Burgundy Update

Burgundy is changing and growing so quickly I can hardly believe it. She now stands regularly, and often when I go into her room to get her she is standing in her crib. A few times, she has been unable to get to sleep because she stands up and doesn't know how to get back down! She is incredibly mobile and loves to follow me around the house. She is also fearless about going off to explore on her own and I have to keep track of where she's going!

Last Thursday, we went to the Hill AFB museum with Kelly & Spencer. A few days before I thought she might have waved bye bye, but I wasn't sure. But that day she definitely did. I told Finn to wave bye bye to Spencer and I looked at Burgundy and she was waving at Spencer! Then Kelly told her bye bye, and when I went to buckle her in her seat I said to her "Bye Bye, Kelly" and she said "Ba Ba" and waved at me. Incredible!

So she has been saying ma ma for a long time - usually when she is hungry. She often says dada, sometimes when Cody is holding her or when she sees him, but sometimes not. We weren't sure if those were just generic words or if she knew what they meant. But there is no doubt that she knew what she was saying when she said bye bye! and waved! oh they grow up so fast.

Discipline

I did something today that every mother fears she will have to do someday. I am pretty proud that I actually did it. I left the grocery store mid-shopping trip. Today at this time was the only day/time for me to shop for my Open House. I'm not sure what happened but Finn has had a cold so I'm sure that is why he has been moody.

We got into the store and everything was fine. He wanted to buy a green pepper and I told him we didn't need one but we did need a red pepper. So fine, he gets a bag and puts the red pepper in it. Then he wants to put a second red pepper in it and I tell him we only need one. So he starts whining and crying that we need the other one. Now, I cave as much as the next guy and yes, it would have been easier just to get two. But for several days he has been pushing and testing and I had had enough. So I refused the second pepper and he melted down. I put him in the cart and told him he could get out and walk when he calmed down. Well he would not calm down and refused to sit down. So I put my produce back, took him and Burgundy out and we left the store.

He screamed the entire way home and is currently screaming from within his room. Not the most fun afternoon, but you know I am glad I did it. Yes it sucks cuz now I don't know when I'll go shopping. But I can't stand when parents consistently give in to their children and then wonder why they are little tyrants. Hello!!!

As I said, he has been sick so I have been giving him a lot of leeway these past few days. But I had reached my breaking point. I do not negotiate with terrorists. Even if they are only 3 feet tall.

better.

thank you to all who have commiserated with me after my last post. I am doing better today. We went to playgroup which is always fun. We did have to leave a little early to go to the doctor but luckily traffic was not horrendous and my children were angels in the doctor's office (Burgundy fell asleep about 5 minutes before we got to the office so I was a little worried - but I should know by now that I need not worry about her).

My doctor loved my kids, especially Finn. She shared her protein bar with him and begged to hug him when we were all done. He, being his shy self, shook his head. But after I reminded him that it was so nice of her to share with him and would he be a nice boy too and give a hug, then he went in for the hug. Well she swooped him up and smushed him for about 3 minutes. It was pretty cute. She just absolutely adored him. Then she swooped up Burgundy and gave her a shorter version, and handed her to me informing me that she did a number in her pants. Kids have such perfect timing.

So I am glad to be done with the Draper trip, and I may even be able to catch a nap and go to a Lia Sophia party for a minute tonight. I might even have a good time seeing as I have an order to place for my mom. (I usually don't love the Lia Sophia's because they are sooo expensive and I have 0 dollars to spend on frivolities at the moment - so I feel guilty going but not buying)

So it is shaping up to be a better day. Thank you, sisters-in-arms who know the pain of having plans cancelled, and of not getting your hair done when you so desperately need it.

lame lame lame

well I had a crappy day today. First of all I was supposed to go to the doctor's at 410. The doctor's office is in Draper which is at least 45 minutes away - and with the construction they've decided to do it would be more like an hour or more for sure. One time I made it there in 28 minutes. We had to surgically remove Cody's fingers from the dashboard. But my niece/babysitter didn't get to my house until 5 minutes to 4:00. I drive fast - but not THAT fast.

