on to the good stuff.

I'm not very positive on the blog I've noticed. I bitch a lot. That's mostly because I don't have anyone else to bitch to. But here's a whole heaping of good things that happened this weekend and lately.

Sunday morning, we went to McDonalds to meet with a couple of Ally's day care friends, Olivia and Maggie. I didn't tell Ally they were coming, because we had set it up Tuesday, and that was before the weather turned to shit. I hadn't heard form the parents, and just thought it'd be a nice surprise for her. Besides going to McDonalds was exciting enough. They both came and Ally was SO happy. She ran around with them for 2 hours. I saw Maggie's car pull up and took Ally to the window so she could see who got out. Her face just lit up when she saw Maggie climb out. Then Maggie came running in. Ally had been playing by herself before this. There are 2 ways to climb up. One is a little harder. Ally has never gone that way, because she thinks she's too short. Maggie and Olivia climbed up the hard way and Ally never even thought twice about it. Nothing like a little peer pressure for motivation! Rob came with me and got bored after a bit, so he took Anya with him to go shopping a little. Anya was also bored (After she finished eating, that is. My that kid can eat. She loves sausage! hates pancakes. weird). She kept throwing her toys on the ground in the hopes that we would let her down to play with them. Fat chance on McDonalds's play area floor! It was a nice relaxing time for me.

Twice this weekend, I've tried to get my camera to videotape the kids, and both times they immediatley stopped what they were doing. Ally has this obsession with her toes. She picks things up with them all the time. I think it's hilarious, because that kinda runs in my family. We're weirdos. Anyway. Saturday night she was picking up all the stacking cups off the floor with her toes and lifting them the 2 feet up to the train table and depositing them there. The ones that were upside down and she couldn't pick up? he leaned over and turned them over with her hands, and then picked them up with her toes. Very funny, at least in the context of my family. (But I have to draw the line somewhere. She got in trouble for "helping" Anya pick up a piece of cracker with her feet at supper this weekend. had to sit on the couch. When we made her do it, she looked confused and hurt. After all, she was just trying to help. I was going to go talk to her and explain, but she asked for Rob. So I mentioned the confused look on her face before he went to talk to her. He was very understanding and told her he knew she was jsut trying to help, but feet are dirty, yadda, yadda, yadda. I was so happy. He didn't just dismiss her feelings and pass down the "no feet on food" rule from on high. He explained things very well. ) Anyway... I tried to get the camera, and she immediately got bored with it and went on to something else. brat. :)

The second time, Anya had been yelling loudly and wanting to be held after day care yesterday. I didn't really think she was hungry, but in desperation, I nursed her a little. Ally climbed up on the couch wanting attention too, and almost smacked us with a pillow. I told her not too, and she laid it down next to us and flopped onto it instead. Anya laughed and laughed. She sat up and climbed over to the pillow. She and Ally spent a good 5 minutes laughing and slapping the pillow and hugging and kissing each other (Mostly Ally mauling Anya, but the intention was there) Very cute. No pictures. double brats :)

Speaking of kissing... Anya and I got a little too familiar last night as well. I was Airplaning Ally, so my legs were in the air and my hands holding hers. I had no way to defend myself when Anya lauched herslef at my face. Mouth wide open. Happy as can be. You'll never forget your first french kiss with your kid. Priceless, I tell you. I almost dropped Ally. I was laughing so much I couldn't control my arms very well to get her down,. Plus, I had a 23 pound baby on my face. yum... baby slobbers...

Anya learned how to clap. She does it just like Ally did at first. She holds one hand on her lap still and smacks the other with it. She's so proud of herself. Me too.

Ally has started to point out letters everywhere. We are always hearing "Hey, that A is in my name!" She's also started to write it pretty well. Sometimes she gets it wrong and rubs her hand over it to erase it. (I can tell they use chalk at day care.) Mostly though, it's entirely recognizable. It's the y she has the most trouble with.

Rob's hours got changed. We're now getting up about 10 miutes earliuer and getting home about 45 minutes earlier. Big change. Makes the night go much smoother. Supper's going better. Ally is trying new things. Anya ewats everything in sight. She loves meat. Anya and Rob have a much better relationship than Ally and he did at this age, because he's home so much. Ally's is much better behaved when he's there. I love to see them all laughing together. I bitch about Rob a lot, but having him home, instead of working 24 hour shifts, is SO much better. I love it.

We're doing this whole new thing with our budget and meal planning and stuff. It's complicated, but we're actually cutting down on our un-necesary expenses a little. Makes a big difference. Plus, less stress. I'll explain later. I've already been quite long-winded for today.

