Brandon's Puppy

8 months old!!

The bean turns 8 months old today. In a few short months, he'll be a year old. I wish I could just stop time and hold on to his infant-hood just a bit longer. I look at Brandon, almost 5 years old, and I know that before I know it I'll be in the same place with Matty, wondering where the time went, and how he grew up so fast. At least once a day, I pick him up and pull him close, nuzzling his neck and breathing him in.

Slow down, little guy. Give your momma a chance to enjoy you a bit longer, m'kay?

Brandonisms

(Getting in the car this morning to head over to my grandmother's house. Brandon is carrying his portable DVD player and a movie in its case. I'm carrying the baby in the carrier, the diaper bag, and my purse.)

"Brandon, go to your side and open your door and start getting in, please"

"Mommy, I have no more hands. What do you think, I'm a octopus boy?"

**********************************************************************************************************
(Pointing out an American Airlines plane overhead)

"Look, that's the airplane we're going on. The American flag plane"

Speed racer

Yeah, I'm talking about Matty. You know, the not-quite-eight-months-old baby? Yeah, he was racing all over the sitter's house in his walker when I got there to pick him up. Normally babies start walking backwards until they figure out how those things called feet work. Not my little guy. He was going every which way, even holding onto some plaything on the tray of the walker, looked like he was shifting gears or something!
I'll try to get him on video over the weekend. I've said it before, and I'll say it again: I'm in big trouble!

Free Raleigh, NC Getaway

As I’ve mentioned before, I’ve been itching for a vacation since I went back to work. Ideally, we wanted to go to New York City this Fall with my mother-in-law (who’s never been there), but circumstances did not allow us to plan the trip. .I was brainstorming about where we could go for a Fall Getaway without spending too much money. We figured we wanted to go somewhere where we could see the change of seasons, someplace we’ve never been before. Someplace that’s not too far so that we could make it a road trip, and a place that would be as much fun for the kids as it would be for us. Then it hit me: Raleigh, North Carolina. My cousin lives in Durham, which is *thisclose* to Raleigh, so that’s mighty convenient. Of course we’d stay with my cousin, so we’d save on room and board. Our major expenses would be air fare or car rental, food and entertainment. Well, I happened upon this FREE Raleigh Getaway sweepstakes, which features tickets to several attractions:

2 tickets to the North Carolina Theatre
2 tickets to the N.C. Museum of Art’s Landscapes from the Age of Impressionism
2 tickets to Dinosaurs: Ancient Fossils, New Discoveries at the N.C. Museum of Natural Sciences

Also included is one night accommodations for two at the Courtyard by Marriott Raleigh Crabtree, $25 gift certificate to Blloomsbury Bistro, and free VIP admission for two to Rum Runners.

Wow, if we win this thing, we’ve got it made! We could see so many places, even go to the state fair, which features Kelly Pickler, Chris Daughtry and Trace Adkins in Concert this year. That would be awesome! I already registered, you should too. Who knows, there might be unplanned weekend vacation in your future. Or mine. Preferably mine. I got it, why don't you go ahead and register, and if you win, you give me the trip as an early birthday present. Great idea, don'tcha think?

She Did It!!

Not only did my sister reach her goal to raise funds for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, she passed it! That is so awesome. Special thanks to my uncle for his creative fundraising efforts. LOL
Thanks to everyone who donated. =)

If you would still like to donate to the cause, go here.

True Love

When people ask me how hubby and I met, they are usually pleasantly surprised by the story. We met on the bus ride to Disney for GradNite during our senior year of high school. We were hanging out in a group of about 10 people but somehow got split up from the group. We spent the most of the entire trip together. Maybe this triggered our love for Disney, I’m not sure. Anyway, at the time, he was dating his best friend’s sister, and I had a crush on his best friend. Well, they broke up a few months later, and nothing became of my crush (but we are the dearest of friends now. After all, he is my son’s Godfather!). Hubby was in a major depression over the break up. He had bought her a ring and expected to spend the rest of his life with her. At the time I was going through a break up of my own. We ended up spending a lot of time together at gatherings and outings with our friends, and surely we began to like each other. We began dating and stayed together for about five years, but things were not all sunshine and rainbows and birds chirping, so we broke up after a very big argument in the the Fall of 2000. It was very hard to do because I really did love him, and I know he loved me, but there were certain issues we couldn’t work through at the time. I still can't believe I broke up with him face to face. It might have been easier with a break up letter of some sort, but I felt I owed him more than that. Afterwards I tried to minimize contact, but that became difficult since we ran in the same circle of friends. As much as we tried for it to not be, it was usually uncomfortable, especially when he found out I was dating someone (even though it wasn’t serious). What’s meant to be will be though, and we got back together almost a year after our break up. We were married six months later.