So that was very annoying. I mean I know sh*% happens, but my problem is somehow I have gotten to be a very busy person lately and I have 1-2 things to do EVERY DAY for the next 3 solid weeks. So it's not like I can just say oh, ok I'll reschedule. LAME.

So now I have to go tomorrow at noon. And the shitty part is a) I have to leave play group early and b) the kids have to come with me and I have to hope they aren't cranky and/or insane at the doctor's office. Normally that wouldn't scare me at all, but seeing as it's an hour away for one, and play group is during Burgundy's normal nap time so by the end she is not very happy with things... I can only hope and pray that she will sleep the whole car ride down.

The other thing that is annoying is that I shouldn't even have to go to the doctor becuase I saw her a week ago and I forgot to ask her a couple things. Her nurse told me she doesn't do phone consultations and I would have to come back in. Great. There's 3 hours out of my day, and about 20 bucks in gas. LAME.

And then the other fun thing is I had the idea to go see Laci & Ryan this weekend for several reasons: We have never stayed at their place, we miss them, we want to celebrate with them, I NEED a haircut, I want to look good for my open house next week (and no I can't go to anyone else, because Laci IS my hairdresser. it took us a while to get it just right, but now she KNOWS how to do my hair so it works and I love it every time and there is no way I am going to someone I've never gone to before and HOPE they get it right for what is *to me* a very important day), Finn needs a trim, I wanted him to look great for his first day of preschool... I am getting far far too annoyed to keep listing reasons. Yeah it's only like the biggest day of his little life so far. I guess I'm silly to want him to look cute and handsome with a perfect new haircut, etc. And my entire business only hinges on my Open House at this point, not that THAT's a big deal or anything, and I want to feel confident and like I look good. (not that anyone really takes it seriously besides me anyway...). But yeah whatever. The point is now we can't go see them because this week is crazy for Cody at work and he doesn't feel comfortable leaving this weekend. And I get that, I do. But my husband, the would-be politician, when I asked him didn't say hell no it's going to be too busy. He said maybe that could work, I'll ask Bart, etc. And from a man who never says "yes", well I take those words to mean yes.

So I am very annoyed about that. We are trying to figure out when we can go in September but who the hell knows at this point because we can only go when no one else is there and guess what that's never pretty much. And that's not really the point, the point is I wanted to get this in before next week.
LAME.

So, I am very annoyed at the moment. I made Cody take me out to dinner to make my day a little less annoying. That was nice. But I am STILL ANNOYED. I knew we were playing it by ear, but this is not by ear - this is we never should have had the idea in the first place. This is it's stupid to think that could happen I just didn't tell you that for whatever reason. This is you should've known that even though you asked point blank and weren't told no it's undoable... UNTIL NOW.

I will continue to be annoyed by this. I will be annoyed this weekend. I will be annoyed on my open house when I have to do my hair that day, and I will be very annoyed on Finn's first day of school. Especially if I attempt to trim his hair and f&*k it up which I tend to do.

I certainly hope tomorrow is less annoying for me. Because right now I just want to cry.

Street View

So I was thinking to go to bed earlier tonight, but then I found Google street view. You go to google maps and you type in the address and select street view and you can see an actual picture of the address.

So of course, I looked up my house (which wasn't visible - they didn't have a street close enough to me yet), I looked up my old apartment in Chicago. And they tore down the fast food place and put a bank next to it! I saw the Addison red line.

I couldn't see the house I grew up in, sadly, but I saw the house we lived in while I was in high school. They tore down the big pine tree out front. Boo.

I couldn't see my college campus at Eastern, but I could see good ol' St. Chris and Oak Forest High School. Saw my old dorm at Loyola on Sheridan & Winthrop in Chicago. Oh yeah - it was that close to the El.

I could see my in-laws driveway - that's pretty good.