This is mostly bitching. I'll be more positive in the next post, I promise

My god, when you step away from the internet for 3-4 days, things pile up. I checked my email occasionally this weekend, but didn't respond to much, so today, it took a couple hours to get through everything and respond and delete it all. Wow. I love having lots of email! Plus, I have lots to say about the crap that happened this weekend. So, this is going to be long I think. Sorry 'bout that.

Anya has been slowly driving me insane. At some point this weekend, my husband said something joking to me and I snapped at him. He said "Take it easy!" Then a couple minutes later, he apoligized. Said that I've been dealing with the kids longer than he had (he got home late becasue of a dr appt) and knows it's hard when Anya's screaming for no apparent reason (I think it's because she's learned that she gets our attention that way. Brat). Then he said "You're acting like you've got one nerve left and the screaming baby is about to drive you over the edge." Haha.

She screams for no reason lately. Just to hear herself, maybe. I don't know. But it's really getting on my nerves. And then Ally gets feeling neglected, because we're always trying to get Anya to shut up. And then she starts talking too and our ears start to bleed. Ok, that was a little of an exaggeration. But Saturday, Anya decided to only take 1 hour naps instead of the usual 1.5 - 2 hours. Was very cranky. Grrr. I got so tired of her screaming.

Then, she woke up in the night screaming. I tried to calm her down a little, but she was just pissed off because I wouldn't get her out. After a while, I gave up and went back to bed. I figured I'd check on her in 5 minutes, but I needed a break. So instead of a break, I got to losten to Rob asking me what I was doing. I told him I was tired of her tamtrums and i needed a break. He left me alone for a little bit, but after about 10 minutes of chekcing on her and leaving again, he started "suggesting" better ways of handling it. It's hard enough to listen to your kid scream, but to have to listen to it without any support is enough to make you start screaming right along with her. he started to get sarcastic too. ugh, sometimes I hate that man. So finally, she started to lay herself down, but after the mobile shut off, she wouldn't be asleep enough to stay down, so I stayed in the room hiding from her in the corner and made sure the mobile didn't time off. After about 15 mintues of that, she was deep enough asleep to stay there. I told Rob that it had worked. Big mistake.

So, Sunday we did fun things in the morning and both needed a nap, but Anya woke up about 10 minutes after we laid down. So we went upstairs with her. Rob sat on the computer and did God knows what while the baby attacked me. She's leav me alone just long enough for me to think I could close my eyes on the couch, and then WHAM! Finger in the eye. Silly girl. She thought it was hilarious. Why couldn't Rob have kept her entertained a bit if he wasn't going to take a nap either? So then, it's time to get Ally up. Not wake her up, because she decided that she wasn't tired again and refused to go to sleep. She stayed in her room for quiet time instead. She was supposed to be in bed, but I'm not sure she did that part of it.

That night, Anya started crying in the night like usual. i went in and tried the whole hiding and keeping the mobile running thing for 30 minutes with mild success. She didn't get up, but she stirred every once in a while and I had to tell her "night, night" I got tired of it and let the mobile switch off and she was up almost immediately. I patted her back and layed her down for another 15 minutes before I walked away. I made up my mind that I was done with this shit. She's got to learn to sleep, or she's going to grow up thinking I'm a grouchy bitch. I need sleep! Plus, it's not fair to Ally either. And her dad's an asshole when he's tired. Many reasons...

So I waited in the hall to see what would happen. I heard Rob sigh loudly in bed behind me. Obvious that he didn't approve. Asshole. I went in after 5 minutes and calmed her down and came back out. Once she started screaming again, Rob picked a fight with me. "(Sigh) If you're going to be standing in the hall, could you at least shut her door? (sigh)" I shut her door. "Why are you standing there?" Um, because I don't want to lay in bed and listen to you sigh and bitch. Again, I'm not a happy person when I get no sleep. I blame him for not letting me teach her to sleep before now. He starts talking to me, so I have to go in there. he picks apart my methods and says all kinds of nasty things to me. He always does this. He waits until something is wrong, ie. someone's screaming, to discuss how I'm handling things. he called me a liar becaus eI told him I wasn't going to let her scream and get histerical and I never follow through on what I tell him. I just told him the other day that it was getting better. And last night I told him all I had to do was keep the mobile going, blah, blah blah.

It wasn't pretty. In fact, it may just be the lowest point in our marriage yet. Maybe. We've had some pretty bad fights. I don't really give a shit anymore though. If he doesn't value me enough to realize that I'm suffering from this whole sleep thing, screw him. I would understand if I was putting myself over the needs of the kids, but Ally deserves parents who aren't drop-dead tired, and Anya deserves to be able to sleep at night too. If she can learn - if I can teach her that - she won't have to spend half the night awake either. short-term - a pain in the ass for all concerned (except Ally who sleeps through it). long term - better for everyone.