Sometimes I look back and think that the break up made our relationship stronger. We still have some issues, but who doesn’t?! No one said relationships were perfect. They do take work and effort, and sometimes a seemingly small thing, like being wrong in a disagreement and admitting it, makes a world of difference. We still have our arguments and get on each other's nerves, but we've learned to work through that and look at the bottom line: we love each other and have built this beautiful life together. That's the important thing, not whatever we're fighting about. So we move on and move forward, hand in hand.

That’s our story. What’s yours?

Help

I was trying to print an Excel spreadsheet from a shared drive, and I can't seem to get it to print correctly. It's a huge document, and I tried everything: I checked the page layout, the margins, made sure all the columns had the same criteria. All I get when I do a print preview is teeny, tiny images of what looks like the data, and it's all smushed together on the left side. It looks nothing like the actual spreadsheet. But I can copy and paste it into a new workbook and it looks and prints fine. Can anyone tell me what I might have done wrong? I don't remember changing any settings, but it is on a shared drive, so it might have been someone else. Could it be some setting on the shared drive? I have no idea what else to check.

About A Camera

What is it with electronics going for a swim lately? You may recall that hubby inadvertently took my cell phone into the ocean with him a few months back. Today I read that Helen’s new cell phone went for a swim in her bathtub. And last Saturday at the birthday party, Claudia’s camera went for a quick dip in the pool. This is the one that got to me. I don’t know what I’d do if I didn’t have my camera. I feel naked if it’s not accessible, and I know Claudia’s the same way. She had plenty of back-up cameras during the party, since most of us there had one, but she was hoping she could get it to work again before her trip to California today. I’m happy to report that somehow she got it working again, and she didn’t lose a thing: all her pictures are intact, the battery works, and the camera is running as good as new. It’s packed in her carry-on bag and ready to go.
If she hadn’t been so lucky, I was going to suggest she get the Nikon D300 . Hey, it’s not my money. I can suggest a top-of-the-line model, right? If I could afford it, that’s what I would get. Maybe if we owned something like that it would encourage hubby to take up photography again. He was into in high school but just hasn’t had the time, money or equipment to get back into it. Hopefully someday he’ll be able to again. He's got a great eye for it. I'll have to print out the black and white shots he took back in the day and show them off.

Happy Friday!

Is it me, or was it a really long week?
I had another crazy night last night. When I picked up Brandon, I picked up our friends' daughter Julie as well. She's 2 and a half, and so CUTE!! She calls the baby "Baby Mashew". The kids played for a while as I fed Matty, then we all spent a little time in the playroom together. I told hubby to pick up a pizza on his way home. I was NOT going to start cooking and miss the Ugly Betty and Grey's Anatomy premieres. Did anyone else catch them? I don't want to ruin it for anyone who Tivo-ed it (this means you, CTG!), but I'd love to hear what you all thought in the comments.
So far it looks like we'll be having a calm and relaxing weekend. We have no plans as of yet, and I hope it stays that way because I'm in serious need of some couch-potato therapy.

A Tale of Three Boys

What an interesting evening I had yesterday! On my way home, my sister called me and asked me if I could pick up my nephew. I told her it was not a problem, I’d take him home with me and I’d watch him until she was done at work. I knew it was going to be a huge surprise for Brandon when I picked him at school with his cousin in tow. I picked up Mikey at my stepmom’s house, then headed over to the sitter’s house to pick up Matty. From there we headed to Brandon’s school and then a very short, six-block drive home. Ironically I made it home earlier than usual, even with the extra stop. The boys played for a good long while as I bathed and fed the baby. Usually, when my sister is over with the boys, we will bathe them all together so they can play in the tub, but I won’t do it on my own. Our bathrooms aren't treated with any kind of tub and shower slip-resistant treatment, and with a wiggly infant and two hyper pre-schoolers one just can’t be too careful. I'd rather bathe them in shifts and avoid any slipping and sliding in the tub.
Anyway, I put Eric on baby duty when he got home from work. He gave Matty his bottle and put him to sleep while the boys ate dinner, cleaned up the playroom, and winded down with a movie before my sister came over to pick up Mikey. They were both tired, but just did not want to part. They would have kept playing together all night if we let them. On the other hand, I took a shower and plopped into bed shortly after. I got a small taste of what I’d be like to have three kids, and I definitely don't have the strength to do that every day.

EOAS, week 14

I've had this post on draft since the weekend so and I wouldn't forget to post it come Wednesday. Wednesday came and went and I forgot to hit "publish". Go figure! But in spite of that, it feels good to be back on track with it. Enjoy.

Here are Brandon and Mikey on St. Patty's Day, 2004. Aren't they adorable?!