I think it must just be a van or something that drives around with a camera shooting 360's. For example, you could type in 100 N LaSalle, Chicago, IL (I used to work there) and you are just in the middle of the intersection with people walking by, a UPS truck turning the corner, etc.

It's pretty cool, and somewhat addictive. It's funny how after you haven't seen a place for a while then you look at a picture of it - how different it can be from how you remember it. Interesting. And it's interesting to see what it does look like now. Anyway, just thought I'd share that with everyone. If you're ever up at midnight and bored on your computer. Give it a whirl. Leave me a comment and let me know what you looked at!

She Stands (& Claps)!

Timeline:

• Burgundy crawls 8 months 22 days (Finn @ 7 months 3 days)

• Burgundy claps 3 days before 9 months (Finn @ 9 1/2 months)

• Burgundy pulls up to standing 2 days before 9 months - 7 days after crawling (Finn @ 7 months 7 days - 4 days after crawling)

Zucchini

So as many of you know, we had the mammoth zucchini plant this year and have been giving away GIANT zucchinis to anyone who will take them! So I was finally ready to shred and freeze a bunch. I was a little worried because Cody was pulling off 5 pounders every day then when I said I was ready there weren't any ready for several days! I wondered if I had given it all away and waited so long that the plant was done for the year.
Luckily, it had just slowed down. So yesterday Cody took all the remaining fruits (vegetables) off the plant and today I shredded them all to freeze so I can make the world's largest loaf of zucchini bread (or at least a sh*%-load of little loaves)
So Finn helped me push the button on the Cuisinart (I knew that thing would come in handy some day!) and we got 8-4 cup bags.


It's been a while since I was in school, but I'm pretty sure that's 32 CUPS OF ZUCCHINI!

So if anyone would like a bag of pre-shredded zucchini, I bet we could spare 1... or 6 or 7. So just let me know!

4 bags down, 3 zukes to go

Mammoth zucchinis

1 zucchini completely filled the 11-cup Cuisinart

Spencer's Birthday Party

Today we went to Spencer's 2nd birthday party. Finn had a great time playing with his buddy - and we of course love to see everybody that we don't get to see as often as we'd like.

Finn & Spencer had fun with the fountain.

Burgundy having fun in the grass. We always marvel at what a good girl she is. Just plop her in the grass and she's good to go. What a wonderful child she is.I love this picture. Finn in his party hat.Here's the best picture of Cody and I since our wedding photos probably. (That's sad.) Taken by yours truly.There was a little park that Finn enjoyed.Finn & Spencer had fun running all over the place. It was fun to watch them together and to realize what a good boy Finn is. He is my good little guy. He is smart and listens well. Sometimes Spencer would run a little too close to the parking lot and Finn would stop and look back at us as if to say, "I'm not supposed to go that far, am I?"
It's so gratifying to Cody and I to be able to watch him progress from a crazy little toddler to a real little boy. He is my sweet little guy.
(I am glad we are past the "terrible two's"! Good luck Jeff & Kelly!!) How cute is that?

Olympics.

ok fine. All my friends are addicted to the Olympics. Peer pressure. Everyone else is doing it...
I enjoy watching the Olympics but I have not been glued to the TV. Well that was not the case tonight. I had to stay up to watch the women's gymnastics finals. Through the confusing scores from the uneven bars, vaults and balance beam, I was hooked. The floor routines were everything you would expect from the Olympics. It was the "it all comes down to this" moment.
It reminded me of the Kerri Strug vault in the '96 Olympics. That same tension and drama. I can't believe that was 12 years ago.
Anyway, so I've been checking in all along, but go ahead and add me to the list of those now addicted to the Olympics - albeit a little late in the game. Congratulations, America - you kick serious Olympic butt. And now I need to go to bed.

Davis County Fair

So today we went to the Davis County Fair with Kelly And Spencer. It was quite hot but we still had a good time!