The next day, we didn't even really takl until afternoon. We were both still really pissed. Finally, Rob decides to get over it and we talk. He backed downa  little. Says that the reason we fight so much is that evberything is critical. We're so behind on everything, that one little thing is giant. If we have to spend an extra dollar, it affects the whole budget, because we don't have an extra dollar to spend. if we miss out on any sleep, it's critical, becase we've not had decent sleep for so long. he said that my way may not be the best way of doing things, but he's willing to let it go. Awful big of him isn't it. Fucker. Anyway, I realize that's his way of trying to get over the fight and that he's going to drop it, so I don't quibble over his actual words. or the fact that he just said that I was wrong and he was willing to let me do it anyway. The important thing here is that he's not going to add to the stress of trying to get her to sleep.

The good news is that last night, she barely cried. She knows what "Lay down" menas and is settling herself much better. Um, wait. One night does not a pattern make. We'll just suspend judgement on this one for a while. Check back with me next week. I may even still be married then.

new scrapbook pictures

I did some new scrapbook pages. I'm working on more. Just got overwhelmed with pictures.

Hey, guy in the silver car,

Hey, you! Yeah, the one driving down Rutledge yesterday at 4:00. You're a dumbass. I'm betting that the little-bitty-cardboard-box-which-was-obviously-empty-since-it-was-blowing-across-the-road-with-the-wind would do a lot less damage to your car than a head-on collision with my Durango. Stay in your lane!

Sincerely,

Katie

it's better

Just to clarify, Ally waking up the other night was an aberration. She has finally been sleeping through the night pretty regularly. Every once in a while she wakes up, but she usually has a reason. A week or two after Christmas we had a hell of a time getting her to actually go to sleep. She'd be up playing in her bed for hours after we read her stories. I think it was just all the change in schedule and excitement though, because it seems to be settling back to normal now. (Except naps. We'll see if that improves this weekend. She stayed awake through her naps last weekend. They just ended up being quiet time)

Anya, on the other hand, is a butt about sleeping. She was such a good sleeper as a baby. But as soon as she got mobile, she got over it. Her normal routine is to go to sleep around 7. She wakes up around 10:30 or so and again around 2-3. I used to nurse her back to sleep, but I was going insane. Soetimes she woke more often. Sleep-deprived Katie is not a fun person. I tried everything, and am currently working on a new plan. I think it's improving. I comfort her in her crib and only in her crib. She yells, I go in and she's standing at the rails waiting for me. She leans her head against me and after she has calmed a little, I lay her down and pat her back / sing to her / hold her hand / let her pull my hair / whatever works. Except picking her up. If she doesn't lay down, I start over. Monday night I thought we were doing great. She's started to make the connection. She was leaning against me and bent her knees to lay down before I even moved. I think the screaming fit she had while I was gone at dance the other night disrupted her. Anyway, last night at 10:40 she laid back down without a fight at all and was asleep almost instantly. I wasn't even out of bed for 2 minutes. At 3:10 she lay back down pretty fast and I left to pee and came back to checck on her. She was restless, so I patted her back a while. It took about a half hour for her to go back to sleep. Yes, it's still not great, but it's a BIG improvement. Then she woke up at 4:45 to eat and I woke her at 6:00 to get ready for day care. I'm not real thrilled with the 4:45 wake-up, but I'm willing to let it go for now.

So there. Much more information than you needed, but I'm encouraged. I hope this is actually a pattern of less awake time and not a fluke. Maybe someday I'll actually feel human again.

dance

Hey, did I tell you we were starting a new dance class (well, it was tumbling, but Ally liked to call it dance)? Oh. Did I tell you we quit the last one? oh. Well, consider yourself told. Remember a long time ago, that very first dance class we signed up for and how the class dwindled away and we were left all by our lonesone? Yeah, that kinda happened to the second place we went also. During summer it was great. Then the teacher left and a new one came. Then we got another new one. She couldn't have been more than 16 years old and had no idea how to control the kids. Then, people started dropping out. Hannah (Ally's day care friend) showed up occasionally, but not regularly, because of some problems at home (I think her parents are getting divorced. I feel so sad for Hannah). Then it happened. Allly was the only one there one night. So I left and said I'd find another one. Ally wasn't real thrilled, but she never knows what day it is and forgot to ask about it anymore.