Brandon first Easter egg hunt was great fun. He wasn't quite sure what to do with the eggs, though. You can't tell, but he's wearing his little guayabera, and he looked so cute!!

This was at our cousin's house in early May. It seemed like he had just mastered walking, and a month later he's climbing all over the place!

Another one of my favorites. I got the idea for this layout while at a crop at a local scrapbooking store. There was a lady sitting at the same table doing this layout for her grandkids at a Mets game, and I got up, purchased the Marlins embellishments, and did it right then and there. Not bad, huh?

Here are Brandon and Anthony in the summer of 2004. Anthony is the son of a friend of mine that I've known since 1st grade. She and I are delighted that our kids can grow up together, and possibly be life-long friends like we are.

That's it for this week. See you next time. =)

The name's Piggy. Ms. Piggy.

Consumed today:

Morning - cafe con leche, Cuban toast
Mid-morning - banana
Lunch - Large chicken soup. I requested rice be put in the bottom of the container. Also, 6 saltine crackers to accompany soup
Just now - Spaghetti with chicken in sauce with mushrooms. This is the lunch I brought from home, but when the allergies kicked in and had me all weak from sneezing and wheezing, I ordered the soup.

And it's not even 3:30!

I do not plan on having dinner tonight, if you're wondering.

Attention Shoppers

Did you hear that Pier 1 Kids is closing? I just found out.
It's a shame. I think their stuff is so cute, and it's really not as expensive as one would think.
According to their site, items at the stores are up to 50% off.
Looks like it's time to go get some bargains!

It's not just what you say, but how you say it.

I have been meaning to share this story since Sunday, but kept forgetting to download the pictures from my camera.
After the party on Saturday afternoon, we got home and I put the boys in the bath immediately. They were quite tired from the day's events and I could tell they were ready to unwind and relax, maybe even go to bed early. After their bath I put both of them in their pj's, even though it was only five in the afternoon. At least if they fell asleep, we wouldn't have to wake them. The baby was in the living room with Eric, but Brandon went to his playroom for a while. I was doing something in the kitchen when I heard a loud thud. I didn't hear Brandon crying, so I assumed it was him playing and he hit the wall with a toy or a ball or something like that. Not long after, maybe ten minutes, I got up to check on the laundry (the laundry room is located directly in front of the play room) and I see this. I look to the right, and I see this. I ask Brandon, "What happened? What is this mess?", and he couldn't answer me. All of a sudden, his eyes got water-y, he looked at me with these droopy, sad eyes, and just started to cry. He couldn't get the words out. I realized that it wasn't that he made a mess on purpose, but it must have been some sort of accident. I got all sentimental and just bent down and hugged him as my eyes welled up. Poor little guy was trying to pick a movie to watch. Somehow the DVD tower thing fell, and the movies scattered all over the floor. He was hurriedly trying to put everything back before he got "in trouble". It should be noted at this point that he can access any of the children's movies he wants whenever he wants, as long as he's extremely careful. Most of the Disney movies are retired and we don't want to mess them up, so he'd been told that if he messes up the movies, we're taking away his access to them. I held him for a while, rubbed his back and asked him what had happened and if he was hurt. After a couple of sniffles he told me what happened. I helped him clean up the movies and just hung out with him in the playroom for a while. I felt so horrible afterward...even though it wasn't my intention, the way I asked him what happened made him feel accused. Probably a result of my body language, maybe the way I stood, or the way I cocked my head to the side or something. Not only that, the thing could have fallen on him and he could have hurt himself. Poor little guy. I've got to make a conscious effort to be realize what I'm saying to him with my expressions, not just my words.

Ode to the little pink pill

I've got allergies...AGAIN.I took a Benadryl about two hours ago. As I was driving to work, I felt a tickling feeling in my nose, and at that moment I knew it was going to be one of those days. I can't figure out what the trigger was, maybe the nasty weather we're having, but it doesn't matter. I just want it to go away. I can't stand the constant sneezing, the stuffy nose, and the breathing through my mouth. The sneezing has subsided, but of course now I feel like I could sleep for three days. I can't wait to get home and take some more little pink pills and go to sleep!

Monet's Masterpieces

I’ve been itching to go on vacation for a few months now. Hubby and I had hopes of taking a trip this Fall, either to New York City, or a cruise somewhere. One of our favorite things to do while on board the ships, besides eat like it's out of style, is attend the art auctions on the ships. You wouldn’t know it by the bare walls all over our house, but we love art, especially the classics like Monet, Picasso, and Van Gogh. One of my favorites is the series Monet did later in his life featuring the pond and water lilies from his own backyard (see? That Art History class did come in handy!). The piece below is one of my favorites, and while we can never afford authentic Monets, we have two prints that we need to get framed that will adorn our dining room and bedroom in the near future. I’d love to one day get oil painting reproductions of our current two prints, and maybe even of one or two of the waterlillies series. Reproductions would certainly last longer than the paper prints we have, and they'd add a touch of elegance and class to our otherwise humble home.
How did this post about taking a vacation turn into an mini-art lesson and home decorating? Me going off on a tangent again, that’s how! ;-)

Los Pollitos + Target = AWESOME!!

