The End

OK, ya'll. I was going to answer your questions on the last day. But you all have some great ones. I think most of them will take a little longer to get a thorough answer. Especially since I don't have my laptop, it's getting late, and I'm tired. So, I promise to get to ALL of the questions from the last comment section.

So for tonight, here are some of the easy ones. :D

From Shelly-
Q1: What do you do when you can't sleep?
A1: I tend to stay up if I think I'm going to have a hard time falling asleep. I'd rather get really tired while I'm finishing up laundry at midnight than go to bed at 10:00 and not be able to fall right to sleep. That said, there are times (though not many) that I get up in the middle of the night and can't sleep. If I lay there for more than 15-20 minutes and can't fall back asleep, I get out of bed. I work on the computer, read blogs, crochet, read, watch TV, or a combination of several of those things. I keep busy for a while until I'm tired again and then head back to bed.

Q2: What are your favorite comfort foods?
A1: Uh, I'm overweight (obese in fact), you could say I got that problem from having a lot of comfort foods. It's true. Mashed potatoes are a big time comfort food for me. Beyond that it tends to be sweets, desserts, or chocolate (pretty much of any kind).

From Annonymous-
Q1: Are you having another baby soon?
A1: Define soon. Also, Sarah sort of asked me about the same things. I will answer them, but I can't do it quickly. I would love to have another baby right now. But it does take 40 weeks to get one cooking. And then there are other complications for us. So, no, I'm not having another baby soon, but I sure hope to. (I'll write more later. So many things to say, but not enough time right now.)

I hope those will suffice for now. I'll get to the others as soon as I can. And if you think of anything else you'd like to ask, go ahead. I need to keep up this blogging more often thing, even though NaBloPoMo is finished.

One More Day

Alternately titled: So Close.

So, here I am, one day away from blogging every day (almost) in November. No, they haven't been quality posts. But I'm here. And I've tried to be a better commenter.

Since you are all so wonderful, I want to answer some question for you. But first, you have to ask them!!

Anything that you've been dying to know about me? I'll answer pretty much anything. Really!

Wanna know what size shoe I wear? Or maybe what time I go to bed? Am I a side or stomach sleeper? What do I want to be when I grow up? How's that next kid thing going? How much fun is it to be an aunt?

Anything. Ask away. Please!!

Wordless Weekend- Sunday Flashback

Dog

Anyone want a 10 (almost 11) year old dog. He's a beautiful black and white cocker spaniel. But I have to warn you, he can be a bit of a brat.

OK, OK, so we probably really aren't going to get rid of the dog, but Matt & I might entertain an offer on him tonight.

We got home this afternoon from a few days away with our families. Generally we keep Chip (the dog in question here) in our fenced in back yard. But when he's at my parents' house he roams free, because they live in the country set back off the road. He's always stayed around the house anyway. Mostly he prefers being inside to outside.

When we got out of the car at home, we just open the door and let Chip out. He always heads straight for the house. Then he usually begs by his water dish until we fill it.  Tonight we left the front door propped open, because we had to haul in parts of twin beds that we brought from my parents' house (one for Zachariah...more on that later this week perhaps).

After bringing in most of the bed and the other things from the truck, I noticed I not longer saw Chip in the house. He usually stays nearby the window or doorway until we're done. Zachariah was playing quietly in his room and the rest of the house was quiet. We checked Chip's crate, where he sometimes waits for us, but he was not there nor anywhere else in the house. I took off outside, because he has wandered off the the neighbor's before when he escaped once. As soon as I got to the front of our yard, I saw movement in our neighbor's side yard...the neighbors across the street! I yelled, but he didn't come. Then I waited for 3 or 4 cars to go by on the road before running over there to grab him.

I called for him and ran towards him. That silly dog took one look at me and took off running the other way. By this point Matt had come outside from searching the house and saw I had seen Chip. He came running with me and Chip just kept running through the neighborhood.

Matt finally got him to stop and cornered him about 5 houses down. He picked him up and carried him about half-way, then I carried him the rest of the way. (I think the running around and carrying a 35 lb dog just about did him in since he's not feeling well.)