I talked to another mom from day care a long time ago and found out that Maggie was in a dance class. And actual dance class with tap shoes and leotards and everything. So I went to that one one night and checked it out. Ally hated it. She wanted to go back to her old dance class with Hannah. Maggie wasn't there that night. It was mostly older girls, and Ally wouldn't leave my side. I thought it looked like it might be too old for her, and just decided to put it on hold for a while and think about it after the holidays. Then, Sandy - Maggie's mom - called me and said she heard we went and that they would be going back in January. Hooray. I liked the idea of this place because it's like 4 minutes from the house. We have enough time to go home and eat before, so we don't always have to be going to McDonalds on dance night. Plus, she told me that another little girl from daycare was in the class too.

So last night we went. We got there early to get the shoes and leotarda nd all. her friends weren't there yet, and Ally still wasn't too happy. But then maggie got there. Ally didn't do much to start and didn't want to let go of me. But they got out maracas, and Ally loves them. She shook them for a while and forgot she wasn't supposed to be having fun. None of the other parents stay in the room for this class, so as soon as she started to forget me, I sneaked out. I sat in the adjoining room with 6 other moms and had adult conversation for a while. yes, it was mostly centered around the kids, but it was whining free! There is a camera in the dance rooms and i could watch to see if Ally was adjusting. Mostly she was, but I did see the teachers have to reign her in a couple times. Which just made me even more thankful that I didn't have to be in direct supervision. I hope this class works out.

As an added bonus, I traded phone numbers with the parents of Ally's friends and we're going to meet at the McDonalds playland on Sunday morning. Cool.

However, when we got home Anya was screaming. Rob said she noticed I was gone about 20 minutes in and crawled to the gate and cried. He took her on a tour of the house (He had to do this with Ally all the time. If I left, she didn't believe that I wasn't just hiding downstairs. He'd pick her up and carry her through the house showing her I wasn't in any of the rooms or closets. Then, she'd be satisfied and go on playing) but it didn't work. When he'd proven I wasn't there, it Pissed. Her. Off.She screamed and screamed. He couldn't calm her down. I'm not sure how hard he tried. He doesn't really know how to distract babies very well. He loses patience pretty easily. Anyway, she calmed down when I picked her up and nursed for a little while to settle down. Then she smiled and giggled and played the rest of the evening. She had the nerve to crawl off my lap across the couch to Rob and laugh at him, mere moments after stopping with the screaming.

She's going to have to learn, because there's not any place for her to play at the dance place. She can't go with us.

Someone come take my kids for a night please!

I'm dog-ass tired today. I might take a nap at lunch, if my husband doesn't object to me making him eat all by his lonesone. This is what I did last night:

8:15 Rob goes down to put Ally to bed.
9:00 Anya finally crashes upstairs with me.
9:22 I put Anya in her bed and return upstairs to curl up on the couch and wait for Rob to get tired and go to bed with me.
10:00 He wakes me up to go to bed
10:45 Anya wakes up. I lay her down and pat her a minute. She's still restless, so I sit in the rocking chair in case she gets right back up.
12:09 I wake up with a sore neck and go to bed.
1:12 Ally wakes up screaming. Says she needs some cough syrup. She doesn't. She settles for a drink of water.
2:24 Ally wakes up screaming. I threaten her that if I have to get up again, she WILL be sorry.
3:02 Anya wakes up screaming. Inconsolable. Screw the whole crying it out thing. I'm tired. So I pick her up and rock her. She still won't stop crying. WTF? Stupid kid. I have to walk around with her and bounce to settle her and it still takes forever. SO tired!
3:53 Back in bed
5:00 Alarm goes off
5:15 Get in shower. My god I'm tired

hiding or headless
That de-lurking picture is really bothering me. It's like an optical illusion. One time I look, I think someone's bending their head down hiding behind the computer with their hands on back of their head (which is what I think it's supposed to be - what with the whole quit lurking around idea). But the next time I look at it, I have a disturbing thought of a headless person sitting there with his hands folded under where his chin should be. It's really creeping me out. If he doesn't have a head, he shouldn't be resting his chin on his hands!

8 months old

I got Anya's 8 month pictures. How did she get this big? She's starting to look less like Ally at that age. She's getting her own look. And her own attitude. She has decided that the train tracks Must. Not. remain on the table. plus, when she's happy, 90% of the time, she's blowing raspberries. She was fighting Rob while he was putting her in her seat the other day and he said "STOP IT!" She looked at him, said pblttt, and went on trying to get loose. The pictures are at 8 months old.

game

In case you're having trouble thinking of things to comment about on de-lurking week, I present you with this:

What's the first thing that comes to mind when you read these words?

bridge

cheese

outstanding

love

citizenship

final

carpenter

Ok, I'll give you my answers in the comments so as to not influence yours. (I used to play this game all the time in Psych 101 with my old roomate. We got some funny looks from the people around us)

De-lurking week

Hey, everybody. There's a law that says you must comment during de-lurking week. At least once. More is better. Tell me who you are. Am I talking to myself (and the handful of people who do regularly comment)?