Big news:

For a limited time only, from September 30 through October 6, a few Los Pollitos items will be available on www.target.com at the Red Hot Shop.
Congratulations on making the big time, Carrie and Oscar! Here's hoping you become a permanent fixture at my favorite retailer. =)

55

Seen everywhere! Yes, I know, I about two weeks behind.

Tired of those same old 55 questions about me surveys? Well here are 55 I guarantee you've never answered.

1. Is your second toe longer than your first?
Nope, they are exactly the same height on both feet.

2. Do you have a favorite type of pen?
Not really

3. Look at your planner for March 14, what are you doing?
celebrating my older sister's birthday

4. What color are your toenails usually?
The light pink color used for a French manicure, without the white trim.

5. What was the last thing you highlighted?
Don't remember, probably some numbers on a spreadsheet at work.

6. What color are your bedroom curtains?
Earthy tones, they are part of the comforter set we bought a while back.

7. What color are the seats in your car?
Gray

8. Have you ever had a black and white cat?
Nope.

9. What is the last thing you put a stamp on?
Our HELOC

10. Do you know anyone who lives in Wyoming?
Nope

11. Why did you withdraw cash from the ATM the last time?
To pay the sitter

12. Whose is the last baby that you held?
Mine! =)

13. Unlucky #?
None

14. Do you like Cinnamon toothpaste?
I haven't tried it, but the thought of flavored toothpaste irks me.

15. What kind of car were you driving 2 years ago?
The same one I drive now, Kia Sportage

16. Pick one: Miami Hurricanes or Florida Gators?
C-A-N-E-S, CANES!!!!

17. Last time you went to Six Flags?
Never

18. Do you have any wallpaper in your house?
Nope

19. Closest thing to you that is yellow?
Highlighter

20. Last person to give you a business card?
Not sure

21. Who is the last person you wrote a check to?
Brandon's school

22. Closest framed picture to you?
A picture of hubby and I dancing at our wedding

23. Last time you had someone cook for you?
Hubby made breakfast on Sunday

24. Have you ever applied for welfare?
I have

25. How many emails do you have?
Three

26. Last time you received flowers?
flowers?

27. Do you think the sanctity of marriage is meant for only a man & woman?
no

28. Do you play air guitar?
sometimes, but I'm better at air drums.

29. Has anyone ever proposed to you?
Yup.

30. Do you take anything in your coffee?
Cream or milk and sugar

31. Do you have any Willow Tree figurines?
I do. My sister gave me one as a graduation present. I'll link to it later because I don't remember which one it was.

32. What is/was your high school's rival mascot?
I don't remember the rival mascots, but I remember the colors. Sunset: yellow,black. Southwest: purple,white.

33. Last person you spoke to from high school?
Hubby! ;-)

34. Last time you used hand sanitizer?
A little while ago

35. Would you like to learn to play the drums?
Yup!

36. What color are the blinds in your living room?
A light grayish color

38. Last thing you read in the newspaper?
The article about the two little girls that were killed during a fire last week.

39. What was the last pageant you attended?
What pageant?

40. What is the last place you bought pizza from?
Bellante's on Sunday afternoon.

41. Have you ever worn a crown?
Just the ones from BK!

42. What is the last thing you stapled?
Receipts when I was balancing my checkbook

43. Did you ever drink clear Pepsi?
Don't remember

44. Are you ticklish?
Definitely

45. Last time you saw fireworks?
4th of July

46. Last time you had a Krispy Kreme doughnut?
Last year, when I order some for a school fundraiser

47. Who is the last person that left you a message & you actually returned it?
My former boss called this morning

48. Last time you parked under a carport?
Don't remember

49. Do you have a black dog?
I do, we have the entire Led Zeppelin CD collection. ;-)

50 . Have you had your mid life crisis yet?
I hope not.