Grr, I can't believe him. I guess we'll keep a better eye on Chip or make him go to his crate when the door is open. I just couldn't believe he ran like that. Usually we can get him quickly if he gets out. But I thought for sure he was going to get hit by a car as traffic kept going by when I was chasing him. He tends to not pay attention to things like that, and he easily would have darted right in front of one.

So, for tonight only (ehh, maybe tomorrow too), if you make us a good offer, we might let you take our dog home.

Insert Title Here

This is my "oops" post. I did not make it to post yesterday. So I'm back dating this post. And yes, I'm fessing up and admitting it.

Matt got really sick Thanksgiving night. He was uncomfortable going to bed. His stomach was upset. A few days before he felt like he might be coming down with a cold or sinus infection, but this is not what was causing problems. A little after midnight, he was throwing up in the trashcan we fortunately moved beside him in bed. Then he was up miserable for a while. He got sick again later in the night too. And all day Friday was spent at my parents' house with Matt trying to be comfortable on a couch or chair somewhere. He finally slept most of the afternoon. He did not throw up any more, but he had a terrible headache, heartburn, and still a queasy tummy for a while.

Today was better. Matt slept well last night, and he was able to eat just a little today. Mostly he has a cough and some congestion bugging him now. He's still being cautious about what he's eating but his stomach is better. Thank goodness. I just hope it's the last that we've seen of it. Poor Matt.

Happy Thanksgiving!

I hope that you all had a fantastic Thanksgiving with your families. We did our usual holiday routine with lunch at my Grandma's and supper (less than 4 hours later) at Matt's aunts. Now we fed and full. I know I'm stuffed to the brim with turkey, ham, potatoes, and more.

May you find many things to be thankful for today!

Thanksgiving Eve

What are you all doing on Thanksgiving Eve? Cleaning your house? Packing your bags? Driving to the relatives? Cooking up a storm?

I'm catching up with laundry. I have a salad in the fridge. I'm thankful for wonderful family who shares such a lovely Thanksgiving meal with us.

I hope that you all have a lovely Thanksgiving tomorrow!

Review blog

Have you guys been by my review blog in a while? I have some super cool giveaways going on right now. There is the $75 CSNstores.com gift card, a Barney Learning Pack 6 DVD set, 2 Families of the World DVDs- Kenya & Afghanistan, and one for 3 Melissa & Doug puzzles.

You could finish some of your Christmas shopping if you win. :D Plus I have another Pillow Pets giveaway coming up among other things.

And don't miss me on Facebook, Twitter, and my Facebook fan page too. Thanks! You guys rock!

A weekend away.

Becky, you're awesome! You nailed it. That was indeed Giordano's Pizza in that last post.

We spent last weekend in Chicago. We had tickets to the Toy & Game Fair. It was pretty fun. There were some neat toys and things that Zachariah enjoyed playing with. And we really liked all the interested games that we saw. I'm hoping that I can make contact with a few of the companies to highlight them on the review blog.

So since we were already at Navy Pier, we took the opportunity to visit Bubba Gump Shrimp Co. for lunch that day. Mmm, it's always so good. Matt had never been to the one in Chicago, so that was fun to take him and Zachariah there.

We also met a really friendly bum in Chicago. So if you ever find yourself lost near Michigan Ave. and Water St., just go down toward the Metra underground. I didn't catch his name, but he tells us that people get lost looking for it all the time and he's happy to help them out. Ha ha! He was funny!

So, what did you do this weekend.

Wordless Weekends- Sunday Edition #3

So, I realize now that I did not take many pictures from this weekend. But if you're really good, these pictures will help you figure out where we went this weekend.

Where do you think we spent our weekend?

Wordless Weekends- Saturday Edition #3

We spent a weekend away. Wanna guess where we went? Not much to go on here, but the next post will help.

Spoiling It

OK, so I've already approached this subject on Twitter and Facebook. It's been a month or so, and I think it's time to revisit it. And this will give you a chance to chime in if you missed it before.

Most of you know that I started watching my nephew, Patrick, 4 days a week at the beginning of September. It's still going pretty well. We've adjusted our schedule and gotten used to having a baby in the house...mostly. I'm still happy to pass him back to his mommy each evening and on the weekend, but it is fun to spend so much time with him too.

He is 6 months old now and doing so many new things. This brings me to my dilemma. When the baby does something "new", do I tell my sister-in-law about it? Or should I just let her see him do it first?