What do you mean it's not a law? Of course it is. Just take my word for it.

The ties that bind

You can pick your friends, but you can't pick your family.

I really wish that saying had no bearing on my life. Sadly it does. My sister is a fuck-up. I love her to bits, but she's really done quite a bit to mess up her life and in the process, the people around her. She's currently trying to straighten up, but she has a lot to make up for. She's been on drugs, in and out of jail, prison, and has burned quite a few bridges. People have really tried to help her out. My mom is currently raising her oldest children, my aunt her third. Christy only has custody of the forth kid. She lies and misrepresents things so much that I never even ask questions, because I'm not going to believe the answer, so why bother? I think she gave up long ago, and has decided that having no expectations is better than being disappointed. She hasn't yet admitted that she is responsible for any of the decisions she has made in her life. Everything is someone else's fault. Especially Mom's.

She came to visit for a little while this weekend and I didn't even know what to talk to her about. I wouldn't talk to her if she were just some person on the street, so what do I say to her when we are together? We really share no common interests. We share family, but mostly, I like them and she bitches about how they mistreat or misunderstand her. In some cases she's right. She is misunderstood and rarely gets the benefit of the doubt. Most of the time, it's because she's exhausted all of her second (fiftieth) chances. She is misunderstood, because no one can understand why anyone would make the crappy decisions she has made. I really don't want to withdraw form her completely, because of my nephew and nieces. If she ever gets her act together I will be overjoyed. I'm just not holding my breath. So how do I maintain a casual relationship with someone who lives her life at odds with everything that I believe is right? Everything she says makes me want to scream "But Christy, you used to have a brain! Why don't you want to use it?" Why live in the gutter?

(One time she asked me "Are you till breastfeeding? She had quit at around 2 months or so, I think. I told her that I couldn't afford to quit and buy formula even if I wanted to and I didn't want to anyway. She replied that she didn't have to pay for it. She got it free. THAT is why I can't afford to pay for it. People like her living without a job on purpose, expecting that other people will pay their way because we wouldn't want to see her child harmed for it. That kid shouldn't be used like that, and iIshouldn't have to pay for her shit just because she is on welfare. GRR. And she smokes. GRRRRRRR)

I don't know how to deal with her. Does she deserve anything form me because she's my sister? Do family ties entitle her to have a relationship with me? Somehow, I don't think so, but still, because she's my sister, I can't sever out relationship. I just suffer through the time we spend together waiting for it to be over. It really pisses me off that she's not the person I grew up with and loved so much.

morning rituals
Is it just my kids, or do your kids wake up, stretch, and fart? Every morning. The baby and the 3 year old. I think it's hilarious.

2006 Meme

Here's the rules. Write the first sentance of the first post of each month in 2006.

January 2006 - Ally only had 1 pair of wet panties from 7 am to 9 pm last night
February 2006 - So we finally got all the crap put away this weekend
March 2006 - Sleep has been decent the last couple days
April 2006 - Screw this 1 hour at a time crap
May 2006 - I made a new picture album
June 2006 - You know how all the old cartoons have someone step on a rake, and it comes back and smacks them in the face and everyone laughs - hahaha that's so stupid it's funny?
July 2006 - Ally: I'm not a big girl.
August 2006 - OK, we saw the ENT last night, and Surprise! Ally has an ear infection
September 2006 - The other day I was nursing Anya in her room (next to the bathroom).
October 2006 - Anya has found her toes
November 2006 - Halloween rehash - The haul: (listing of all the Halloween candy)
December 2006 - This was last week at Grandma Darra's house (I posted a picture below)

I'm not sure what all this says about me, but the January one kinda makes me mad. Ally was doing pretty well in January! She didn't get out of diapers until November. ARGGG!

updates for all

So lazy. Oh well. Lots of stuff to talk about, so I'm going with bullet points.