51. Are you an aunt or uncle?
Yes, Aunt to 3 bouncing boys

52. Who has the prettiest eyes that you know of?
Me. LOL

53. What kind of soap or body wash do you use?
Aveeno

54. Do you remember Ugly Kid Joe?
Yup

55. Do you have a little black dress?
I don't, it's a little purple dress.

All Lit Up

I’ve mentioned before the five or six totes I have in our storage room containing our holiday decorations. One of the smaller totes contains all our Christmas lights, but most of them haven’t been used in a year or two. We’ve only used a few strings for the tree the past couple of years. I’m normally the type to put twinkly lights everywhere: along the roof line, on the balcony (when we had them at the apartments we previously called home), and along our entrance walkway. I had told Eric last year that I wanted to start replacing our incandescent bulbs with LED Xmas lights. We have put up natural Christmas trees the last few years, but I’m always freaked out about the bulbs and what a fire hazard they are. LED Christmas tree lights produce a lot less heat than regular lights, and the boys won’t potentially burn their little fingers when they get all curious and start touching the ornaments on the tree. Never mind they are practically indestructible, a good thing with two little kids around. Eventually I want put up Outdoor LED Christmas lights too. We have three wood columns in our front entrance that I think would look great with red and white LED Christmas lights strung around them, as if they were life-size candy canes.
Yeah, I'm one of those Christmas decorating freaks. =D

Tuesday Morning Mish-Mash

In spite of the gloomy weather and a two-hour commute today, I'm in a surprisingly good mood. Could be that Matty was asleep during the trip to the sitter's, which was a good thing since it was a longer drive than usual and he hadn't had his bottle yet. Or that in spite of both him and Brandon waking up in the middle of the night, I feel that I got a restful sleep. Whatever it is, I hope it lasts all day.

Did anyone see the premiere of Journeyman last night on NBC? I thought it was pretty good.

Nope, I didn't get to clean like I wanted to last night, but dinner was made, we ate, and the boys were bathed and in bed by 9:30. That's a record in our house!

More later, I have to actually work now. ;-)

Insurance Issues

As much as I moan and complain about my job and the commute, there’s one thing I’m very happy about. My employer absorbs over 75% of the costs when it comes to our medical insurance coverage. I pay just under $200 a month for complete coverage for the four of us. I know there are places that don’t have great coverage, and/or the monthly premium is some ridiculous amount of money. A friend of mine recently had a baby and she had to return to work almost immediately because her employer just didn't cover maternity leave past the hospital stay. In retrospect, we would have had to enroll in some sort of Pregnancy Insurance, and waited even longer than we did between the two to prepare ourselves financially for a second child, if I didn't have the kind of coverage I have.

Two Turn Two

As I mentioned, this past Saturday we went to Christian and Sophie's birthday party. Since they were born 12 days apart, their mommies decided to throw one big bash. The party theme was a Luau, and it was really cute! It was held at the pool and clubhouse of Claudia's community, and in spite of the weather predictions and the cloudiness, it did not rain at all. The boys and I had a blast playing in the pool. Hubby decided against it since he tends to get sick after being in pools, something with the chlorine and his bronchials. In spite of the cloudiness, I currently resemble a lobster. I forgot to apply sunscreen and my face, shoulders and back are a lovely crustacean hue. Pictures from the party are below the fold.

Matty's new nickname is "Little Fish". He loves anything having to do with water.

So does my "Big Fish", but he's not as fearless.

Sophie looked ADORABLE in her swim suit.

Here are the birthday boy and girl with their parents.

Christian's Cabana Cake. How cute is that?!

Um, do you see what I see? There are as many adults as there are kids diving for candy!

One second he was awake, babbling away, the next, gone!

Christian helps with the post party clean-up.

Cleaning Frenzy

Yesterday afternoon while hubby was on the couch watching the Dolphins vs. Jets game, I cleaned our bathroom and bedroom. Both are now spotless, save for hubby's nightstand which has little piles of crap (receipts, notes, etc), and the floor which needs to be vacuumed. I told him he has to clear that nightstand tonight so that everything is nice and tidy. Tonight I will vacuum the carpeted rooms, mop the rest of the house and clean the boys' bathroom. The laundry is up-to-date, and the kitchen was fairly clean last night when we went to bed. I wonder how long it will all last...

Scheduling Simplified

A couple of times in the recent past I’ve alluded to the fact that I will be receiving a promotion. Well, it became official last week. It has been approved by the HR office. I am now a salary employee and will be getting paid on a monthly basis, rather than bi-weekly. Besides getting used to that, I've got new duties to tend to as well. Some of the duties of the office manager have been disbursed between me and my supervisor, and I now have to handle tasks such as managing and ordering office supplies, scheduling and catering our conferences, and managing our IT inventory. Our organization requires that any outside vendors and software we use be contracted with our institution but if I were allowed to, I’d probably use a Meeting Scheduling Software to help me manage some of these new duties. It will probably be a while before I get the hang of my new duties. They don’t seem hard at all, just tedious. But I got my raise, so I won’t complain…much. ;-)

EOAS, week 13

With this lastest installment, I'm all caught up. Wow, I even surprise myself sometimes! ;-)

The Boy's first haircut was a family affair. My older sister and baby Mikey went with us to assist in documenting the momentous occasion. I know he doesn't look very happy in these pictures, but he didnt' cry at all. He was very observant about the whole thing, wondering what the heck was going on. I love the place we took him to, BTW. They have a little TV at every station, and the kids watch movies while they get their hair cut. He still goes to that place to this day!