To be honest he's with us almost more waking hours than he is his parents. And he's bound to do things for the first time at our house. When he rolled over, I think he did it first at our house. I had talked to SIL about how close he was to doing it, because it was the same way at home. I'm not positive whether or not he did it first at our house, but I suspect he did. So I say something like "Oh, so he's rolling over now? It was nice to see that." And she says "That's great!"

I don't think she's disappointed that we see it first (if she is she hides it). And I don't always mean to tell her something she hadn't seen him do yet. Just this week he's been working on his first teeth. It started with him being grumpy two weekends ago. She'd mentioned how grumpy he'd been all weekend when he came on Monday. He was a little out of sorts for me too, and she and I discussed whether he could be teething or not. His check up was the next day and the doctor saw no ear infections or anything, so it was likely teething. I looked and thought I saw teeth starting to get close to popping up. Then Thursday I noticed him really chewing on the edge of his pacifier. I looked in his mouth and saw that his two bottom teeth were just starting to break through the gum. I mentioned it to SIL when she picked him up, and she was excited but she hadn't seen them yet. Oops. I didn't even think about it like that. I thought my telling her was more as an excited aunt. And it ends up, I was the one who saw the teeth first. She missed it.

If I was the working mother, I would feel bad that someone else could see some of those milestones first. But with my child in the care of a family member, it wouldn't bother me so bad. And I also think I'd rather know those things had happened than not know.

But from the "poll" I took before, I got different opinions. There were many people who thought I should just let her see things and think they were for the first time. So, in other words, I should mention those little milestone things and just wait for SIL to tell me about them after she sees them.

And about the same amount of people said if they were the mother, they would just like to know when it first happened even if they weren't there to see it. Plus they believed it softened the blow since a family member is the caregiver.

What do you think? I'm at a loss here. In some ways I think I should keep my mouth shut, but yet shouldn't I just be open about it? I almost just want to ask her, but then I worry she'll think I'm holding back the truth by not telling things. Help!

Thankful Thursday #3

I am very thankful for the occasional night out alone. It doesn't happen often, but when it does it refreshes me. I think a little time out by myself (or with friends) is a good thing for me, for my marriage, and as a mother. And I'm thankful when that happens. Yep, it's the little things in life...

Loose Ends

I spent most of my free time today tying up loose ends...literally. I had several crochet and knitting projects that needed finished up. I'm so bad about starting things, getting them mostly finished, then leaving them sit.

I put the buttons on a Santa suit I crocheted for my nephew. I sewed together a mini-sock monkey ornament. I sorted some old yarn. I made pompoms for two hats that needed them.

That among other little things. I need to take pictures for proof of my adorable new projects.

Right now I'm working on a crocheted afghan for my sister's Christmas gift. She's been after me for about 2 years to make her one. And it should be done soon!

I love being able to finish so many things at once. But I think my list of new projects I want to start is getting too long.

Adult Fears

Do you have adult fears? No, not just fears about being an adult....though that is still scary to me once in a while. (When did I become grown up and have to handle all these grown up things? Why does this kid think I know so much? And since when did so many people depend on me and the decisions I make? Really?)

Sorry, back on track here.

No, do you have any fears that didn't bug you before, but the older you get the worse they seem to get? Or is it just me?

I totally have a fear (though fairly mild) of heights. I don't know when it started, but I've really noticed it more and more in the last few years. Sometimes it really bugs me, and other occasions I don't notice quite so much. But it's more on the "bugs me" side than not.

Last fall Matt & I went to see the Indianapolis Colts. Coming into their HUGE stadium there are open escalators to the upper levels. Going up them, you can see out over the field. It's really cool. Except that once I got on I didn't like it. I got on the escalator, got dizzy and almost fell over backwards. Fortunately, Matt was behind me and I did make it up. It was a strange feeling. And we sat up in the tippy top of the stadium (I'm sure Matt would make me clarify that we were really one row down from the top) and I felt a little light-headed the whole time. It was strange. I could deal with it, but something in me did not like that height.

The other place I've noticed is driving up an off-ramp from the interstate not far from here. (I was on it tonight which is what got me thinking.) It's a long ramp that has a bug turn in it. What bothers me is that it's up and open underneath. It's more like a bridge (which I don't normally have problems with), and there is no ground directly underneath the road. I think the combination of that and the big UP is what bothers me. I just don't like it. I've gone over it many times. It's never fun. It just makes me feel funny.