• Last night Ally wanted some pudding. We made it before dinner and stuck it in the fridge to set. Then we sat down for dinner. We had cheeseburgers which she usually likes. Well, she likes the freezer meal kind. Real ones are a little too big for her I think. She eats some and then says she's full. So last night Rob and I had to coax her through the meal once again. She kept telling us she was full, could she have some pudding? At one point I told her "How can you have any pudding, if you don't eat your meat?" I don't think she got it, but I thought it was pretty funny.
• After bedtime, Rob sat down at the table and had some pudding and Nilla Wafers. (We have rediscovered our love of stale Nilla Wafers. I picked up Anya from daycare one day and she smelled like them. Yummy, so we bought a box. I opened it and 2 days later they were perfect.) We were discussing the pudding/supper dilema Ally had. Rob was talking in between dipping a wafer in pudding, making a sandwich out of them and stuffing them in his mouth. He said "Ally still hasn't learned that you eat because it's healthy, not because it tastes good" We both promptly laughed at the absurdity of that sentence coming from him with his mouth stuffed with cookies and pudding.
• Anya has learned to wave. Well, kind of. She doesn't wave bye-bye. She doesn't wave hello. Mostly she sticks her whole arm up in the air and bends her wrist back and forth while yelling to let me know there is no more food in her hand and she Needs. More. NOW. But occasionally, she does wave in response to you waving at her.
• Everyone but Rob has been sick at some point in the last week. Anya Friday night, Ally Sunday night, and me Tuesday night. Ally hadn't eaten well all day, and we mdae her eat supper, even though she didn't really want to. We've had so many fights over this that we just thought she was being a pain. Besides, we got her Chicken nuggets like she asked for. Maybe next time, we'll pay more attention. Side note: I had gotten some sleep the night before and was waiting for him upstairs while Rob read Ally's bedtime stories. I have no sex drive if I don't sleep. So sleep makes me horny. So I was naked and waiting patiently when I hear Ally throw up and Rob yells, "I could use a little help here" How do the kids always know the worst possible time to do shit like that?
• I've started a policy of not getting Anya out of her crib between the hours of 8 pm and 4 am. When she cries now, I comfort her in her crib and lay her back down. repeatedly. We'll see how thi sworks. Rob is ABSOLUTELY against crying it out. He does not want me to let her get "hysterical", so we'll see how this works instead. Over the last couple of nights, the time that she has woken first has gotten later. I'm taking that as a good sign. Please let it be a sign. At least I'm not feeding her all night anymore.
• Yesterday I stayed home from work to let the virus run its course. I woke up feeling mildly better and since I had the house to myself, i cleaned out Anya's room. Since she doens'tt play in her room, I use it as a general "throw it in Anya's closet and I'll get to it later" room. The closet spilled over into the room long ago. it was bad. I took 5 totes full of stuff out of there. 3 totes of outgrown clothes (hers and Ally's) and 2 totes of garage sale stuff. Come spring I'm de-cluttering. I'm going to send the kids out of the house for the day (or at least Ally - Anya probably won't get in the way too much) and clean out a LOT of old toys. Now, the room is clean I'm so thrilled. I even got all the laundry done and folded (and put in the correct rooms even if it isn't put away in drawers yet) All this while I was sick!
• Rob has been working a couple of evenings lately at the hospital. This is a very good thing. If he doesn't work, he might get fired (part time people still have to work occasionally and it's been a long time). If he gets fired, we're not eligible for our daycare anymore. It's only for hospital employees. In fact, it's not even really for prn employees, but they put that rule in after we were already there, so it doens't apply to us. If he isn't an employee anymore though, he has 30 days to find another day care. I don't want to do that. So he has to work. It reminds me of how much I hated to have him gone all the time at his last job. It's also kind of nice, cince I never get a break from him anymore.
• This one's just for mom. I had 775 people take one of my quizes. Ha
• I can always tell lately when Anya has a dirty diaper. She starts whining and chasing me around the room. It's very odd.
• I quit watching my soap operas last month.  I've been watching Days Of Our Lives for at least 16 years. I started watching Passions when it came on while I was in college. I gave it up. Don't even tape them anymore.  2 kids just take up too much time for tv. I hardly ever turn it on for myself anymore. This is a major step for me. Of course while I was home yesterday I watched, and wasn't even that confused after missing a month.
• Anya hasn't had and ear infection since she got off the last round of antibiotics Dec 11th. YAY! But I think she's teething. BOO! Ally got her first teeth at 10 months. Anya is now a little over 8 months old. We'll see what happens

I'm sure there are fve million other things, but that's it for now. Oh, except that I'm going to update youTube and Flickr soon. Check them out

some advice that no one asked for

I have a few nuggets of wisdon that I thought I'd share. I know, no one asked, but they've helped me, so I'm passing it on. Plus, I've done a lot of stupid things lately (like colliding mirrors with a parked truck) so I wanted to show off my amazing smartness.