Second Valentine's Day. Don't you just want to pick him up and squeeze him?!

I love this page! We celebrated my grandfather's 73rd birthday at my grandparents' house with the whole family. My grandparents forget how old they are when the boys are around. Can you tell?

Brandon's first popsicle was courtesy of his Great-Uncle Val. He really enjoyed it too. He ate about half of it before I took it away and ate it myself. Otherwise, he would have been covered in red gunk!

He Walks!!! I was all red and flustered because Eric and I had just been to a family funeral. We get to my dad and stepmom's house to pick up the little peanut, and he turns our night around by walking. What a way to cheer me up! =)

Alright, now we're all caught up. Back to our regular schedule on Wednesday. See you then!

A Dino-mite Idea!

We just got home from running a couple of errands. During our drive, Brandon proclaimed that he wants his birthday to be "of dinosaurs". He's been begging for a Thomas the Train party for months, but apparently decided that he'd prefer a dinosaur-themed party, and says we should even have it "in the forest". Thank goodness! I was dreading a Thomas party since more often than not birthday gifts are given to match the party theme, and there are way, WAY too many Thomas things in this house as it is. And, since the party will be for both boys, I wanted something that could be baby-ish at the same time. So dinosaurs it is. We just went online and check out some of the party supply sites. There are all sorts of dinosaur theme packs, both scary and cute and cuddly. I found one set I really like which has a bunch of matching goodies, and I can get free shipping with an Oriental Trading Coupon I happened to stumble upon. I *heart* saving money with coupons. :-)
Of course, I'm not ordering anything just yet. The party is still over four months away, and I'm sure that he will change his mind and beg for Thomas yet again. But that's just enough time for me to convince him otherwise. ;-)

I won something!

I just received an email that I'm one of the winners for a giveaway I saw on Celebrity Baby Blog for this book:

Yay me!

Ambushed!!

I went to Walmart earlier while the boys took a nap after the party. I was looking for a small garden stake flag with an Autumn theme. I've noticed that most retailers only stock gardening items during the summer (like Target, one of the few bones I have to pick with them), That stock is usually picked up or put on clearance as soon as the back to school stock is brought out. I figured that Walmart would have them since they have a separate garden section and nursery which is open year-round. I was wrong. I was seriously irked to find the entire garden section, save one row containing garbage bins, hoses and gardening tools, had been converted into a Christmas store. They had outdoor decorations, artificial trees, ornaments, wrapping paper, bows and ribbons, and a bunch of other stuff. There were more aisles of Christmas things than Halloween and Autumn items! Oh, and they also rearranged the store. Some of the fixtures used to be in angles, and now everything is in parallel rows. I guess they were able to fit more fixtures that way to prepare for the influx of more holiday crap that will bombard customers in the coming weeks. Don't get me wrong, I love the holidays, it's my favorite time of the year, but is it really necessary to take out the Holiday things if it isn't even October yet?! It gets worse and worse every year. Before we realize it, we'll be getting hit up for holiday spending in April!

Surf's Up!

More later...

Party Planning Preliminaries

We just got home from the birthday party, and all four of us are exhausted! One of the main topics of conversation were baptisms. Lilli and Adrian will be baptizing their little one at the end of December. I, on the other hand, am way overdue in planning Matty's baptism. I called the church last week and late December seemed to be the closest timeframe for scheduling Matty’s as well. I’d rather do it sometime in November. December is just too busy for us, with my birthday and the holidays, and planning around our guests' holiday schedules. As it is, he’s getting older and will probably be very fidgety during the ceremony. Good thing he likes water; I have high expectations that instead of crying he will laugh when the holy water is poured over his head.
Even though we don’t have a date yet, I have been doing a little browsing for invitations and favors. I found some custom invitations that I like, and are very reasonably priced. I have to consult Eric for his visual and monetary approval, but it looks like I may end up ordering these when we finally book the church for the event. Thankfully, our expenses for this event will be minimal: the invitations, the "donation" to the church, and finger foods. I already told Eric we will be hosting a very small and simple gathering at our house afterwards, nothing the least bit extravagant. Let's see if I can stick to that plan...

