing after him trying to see what Jayden sees?

Yep...it's a fun night here at Casa de Kaminsky-Stahl. Not sure what name to give the house right now since we are all living here, but usually this house is Casa de Kaminsky. Casa de Stahl is not yet done. We are waiting on a couple of windows, the French doors that will go in the living room, and stucco on the part of the contractors. As for our part....there is no end to the list. I started today trying to list all of the work we still need to do so we can start putting dollar signs on it and prioritizing. I am so overwhelmed I don't even know where to begin! We need to re-drywall the whole house--obviously the upstairs as it is new, but the downstairs too because there is so much damage. We found termite damage in the 2x4's in the living room and bathroom downstairs so there is that repair work to do as well. The ceilings in the bedrooms need to be replaced due to water damage from the construction during the rain. All 3 bathrooms are going to need plumbing overhauls and new bathing fixtures--basically 2 tubs and a shower. The whole house needs to be carpeted, but I think that is going to have to wait ages! And the list goes on....

So, for now, we are playing house at Casa de Kaminsky. And with that, I will take my leave and put the baby to bed....again!

Personal Trainer

Hi Moms--

I had to add a follow-up on this posting by Fernanda. She and I have been training with Ian for 3 months and I have lost 2 inches around the middle, bottom, and thighs in that time. I felt so good about my success, I finally went bathing suit shopping this weekend! This summer will be the first in 3 that I will not be wearing my maternity suit! Yippee!

If you think you might want to try a personal trainer, I highly recommend Ian Hernlund certified personal trainer 408 476 8828.

Lynda

Hi Moms,

A LM Mom recommended Ian, her husband went to High school with him. For a couple of months now, another mom and I have been working with Ian on a whole-body routine. He's a great trainer, very professional, on time and reasonable prices. The best part is he comes to my home to train us while the kids nap, or play.> > I asked him for a flier to attach to this email, give him a call, and if you have questions you can always ask me. > Note: You pay almost half the price if you do it with another person.> > Fernanda (and Lynda)

"HOLY HELL!!"

Most of my family and friends know that I am truly blessed that my children are generally calm and pleasant. I know we all think Jayden can be exhuberant and Eliana is tenacious. But, in general, my kids don't cry unless they are truly hurt or waking up from sleep.

So, Jayden managed to get a tiny little splinter in his finger. Unfortunately, fingers don't like to become homes to foreign objects. Hence, the area near the splinter is a little red and swollen. The finger is saying, "Get this thing outta me before I get really mad!" Well, I am not sure what sparked the terror in him, but when I try to get near Jayden with tweezers, needles, or medicine, he SCREAMS HOLY HELL! I have not heard him scream like that since we had to put Lidocaine on his mouth when he got herpes! He was SO LOUD I thought for sure the neighbors were going to call CPS on me.

I thought for sure that he would calm down later in the day and we could try again after dinner. OH NO!! I was seriously mistaken! I thought perhaps picking out the bandaids (he chose Batman) would help. NOPE! Not that either! Right now he is playing with his new toy boats in warm water in the kitchen sink so he can soak his finger. Maybe it will loosen it so I can pull out the splinter while he is sleeping.

Uh oh! I pee-peed!

Not a terrible thing to hear from your toddler during the potty-training period, but not great if your hear it right after you change the diaper and ask specifically if he has to go. He said no. I knew he was lying, but I let it go for just one minute. Silly me! He peed while I was cleaning up from diaper changes and missed the diaper. I am not sure exactly how that happened. He was still wearing it, but leaked only on the left side. Strange.

But, not funny. Here is funny. Last week I was changing Eliana's diaper. She had another little poop-nugget. So, I picked her up by her feet to get the dirty diaper out from under her. As it sometimes does, the poop was stuck to her butt. But it seemed to be just barely hanging on. So, I shook her a little to make the poop fall off....to my surprise, it bounced a little off her bottom but held fast. Clearly it was going to need a more aggressive approach to removal. I took a wipe and proceeded to pull the butt-nugget away. This is where it got really funny.....it was attached to her butt by a piece of hair. I assume it was mine, but I pulled and pulled and pulled...it seemed to go on for over a foot before it finally broke off and the poop was separated from my daughter's behind! HAHA!!

Ok...so I am still laughing about it...it gave a whole new meaning to "Hanging by a thread" to me. I couldn't help but giggle every time I thought about it...including now! hehhehhehehe

Oh well...who can resist a post all about the eliminations produced by my little loved ones!?!