1. Coupons. Diapers and wipes coupons are great. I use Pampers. It seems like the wipes coupons are always $1.00 off and Cruisers $1.50. Then the EasyUps are $2.00 off. This makes sense because the cost goes up in that order. However, I have discovered that Walmart is the place to use coupons. Particularly a Super-Walmart. They get so much business that they lose no money by accepting expired coupons. They can still redeem them. The cashiers very rarely even check the dates. Plus, and this is very important, it doesn't matter what coupon you give them, as long as it's for the right brand. It's all checked by the computer. They scan a Pampers coupon, the computer checks the purchases to see if a (any) Pampers product was bought. That means you can use the $2.00 coupons on wipes. It also means that you can use as many coupons as products. If you have a buy one get one free Kandoo (pampers) soap, you can use 2 coupons, becuase you have 2 products. Go collect coupons. Save money. The only people who lose in this deal are Pampers, and I figure they aren't really losing, becuase I'm just using a coupon someone else didn't bother to redeem. Plus, I'm still buying their diapers. Everybody wins.
2. Oven safety. Long ago, Rob and I had a baby. This was a new thing. We had to get used to lots of new things. One of those was being careful while preheating the oven. I used to turn the oven on and go downstairs to pee or something. Rob didn't even always know the oven was on. But that was okay, because he's an adult (sort of).  Babies are stupid, though. They don't know ovens can be hot. So Rob and I adopted a rule. If one of us turns the oven on, the oven light goes on with it. EVERY time the oven is hot, the light is on. It doesn't get turned off until after the oven is cool. That way everybody knows at all times to keep the baby away from the hot oven, even if you didn't turn it on yourself. One pleasant side effect of this practice is that Ally now knows that the light means stay away. This wasn't the intended purpose, but it is great. The other day, a ball rolled toward the oven while it was on, and she started walking toward it, and saw the light on and stopped. It's one of the smartest child-proofing things we've ever done.

grrr
For some reason, I can't embed anything in a post that's not hosted by this server. Um, for those of you who don't know what that means, it won't let me put that photo slideshow in an entry. That's why I had to put it up there in the heading. (It's also why you have to click the links to my YouTube videos instead of just watching them here.) So, I'm only going to leave it up there for a while. We took lots more, but I'm just too lazy to do anything with them at the moment.

slacker

I'm a huge slacker. When things get busiest, I post less, but there's more to talk about, so why is that? It's all backwards. oh well. Things went well with the traveling. The presents are unwrapped. The house is a shambles. We seem to have aquired a coffee table made for trains. Ok, so maybe it's not a coffee table, but it's currently sitting where our coffee table would be if we had one. The food is almost all eaten (except for the half of a ham that we stuck in the freezer, cause my God! we could have never eaten it all. And of course, except for the part of it that Anya scarfed down. That's right. She had chunks of ham for dinner this weekend. She loved it. She actually put down her crackers to get more ham. So weird). The new clothes are all washed. The tree will come down this weekend, I think.

Everyone had the same type of holidays I'm sure. Filled with friends, family and food. Ours wasn't much different. Ally liked her computer. It took her about 15 minutes to notice it was there in the room with her. She's not too observant. She's much better with the mouse than I had expected. Anya looked at all her toys. Played with a few, but always returned to her beloved ernie book. I don't know what it is about that thing, but she loves it. Whatever.

Anyway, I don't have a lot to say, but just wanted to say something anyway. Posting will probably be light for a bit, but I'll be back. See you soon.

Christmas songs MeMe

Okay, Erin tagged me for a Christmas songs MeMe. It's supposed to be my 5 favorite Christmas songs, but I don't really listne to Christmas music much, so I'm going to change it up a bit.

My favorite songs:

1. Carol of the Bells Absolutely love this one. In fact, I have the album Trans-Siberian Orchestra published it on. Love it. The song is beautiful, but the orchestra gives it an added oomph. A slighly less musical, slightly more comical version is here
2. I'm not really religious, but "O Holy Night" really gets to me. It has such feeling. Very moving. This version that Jenny posted is freakin hilarious, though.

Christmas songs that makes me ish the holidays were over:

All the songs from Rudolph and the Island of Misfit Toys. "Why am I such a Misfit?" Dude - it's because you want to be a dentist!

Christmas song that I hope I never have to sing again, but probably will in just about an hour and half, just because I love my daughter:

Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer

Christmas song that gets stuck in my head the instant I so much as think about it:

Frosty the Snowman (Thumpty-thump-thump Thumpety-thump-thump...)

Christmas song that I just can't ever sing the right words to:

Joy to the World! (my sister's dead, we barbequed her head!)

It's almost Christmas, so I won't tag anyone else, but feel free to share your favorites if you want. Or just your thoughts on Christmas music in general.

TMI Tuesday #8 - Christmas Craziness

Beth's Mom asked a question over on Beth's blog that I wanted to answer. I started typing it all up in the comment box over there, and then I looked at it and thought "Oh my God, This is way too long for a comment. And anyway, it would make a good post for myself since I have nothing else to say, what with the overwhelming tiredness." So here it is.

How do other people divvy up the holiday celebrations between the two sets of relatives? Is it usually a big fight, or do your readers alternate amicably?

Do the grandparents care what is fair, or do they insist on seeing their little  dears for every occasion regardless of what anyone else wants?