Slow Start to Saturday

Good morning, all.
Had a bit of a rough night last night. Matty woke up twice, and Brandon woke up around 5 in the morning and hopped in our bed. Come 7AM, both Eric and I felt like we hadn't slept at all, and my lower back is feeling it too. In about an hour, we're off to Christian and Sophie's birthday pool party, and then we head back home, do a little quick cleaning, and a few friends over to watch the UFC fight on PayPerView. If I'm not too tired, I'll do a bit of scrapping while the men watch the fights. Odds are though that I'll fall asleep on the couch next to Eric during the fight, as is usually the case.
Thankfully, there are no plans for tomorrow, and we can catch up on that elusive sleep we are missing right now. I'll be back later with pictures from the party. Have a great Saturday!

Pedal Pusher

I’ve been telling Eric for the last year, since we’ve lived in our community, that we need to get bicycles. There are paths all over the place, even a nice lake to walk, run or bike around, and biking would be an almost painless way of getting exercise (I'm neither a walker or a runner, but I love biking). I haven’t owned a bike since I was a teenager, and the same goes for him. Brandon got his first bike last Christmas, and Matty can still ride on one of those child carrier seats for a good while. We had recently talked about getting ourselves bikes for Christmas. Our only problem, besides funding these new purchases, is where to put them. Our outdoor storage room is full of my big totes with holiday decorations, but actually, it just occurred to me that we can put a bike rack in the rear of the room, maybe one of those that holds two bikes. I can rearrange the totes along the front part of the room, and get rid of a nasty old plastic shelving thing that the previous owners had in there. Sounds good, right? Yes, I know, I'm thinking out loud again.

EOAS, Week 12 (Still catching up)

You lucky people, three days in a row of EOAS! This next installment includes another Disney trip, Brandon's First New Year's, and his First Birthday! Enjoy!!

Not even three weeks after our first family trip to Disney, we went again! This time we were accompanied by Brandon's best friend Beka and her mommy, daddy and aunt. I think I've mentioned before that her daddy is Eric's best friend, and Brandon's Godfather. Anyway, we had an awesome time, and the kids did too! ;-)

Poor little guy tried and tried to make it through his first New Year's Eve, but he was just too tired. And not for lack of effort on my part. I made sure he took a long nap during the day, but it was to no avail. He fell asleep around 11:30PM, and woke up 45 minutes later, after we attacked him with hugs and kisses for the New Year. See how "happy" he looks in the picture of the three of us? LOL

Our baby boy turned into a toddler 11 days later. I know I've said this before, but I can't believe he's already 4 months shy of 5 years old! Where does the time go?

Elmo was on-hand to help our little guy celebrate his First Birthday, along with our family and friends. At the time, a coworker ran a clown and party company, and Elmo was able to visit for almost the whole span of the party. The kids all took Polaroid pictures with him, which we later gave away as party favors on foamy magnetic picture frames.
I love how these two pages came out. Again, I was very limited with pictures in spite of having taken over 100 shots, so I made due with a select few.
Oh, and I almost forgot: a couple of months before the party, I found a bunch of scrapbooking things of Elmo but never bought them. Murphy's Law dictated that when I'd need them, they wouldn't be available. A certain product line had been discontinued by the time I got around to doing the pages, so I bought whatever Sesame Street things I could find. Now there are new product lines, even cuter than a few years ago. Go figure!

Stay tuned for more over the weekend! We're just about caught up. =D

Cellular Contribution

Hubby has worked for two different cell phone companies in the past, and quite often he’d swap out his phone for a newer model. I’ve been with three different companies during my cell phone ownership history, and have had at least one phone for each company I've been with. As a result, we have a drawer full of old cell phones, parts, cables, manuals, you name it. I’m trying to get rid of some of our clutter, and I know we can do some good with these old cell phones. I had heard about donating old cell phones for victims of domestic violence, but I just recently found out that Wirefly, one of the leading online cell phone retailers, also provided cell phone recycling services. There’s a lot of useful information on their site, like why it’s important to recycle cell phones, the charities they support and work with, and even some cell phone statistics to put things in perspective.
There are several options when it comes to getting rid of our old phones. Once Wirefly receives your phone, they will inspect it and format the memory. Based on its condition, they will determine how it can best be used. They may donate it to a charity like Call To Protect.Or they may sell it as a refurbished phone and either pay you cash for it, or donate the proceeds to the charity indicated during the quote process. If the phone is inoperable, they will properly dispose of toxic materials, and recycle reusable parts. They also provide links and information on other recycling programs from major cell phone carriers and retailers.
I had no idea that in some states, it is the law to recycle used cell phone batteries. Cell phone recycling is yet another way to help save the environment, and get rid of those old cell phones cluttering up your closets and drawers. Looks like a win-win all around.

'Bout time!

As I write this, hubby is at a building downtown, waiting for the oath ceremony to begin. Within an hour or so, he will finally be a citizen.