Do you have any strange things like that bother you? Ehh, it's probably just me.

Movies

Do you take your kids to the movie theater? I started taking Zachariah to movies a year ago. He loved it, and we haven't stopped since.

Over the summer we got to see "Toy Story 3" and "Despicible Me" at the theater. They were both fun kids movies. He loved them, and I enjoyed them as well. Those are the types of movies that I want to take him to.

I'm hoping to go see "Megamind" tomorrow night. And maybe later this month or next month we can see the new Disney movie "Tangled". That looks really good. Have you found any good kids movies? Do you like to take your kids to the theater.

You know, the cost is what normally turns me again, but we have a cheap theater near us that helps. In a nearby small (very small town) there is a one room theater. They show kid-friendly movies (and occasionally others but at the later showing), and they sell tickets for $3 per person anytime. And they have great snack prices too. $5 will get you a huge tub of popcorn and 2 drinks. Can't beat it.

I enjoy doing a movie night with Zachariah as a treat for us to get out once in a while. It's always good to find an activity that we both like, and it seems to make a good mommy & me activity for us. I'm sure some day (sooner than I wish) he won't want to be seen in public with me anyway, so I'll just soak it up while I can.

Wordless Weekends- Sunday Edition #2

Wordless Weekends- Saturday Edition #2

I Told Him...

I told Matt I was going to write this. I did! He's had fair warning.

Matt's gotten into the blog scene pretty heavily too. He reads a lot of mommy bloggers among others. He has a review blog of his own too. And I know he reads my blogs. I'm OK with that.

Just this evening he read something that a lady had posted. She said something to the effect of "don't you wish your husband couldn't read your blog, so you could write snarky things about him?"  When he read this to me, I said "Yes." Then I told him why. Why don't I just tell you my complaints. I'm sharing them, because I think that you'll be able to commiserate with me.

So, maybe I've shared this before. Matt is a great cook. Amazing! He has skills in the kitchen that I couldn't begin to imagine. I can cook. I can bake. I like to cook and bake. But Matt likes to cook too. And since he's good at it and thoroughly enjoys it, I encourage him to get in the kitchen once in a while when he can. This amounts to about once a month now.

This sounds wonderful you're thinking. Well, it is. Except...he refuses to do dishes. We do not have a dishwasher (nor can we put one reasonably in our kitchen). I am the dishwasher. When I make supper, I wash the dishes. When Matt makes supper...you guessed it...I do the dishes.

The problem is Matt likes to make elaborate multi-step dinners. This means many bowls, pans, dishes, etc. That means more dishes for me. Something is not working out here. Shouldn't he at least do the dishes when he cooks. Or if that doesn't work, he can do the dishes when I cook. Come on! I'm tired of washing dishes.*

While I'm on the subject, I did stop putting away Matt's clothes about 4 or 5 months ago. I'll hang his dress clothes in the closet, wash his clothes, fold his clothes, take them to the bedroom, but that's it. He always fussed about not being able to find things in his drawers. My organization didn't make sense to him, and his didn't make sense to me. So I just plain stopped putting his clothes away.

Sometimes I feel bad about not doing it, but I don't sweat it too much. I know it gives him an extra chore, but it has seriously saved arguments and hurt feelings since I stopped doing it for him. Sometimes we give, sometimes we take. I guess those are the things that make a marriage.

What chores do you and your spouse argue over?


*Truly, I don't mind dishes as much as I say I do. I can handle it, and it's just a pain sometimes.

Veteran's Day

Happy Veteran's Day to any veterans or active duty troops out there! My cousin is currently serving in the army and is in Afghanistan. He is expected to return home next month.

He has missed his wife's whole pregnancy, but I'm happy that he'll be home to see the birth of their second child. He missed most of the first pregnancy with their son too. I know he'll be glad to be home soon to see his wife, son, and soon-to-be-born-son.

Thank you, Nick for serving our country. Thank you for making my life what it is. Thank you for sacrificing precious time with your beautiful family, so that we can safely live our lives here. Thanks! I love you!