Allergy season...

I have the sniffles and the snorts and the marathon-running-nose from hell! Allergies hit me hard this year. I don't usually suffer too bad except when I am pregnant and can't take anything, but this year I have been sneezing non-stop for DAYS! I have already gone through several boxes of tissue and am considering the use of handkerchiefs so as to lessen the landfill. Luckily for me, I am not allergic to the dog; but unluckily for me, I AM allergic to about 100 different pollens and plants!

It seems that the kids may have gotten a few of my numerous allergies as well. They have both been running their noses non-stop for quite some time now also. It's always clear and worsens over night. Those are the signs for allergies, so.....

I hope that our house will be more insulated against allergens than before. We will have foam insulation and double-paned windows and sheer-siding under the stucco. Maybe that will be enough to help keep out the sneezes. In any case, the progress is going fast. The second story is up and the roof is on. We are waiting on windows at this time. Then comes the shingles and stucco. The rest is up to us. Dave is actually going over there tomorrow to meet his cousin. Travis knows his way around the plumbing and has graciously offered to help Dave out. So, for Mother's Day, I get the peace of mind to know that my house will be plumbed and have electricity (that's what Dave is doing tomorrow). Then I get to spend the day running around visiting. Dave's cousin Casey is home from the Marine Corp Basic Training. We are heading out there to visit him. Then, we will be going to see Dave's mom for a bit. At some point, we need to get over to Color Me Mine and pick up the special ART that Jayden and Ellie created (with Jeff's and my help) for their grandmothers. Yep...we did the traditional hand/foot prints on a ceramic object. Dave's mom gets a heart shaped plate and my mom gets a tissue box cover.

I hear The Princess Bride playing in the other room. I haven't seen that in a while. I am off to see how many lines I remember! :)

I'm back in the saddle again....

Ok...so it's not a saddle, but my computer broke down and Dave just fixed it. How sweet he is!

So I have some cute pics...let's see if they come through.


And here is the story with these pictures:

It was the 4th time I chose to take the kids in for pictures since Eliana was born. I had yet to get a good picture of her. I told them that on the phone when I called them for the appointment. Jayden was a bit cranky that day although I wasn't sure why. He was whining in the car on the way to the restaurant we were going to have lunch at. Aunt Judy and Tammy were joining us for lunch and pictures. Finally, Jayden fell asleep in the car (I didn't think he needed a nap, but better that than the whining!) When I pulled into the parking lot for lunch, he woke up with more crying and whining...then.....He threw up all over the place! AND THEN HE DID IT AGAIN!

Poor baby! He must have eaten something that upset his stomach, because he was fine after he got it out of him. But, he got his shirt and pants covered in puke. NOT TO MENTION MY CAR...it stank for DAYS after that!

Anyway, so I cleaned up the mess as best I could, we went to TGIF and had lunch, then off to Penney's for pictures. I bought Jayden those pants right before we went into the studio and I happened to have the shirt in the car. I can't blame him for the wild hair. He did just vomit all over the place...luckily it didn't still stink too bad! We went in and got the best pictures of Ellie I have ever gotten...and the ones of Jayden aren't too bad either. Unfortunately, I couldn't get a good one of them together.

Oh well....there is always next time!

Phew! Thank you....

...to all my supporters that came to my choir concert. Especially, Judy--who had to rush out and go to work after--and Fernanda who came both nights to get to see the whole performance AND came out on her birthday! And, at last, the concert is over. It went well albeit there were many mistakes made on my part. Nonetheless, it was a ton of fun and I am glad to be done with it. Our next season of music starts in just a couple of weeks. This summer we will be singing '50's music. I am expecting to know quite a few more of the songs to begin with than I did the folk songs we sang this time around. Although, we did have a couple of sing-along portions of the show. Those songs I knew well. It was a lot of fun to see Jayden out in the audience singing along with "She'll be coming Round the Mountain" and "I've Been Working on the Railroad". He did the "O" in banjo the same way we always do in the car....like a wolf howling at the moon...and I couldn't help but do it too! SO MUCH FUN! I think he really liked the concert too. Ellie was there, but she did a lot of fussing during the show. She was just too young to appreciate it. Dave was too. :) And my dad said he might be interested in joining the choir, too! That would be lots of fun!

If I get some pictures, I will post them, but there really wasn't much to see. Maybe I will hunt up pictures of our house or the kids instead! :)