And how about your readers?  Can they stand up to their respective families and do what they darn please?

I have 4 sets of parents. Rob's mom and Dad are divorced and remarried and ditto for mine. My dad has been married to Leann for a good 20 years or so, so she's family and so are her kids. No offense to Mom here, but her husband is a relative new-comer (at 10 years). I just didn't grow up with him. I was out of the house before they got married, so it's kind of hard to settle in real well, you know? Rob's parents have both been re-married forever too, so everyone pretty much gets along okay. They could deal with being in the same room together - and have - pretty easily. The problem is that there's just not a big enough room. Every year I host a BBQ and all sides of the family are invited and usually 30-40 people show up. It would get crazy to try to have that at the holidays indoors. So I rush around to see everyone, or I don't. This year it's a little of both.

I try to take everyone's plans into account and work them in somehow.

Dad and Leann always make it easy by picking a weekend day before Christmas to have their celebration. That was last Sunday. All the kids get to play togther while the guys watch football, mostly. Leann always has a great dinner set up and we hang out. She also usually has Christmas day dinner available to anyone who is free. I have never been free for it, though. (driving time = 55 minutes one way)

My mom always has a Christmas buffet. (mom's driving time = 40 minutes) Early in the morning, she sets up appetizers and grazing foods and people are invited to stop by at any time and visit. That's usually a pain in the ass for me, because it's not an actual gathering, so I'm not going to see the rest of the family at any certain time, so it's just me visiting Mom. And I'd rather do that while there aren't other various people randomly stopping by. We usually do a meet-up sometime or another around the holidays whenever convenient. This year, though, my grandma decided to have a Christmas party this Friday. She usually - hmm, I don't really know what she usually does. I think she goes to my uncle's then goes to my aunts the next day? Whatever. This year I can go there and have a party with my mom's side of the family and it doesn't clash with anyone else's plans. Ally loves going there and playing with all the cousins and so we're happy. Plus, they're having Casey's pizza. I love Casey's pizza. (grandma's driving time = 1.3 hours)

The bad thing is that we're going to Rob's mom's the next day. So we might end up driving after Grandma's Friday night. Yuck. It's a 2.5 hour trip form our house. It'll be much longer from there. But. It will be night and the kids will likely fall asleep and we won't have to load and unload the vehicle twice. Hell, maybe Anya will even sleep better in the car. Ha! We always try to spend Christams with his mom. She's got less family around and Rob always wants to let her know we love her by showing up. (Hi Darra, we love you) For many reasons, the holidays are a little hard for her, and she always makes the most effort to come see us and help out, so it only seems natural. This year, her husband has a new schedule and will have to work a little on Christmas eve, so we will be there on Saturday instead. If Rob's sister shows up (which is not certain right now. Circumstances are iffy) We'll just come home and spend Christmas Eve trying to get things cleaned up and put away from our travels, and spend Christmas at home. Otherwise, Darra might come back with us to be part of our holiday at home and Bill can meet us after work Christmas Eve or somehting. We don't really know. (driving time = 2.5 hours + 1.3 hours if we leave from grandma's)

Oh and Rob's grandparents actually live in the same town as Darra, so we'll see them if they are there. They might be in California (at Rob's aunt's house) though, so I'm not really sure. They usually go out there, but they are usually gone before now, and I haven't heard anything about it, so I'm not sure. (no driving. Yay)

Rob's dad doesn't have any set plans yet. He usually goes to his in-laws for Chirstmas and catches us whenever it's easiest for both of us. This year, Glinda is under-going chemo, so all bets are off. I hope she feels well enough to enjoy the holidays. (driving time = 1 hour if we go there. Usually they come to our house)

Most everyone is flexible and let us decide where we are going. Thank God, because it's hard to coordinate with everyone. I want to see everyone and all, but it really messes with the kids schedule to be travleing that much that often. Ally starts missing naps and it's hard to continue our food training (which is going great. Last night she tasted a bite of lasagne. Said she didn't like it. Chewed it up instead of spitting it out. So she didn't have to eat it and got a PB&J instead. Those are our rules - one bite and you can get something else if you don't like it. No arguments last night Finally) and accident-free (potty-related) days. Anya doesn't sleep as well during the day, which makes the night even worse and in someone else's house to boot. Just stressful. Worth it, but stressful anyway.

We do occasionally set our foot down and not see people when we need to. We don't always see Mom on Christmas Day when she celebrates, because we want to be home for the kids to play with their toys. I remember growing up and going to my dad's house after Christmas and being annoyed that I couldn't play with all the neat stuff I had just gotten. I want the day to be relaxing. Especially since the rest of the holiday isn't.