Time

I have to tell you something. I have the pokiest kid in the world! No, really! You think your kid pokes? Mine could beat your pokey kid with even more pokiness.

My son is almost never in a hurry. He takes his grand old time eating meals. And he likes to eat, so this takes up a big chunk of his day. He takes a long drawn out baths. Then he delays bedtime as much as possible.

Every time we need to leave the house, he's poking. When we're out and about, he's generally poking behind us.

This kid has one speed and only one speed....slow.

Most of the time this frustrated us to no end. Any ideas how to cure the pokies?

One person suggested a timer. I have used a time in the kitchen. It seems to help sometimes. I'm wondering if buying a little kitchen time would help out. I am willing to give it a try. But I'm open to other ideas too.

Busy Weekend

This weekend was pretty busy. We had a fun kid's birthday party for my cousin's little boy. He turned 6. He and Zachariah get along great when they actually get together. My cousin is in the military and currently serving overseas. But he will be home soon, so his wife and son are moving back to New York. We'll miss having them nearby. It's been great to see so much of them, but I'm glad their family will be reunited. And just in time for the arrival of their long-awaited second child's birth too.

Anyway, at the birthday party we actually had all the great-grandchildren together. That's never happened. First of all because Easton is a brand-new addition. And secondly because two of the kids are in the process of being adopted into my other cousin's family, so they've only had them for less than a year. It was fun to see all the kiddos together though and get a neat picture with my grandmother...their great-grandmother. The picture was posted this weekend if you're interested.

It was such a long weekend, that my child (he-who-never-naps) fell asleep on the couch Monday morning. He was pouting about something, then slept in this position for well over an hour. It's so unusual for him to fall asleep anywhere but in bed. And to sleep through all the normal activity going on around him, complete with baby cries. That was one worn out kid.



I'm glad we're well into this week with other things to keep us going. What's keeping you going this week?

Oh So Monday

We had a late night last night. The Trans-Siberian Orchestra concert was wonderful. If you've ever had any desire to see them, go! Go now! You won't be sorry.  Well, at least not sorry about seeing them, but you might be a teensy bit sorry about staying out so late when you have to get up early the next morning.

Zachariah was a bit of a problem to put to bed for my parents last night. We drove late to pick him up there after the concert then drove our hour and half home. It was a late night. Then he got up at his normal time. He was a little testy most of the morning. At one point after I'd put Patrick down for a nap, Zachariah laid on the couch. (He was mad I wouldn't help him with something he was capable of doing himself, so he was pouting.) Next thing I know, he's sound asleep all curled up over there. So funny. Thank goodness he was good the rest of the day.

Patrick (my nephew, who I am babysitting for four days a week) was a little out of sorts today. His mommy had said he was like that all weekend too. I think he's teething. It looks like he has the bottom ones maybe coming close. But his nap schedule was way off. He wanted to eat, then he didn't want to eat. On and on it went all day. He was manageable, but I did not get anything else done around the house while he was here. I'm thankful that he'll only be here in the morning tomorrow, because he has his 6 month check-up in the afternoon. Also...I can't believe he's already 6 months old. They grow so quickly from the beginning. It will never cease to amaze me.

What a Monday! I'm glad it's almost over. And I'm happy that we had a nice weekend to balance it a bit.

Wordless Weekends- Sunday Edition #1

Wordless Weekends- Saturday Edition #1

Dreaming

Do you like to "dream" about the what-if's in life? My husband and I do. I read in a book recently that it's good for married couples to dream together.

Sometimes we dream about our future lives together. Things we'd like to do, places we want to visit, and other fun things. Some of these things are realistic, but some are truly dreams and may (or will) never really happen. And we know that. But it's still fun to dream.

Do you do that?

I hope that you do. I think it's good to have some dreams. Sometimes it gives us something to work towards, and other times it gives us a little stress release just to think about other things.

A few months ago Matt saw a house for sale out in the country not too far from us. He was riding bicycle a lot this summer, and he rode by it often. He started to like the house more and more. And he told me all about it. He did a little research and found it online. It's even listed with a realtor that we know in person.

When he told me he saw a house he liked, I didn't know what I'd think. I knew he was mostly dreaming about it, but that's OK. Like I said we do like to dream together. My hesitation was that we have slightly different tastes in houses. I wasn't sure that I would like it.