This is Finn's first year being able to do all the rides, and Spencer is a year younger. So Finn, being the good big brother/friend that he is helped Spencer when he could. (wish I could put the video of this on here - Spencer got so close to the top and let go and fell halfway back down - and that was it for him on this ride!) Finn sure liked it though - it had a bouncy house at the top and a slide to come down.

I love this picture (above). We weren't quite sure if they were enjoying themselves on this - it sure was funny to watch. Again, Finn just so acutely concentrates on having fun that this is what fun looks like for him. Can't you just see this exact same picture flash forward about 17 years - on their way to the Uintahs?

Had to get some fudgesicles to cool down!

They had a little course set up with hay bales for kids to drive these little cars. Finn had fun doing this while Burgundy had some lunch.There was a discovery tent with lots of fun stuff. Here Finn had to pump the water to send the rubber ducky to the other end, then Spencer sent it back.Two guys with big snakes. eh-hem. Finn was trepidatious but eventually did touch the snake. Burgundy, on the other hand, was enthralled and not at all afraid or hesitant about grabbing it. The guy wanted to give her the head end, but I said we'd better do the tail just in case she grabbed it too hard and scared it or something! She was very interested in this and didn't at all want to leave the snake. (snakes & gorillas so far - her favorite animals)A fun day!

She Crawls!

Today, Burgundy crawled! Hooray! She is 8 1/2 months old. She is doing it pretty well - this video doesn't quite capture it but it's the best one that I got.

Here are some comparisons:
She is now wearing size 4 diapers - the last size Finn wore before being potty trained (at 3 yrs 1 mo)
She weighs 20 pounds @ 8 1/2 months - Finn didn't weigh 20 pounds until after he was a year old!

My Son the Hamster

Well, today Cody is home all day for the first time in several weeks. And I honestly don't know what to do with myself. This is terrible but it has messed up my schedule. He let me sleep in a bit, which was nice. He needed it more than I did but Finn chose to wake him up this morning so not much I could do there.

So I got up and made some french toast. Then at 11 I realized Burgundy hadn't gone down for her nap yet. That kind of thing frustrates me. We have a schedule that we follow every day of nap times, etc. Not because I'm anal, just because it works. Of course, Burgundy, being the little angel she is, never said "boo" about being an hour late for her nap. Which is great, but now I will have to cut her first nap short so that she can still take a second nap at the same time Finn does. Otherwise the whole day is thrown off. And I'm sure Cody, who hasn't slept in weeks it seems, will want to take a nap today. This is an impossibility unless both kids are asleep at the same time. So I'm a little frustrated.

ANYWAY. Yesterday we went to our neighbor GrantLee's birthday party at Burger King. It was a lot of fun and Finn had a great time. They had a huge Hamster Habitrail for kids there.

I was a little anxious about it at first. Finn was eager to play in it which is great. I was only worried because if he got to the top and decided he didn't like it I wasn't quite sure if I could get up there to get him. Luckily everything was great. The first time he wasn't sure about going down the big slide so I sent Cheridynn up to coax him to come down with her. After that he was unstoppable. He was also always looking for Cheridynn from that point on. Every now and again I would see her talking to her dad or something and Finn tapping her on the back saying "excuse me, can you come play, please?" So polite! What a good kid. Here he is eating his lunch with the other kids. I just think this is such a cute picture. It reminds me of pictures from my sister's McDonald's birthday party when she was 5 or so.

Just looking at the habitrail made me claustrophobic but Finn enjoyed it so that's all that mattered. And yes, I did go in it once - all the way to the top and down the slide. Luckily I made it and didn't even get stuck.

There was another mom there who told me that my children were very well behaved. That's always nice to hear.

holy crap!

well I'll be... I just got my very first order off my Brogue website! From Ontario, Canada no less!
It's for a nursing cover - which is cool because those are easier to make than aprons.
Crazy!
Only bad part is that for some reason, Paypal decided not to charge her for shipping. That's nice. So I had to e-mail a request for additional money for shipping. Wish I had a better setup than paypal. Oh well.

But that's cool, eh? (ha ha)
This is the fabric she requested:

This little piggy got dirty...

Well, it was beautiful outside this evening. We didn't go inside to give Burgundy a bath until 9. There was a nice breeze with a whisper of cool to it, rainbows off the mountain tops in the distance... just a transcendent night.

We had Burgundy in the bouncer in the garage, Finn rode his bike, Cody pulled weeds and I sat in my chair at the top of the driveway, taking it all in, thinking to myself how remarkably lucky I am.

And I just thought it would be fun to take a picture of Burgundy's little sausage toes (or "saahsage" for you Chicagoans) that were all dirty from bouncing on the garage floor.

My day

Well this week has been just as busy as last. I rather enjoy having something to do pretty much every day. It makes the days we stay at home fun rather than boring!

So today I had my mentoring call with my Pampered Chef Director, Jori. She is always fun to talk to. She is just a fun, bubbly lady. So now I have a party to plan since we came up with the idea of me having my Grand Opening this month since I didn't have it in May.

Then we went and bought new phones since ours just decided to not work. Now we need a bigger house since the phones I bought came with 5 handsets!

After naps I got to go get a pedicure - lucky me! It was over an hour of lovely foot massage and pretty paint. Fun. Then afterwards we all went to the little pond down the street from Bart & Candace and did some fishing and ate some pizza before it was time to come home and go to bed. Finn had a GREAT time playing with Ari - we will definitely have to get together with them again soon!


And Cody caught the only fish of the night. A huge bass. See below. We're having it stuffed for our wall.

the coolest kid in school

OK, I have to admit it. Finn is going to be the coolest kid in preschool. Just look at this book bag I got him today. Holy Crap. Is this not the coolest thing ever? It has a hood. On the backpack! Who is the genius who thought of this? Why did they not have these when I was in high school? And it's like an x-ray! Dude!

So yeah, I was looking for a Squarepants back pack, but man am I glad I found this one first. I can't get over how cool this is. I asked Finn if he liked it and he really likes it and wanted it. I asked him if he would rather have this one or a Spongebob one and he chose this one. My little skater boy. I can't wait to show it to Aunt Laci.

Garden Update

Well the tomato plants are officially taller than Cody now. Not that they've given us any tomatoes! We have a little 2-foot tall tomato plant in a different area that has a half-dozen or so fruits on it, one is almost ready to pick. So if the plants in the garden ever decide to fruit, we may have to open up a fruit stand on the front lawn. Hopefully everyone loves salsa, I'm sure if you're reading this you'll be getting some salsa from us this year!


As you can also see, the zucchini plant is also humongous. It is threatening to overtake the peppers. Yesterday I gave Heidi probably 20 pounds of zucchini & summer squash (in exchange for the promise of yummy bread!) If anyone ever wants some, please just ask. We have more than enough! I swear Cody pulls a 5-pound zucchini out of that thing every day.


Here he is diligently doting. Cody has said that he wants a bigger garden next year. We may have to rent a booth at the local farmer's market if we go bigger!

grrr

Well, Cody will be home tonight. That is good. It was not that bad with me and the kids, but I am ready for him to be home. Thursday & Friday were just fine. Yesterday I was pretty moody and today I am very moody. You can guess why. (It starts with an "H" and rhymes with Shmormones.)

So I guess it's my turn for my long weekend away, right? Maybe I haven't worked hard enough for a weekend away. I haven't had a CRAZY busy summer, it's true. I have just had the exact same summer as the last 3 summers (except add one little person). And sometimes more of the same is enough to about drive you crazy.

I honestly don't remember the last time I went camping with all the friends. No seriously, I can't remember. It was before Finn was born I think. I DO NOT begrudge Cody his camping trip. I know he has been working HARD and I know he NEEDS this weekend away. But you know, sometimes I wish it was possible for me to do something too. I'm not even asking to go off on my own. I would honestly rather have my husband and kids with me. But to do what? I'd like to go camping but we'd want to use a camper so that maybe our small children might actually sleep and we might have a decent time. Because I can tell you from experience that camping is fun until sleep eludes you. Then it gets decidedly unfun. Well we don't have a camper.