Then he drove me by it one time on our way home. I was shocked. I really liked it. It's not what I'd call my dream home, but it was a nice house, practical, a great location, and a beautiful property. That was it, from them on I have been dreaming about this house. I've even pictured how our things would fit in it and what I'd like to do with the extra rooms (it is quite a bit bigger than our current house).

I did all this knowing that we couldn't afford it..even if we were looking for a house right now. But we do like to dream about getting a bigger house. We do hope to be in a position to sell our current home and buy something better in the next 5 years or so...or maybe sooner if we can manage. But there is a lot of work that needs done before we get there.

For now I'm going to forget about the work, and just dream about myself in that little house down the road. And there is nothing wrong with that.

Thankful Thursday #1

Since there are 4 Thursdays in November, the last one being Thanksgiving, I thought it would be good to share what I'm thankful for on Thursdays. Want to join me?

We've been doing some work around our house lately. It causes headaches, and simple projects never end simply. Things always escalate and turn into bigger projects. Then when we think we're done with things for a while, something breaks or goes wrong.

That all said, I am very thankful for my little house. It keeps us warm in the winters and cool in the summers. It's sweet and quaint. This is the home that Matt & I first had together (we bought it on our first anniversary...9 years ago). It's truly our home. Love it and hate it, but it's ours.

With so many people struggling in this country, I am very thankful for my house.

What's on TV?

Are you guys big TV watchers? We are. Most of that is due to the fact that we're sort of trapped at home in the evenings with a young kid needing a set bedtime. But this fall I'm not thrilled with what's been on.

There are a few new shows worth watching for me, a few old favorites that we're enjoying, but I feel like so many are missing the mark this season.

Glee- We watched it last season. I loved it. This season...meh. I'm very quickly losing interest and the reruns are not helping.

Amazing Race- I enjoy this, but I'm not completely invested in any of the teams. However, it would be fun to finally see an all-female team win it.

Survivor- We're watching, but not terribly interesting this season for some reason.

Big Bang Theory- Love it! This show is still hitting the spot.

Chuck- Same here. Love it! A few episodes have been not as captivating, but I still like the characters and the show.

The Middle- One of my favs. I've loved this since the beginning, and it still delivers on the laughs.

Modern Family- Fun, enjoy this.

How I Met Your Mother- For some reason I'm not enjoying this as much this season, but I can't figure out why.

And that's about it. I sometimes catch Castle, Private Practice, and Cougar Town online.

In general, though, I've been rather disappointed. There are nights that we don't really find anything to watch, so we catch up on the DVR or watch movies. What gives this fall?

With the Bad Comes the Good

So, I'm sick. Bleck. I have a cold. Fortunately it's not too bad. I can handle a little stuffiness, drippy nose, and sinus drainage. Zachariah had it first and shared with me. Isn't he just the sweetest!

But the good stuff is that I get to sleep in a bit tomorrow. My sister-in-law had some cancellations in the morning, so she doesn't have to go in early. That means my nephew won't be here until after 10:00. I'm hoping that buys me an extra hour or two of sleep in the morning. At the very least, Zachariah will crawl into my bed and watch cartoons while I rest for a bit longer. We don't do that often, because I have to be up earlier when I babysit normally. I like those quiet slow mornings.

And today Matt won tickets to see the Trans-Siberian Orchestra in concert this weekend! It just so happens that my parents are available to keep our kid. We're excited to go to something fun like this together. We're pretty fortunate that we do get out just the two of us once in a while. We have grandparents within driving distance, who are willing to take in their grandson from time to time. And it's so good for us to get this time together...to forget about being parents and just relax a bit.

Going For It

Every year I have done NaBloPoMo. I can't believe that it's November again, and it's that time of year again. Yep, I'm going to stretch myself (a lot) this year and try to post every day in the month of November.

This will be a big commitment for me this year, since I've only posted 33 times so far this year and I'm planning to post 30 times this month! I do miss blogging here (I've kept busy with my other blog), and I want to try to come back to it. So I'm going to give it my all to give you some quality material.

To help us along this year NaBloPoMo is doing Wordless Weekends. That will help in the posting and also get me to share some new photos of my family, which I've done very little of lately.

Will you join me? Oh, come on, you know you want to!