And I'd like to maybe be able to go out for a nice night with my husband to see a movie and have dinner. Last time we tried that we both had so much anxiety that we shouldn't have even stayed to watch the movie. We didn't enjoy it anyway, we were too worried about getting home ASAP. I won't go into that.

Yes, I have been able to join a gym and that is helpful. But it's only helpful when I'm able to go (which hasn't been in 2 weeks now). And yes I am able to get out and do PC shows. And I do enjoy that. But it also stresses me out when I don't have shows. This upcoming paycheck will be $0. again. So that sucks. Because as much as I enjoy it, guess what, it's a job. And I do it for the money. And when there is no money then I start to wonder how I'll get groceries. And I start to wonder how it is that a "crazy busy" summer is such a good thing.

Whatever, obviously I am PMSing and in a shitty mood right now. Probably not the best time to post something.

Nerd Alert

Ok, my friend Adrienne's blog prompted this entry. She said she used to love buying school supplies. Me too! It got me thinking. I was talking to Cody about this the other day.

Buying school supplies was my favorite part of the year (2nd only to my birthday & Christmas). I don't know why that is but I LOVED it! Still do. Every year when I see the school supplies out for sale, I get a little sad that I am not still in school and have the need to buy them. If I had a choice to go to an office supply store or a shoe store - I would probably go for the office supplies. I am lame! ha ha.

There used to be this store called Daniel's where I grew up. It was a little, over-priced office supply store. But this was before the days of Office Max & Staples. So after school, instead of begging mom for an ice cream cone, or a new toy, I would BEG her to go to Daniel's. Isn't that strange?

And then the very strange part was I didn't have an office job until I was probably in my mid-twenties. And this is why that is strange: a) my obvious love for office supplies and b) I used to "work" with my dad at his office when I was pretty little. I don't know how old I was, but I used to go with him to his trailer on the job site at O'Hare field and he used to give me "very important work" to do. Like I had to trace pipe lines on blue prints with highlighters and things like that. And I got to use the copy machine and one time the secretary even let me answer the phones for a while. That was fun. "Stratton, Meccon AMC, how can I help you?" I was amazed at the ingenuity of different colored "white" out for different colored paper, and I just had the best time. Thanks dad, for taking me with you and letting me have (what felt like) free reign over the office!

Fast forward about 13 years: I was visiting my sister in Florida and she had to wrap up some stuff at her office so we were there helping her. And I was making copies, filing, 3-hole punching... All of that exciting stuff. And I wondered, why is it that I have never applied for an office job? I had been a cashier, a vet nurse, a phlebotomist, but never had I worked in an office. Well luckily my sister got me an interview through her connections in Chicago for Grubb & Ellis and the rest is, as they say, history.

I do miss having an office job. I was really good at it. Whatever it was. And I will admit that I love the clerical part of the Pampered Chef stuff every bit as much as doing shows. Probably more.

So here we are on the brink of Finn starting pre-school. And I was so very excited to buy Finn school supplies. So I called his teacher and asked her what he needed. And she said a book bag. period. Boo! No folders? No pencils? No, they will supply all of that, he just needs a bag. Bah humbug. So now the search is on for the perfect bag. Of course. I am not one to just go randomly shopping for office supplies willy nilly. Oh no. They have to be just right. So I have been looking for a Spongebob backpack and can't find one anywhere. how very odd. Then I have to find the right sized one. I found a very cute little camouflage mini-book bag, but I called the teacher to ask her (I am going to be her favorite parent, I just know it) if it needs to fit a folder in it, and yes it does. So scratch the mini-bag, it's too small for a folder. So I am still looking, and have found some Spongebob ones on Ebay. We'll see, I have a few more places to check. I've only looked at about 4 stores. And in searching for the perfect school supplies, one can leave no stone unturned.

Yes. I am a nerd.