WOO HOO!!!

EOAS, Week 11 (Catching Up)

Surprise! I decided to post the three missing editions this week so that we're back on track by next week. This batch includes Brandon's first trip to Disney. We had such a great time, no wonder I wasn't that apprehensive about taking Matty. Truth be told, we've never had a bad experience with Brandon when we've gone to Disney, and he's been there about 10 times already. I've heard other parents say that they are waiting till their children can enjoy it more, they won't remember it anyway, and all sorts of other excuses. I'll admit, the first few times we went he didn't realize it was anything more than bright colors everywhere, but after his 2nd birthday, he not only remembers it, he loves it. As I've posted before, he can't wait to go back again and again!

Brandon's first Thanksgiving was spent at Uncle Val and Aunt Maggie's house. They love having people over for holidays (and even for no reason at all), and always go all out decorating for the ocassion. I love the glow the table had...

One day while I was still pregnant, I went to the local Disney Store and they had a "Baby's First Disney Trip" scrapbook kit on clearance at something like $3.99 for the 12x12 pack and $1.99 for the smaller pack with 5x7 sheets, stickers, and borders. I think I bought three or four and gave a couple of packages to friends and family. It was such a good deal! I still have items left and I plan on using them for Matty's first Disney pages. Maybe I'll get to his book by the end of the year...
Anyway, we went on this trip to celebrate my 27th birthday. As you can see on the third page, somebody enjoyed my birthday cupcake more than I did! ;-)

For the longest time, I couldn't make up my mind what I wanted to do for Brandon's First Christmas. We took a bunch of pictures, but most of them came out terrible for one reason or another. I made this page about a year ago. Even though it's very simple, I love the end result!

Stay tuned for more tomorrow. =)

The Double-Edge Sword

I've been trying to create a budget for us to try and pay off my credit cards, and even if I wanted to tear the two up and never buy on credit again, I can't. Just about everything in this country revolves around credit histories and credit scores. If you have too little credit you don’t qualify for certain things like buying a house, but if you have too much credit you get penalized. Then again, at least now those with less than stellar histories can get back on track with credit cards for bad credit. I don't think we're anywhere close to needing a card like that, but it's nice to know it's out there in case we do ever need it.

If only I'd won the lotto last night...

Thursday, especially Thursday afternoons, are really stressful for me here at work. We process invoicing to one of the companies we use to outsource to. Invoices need to be at A/P by 3PM, or they don't get paid. It never fails that information we need from various administrators to process the invoices are received at the last moment. You would think that since this is a weekly occurence, they would know to provide us with the required information on Monday, Tuesday, or even Wednesday. Nope, we get a bombardment of emails on Thursday, mid-day. And it's not just one department, if it were just one department I could let it go. But it's not.
When did work ethics change to dictate that it is now okay to NOT do your job in a timely manner?!

They've got it made!!

Just got this via email, and I love it! Kids today don't know how good they have it!

THE SPOILED UNDER-30 CROWD

If you are 30 or older you will think this is hilarious....

When I was a kid, adults used to bore me to tears with their tedious
stories about how hard things were when they were growing up;
What with walking twenty-five miles to school every morning ... Uphill
BOTH ways. Yadda, yadda, yadda

And I remember promising myself that when I grew up, there was no
way in hell I was going to lay a bunch of crap like that on kids about
how hard I had it and how easy they've got it.

But now that I'm over the ripe old age of thirty, I can't help but look
around and notice the youth of today. You've got it so easy . I mean, compared
to my childhood, you live in a damn Utopia.

When I was a kid we didn't have the Internet. If we wanted to know
something, we had to go to the damn library and look it up ourselves,
in the card catalog. And it never failed - the book or magazine you needed was
already checked out.

There was no email. We had to actually write somebody a letter...with a
pen. Then you had to walk all the way across the street and put it in the
mailbox and it would take like a week to get there.

There were no MP3's or Napsters. You wanted to steal music, you had to
hitchhike to the damn record store and shoplift it yourself. Or you had
to wait around all day to tape it off the radio and the DJ's usually talk over
the beginning and @#*% it all up.

We didn't have fancy crap like Call Waiting. If you were on the phone
and somebody else called they got a Busy signal, that's it. And we didn't
have fancy Caller ID Boxes either. When the phone rang, you had no idea who it
was. It could be your school, your mom, your boss, your bookie, your drug
dealer, a collections agent, you just didn't know... You had to pick it up and
take your chances, mister.

We didn't have any fancy Sony Playstation video games with
high-resolution 3-D graphics.. We had the Atari 2600. With games like
'Space Invaders' and 'Asteroids' and the graphics sucked.
Your guy was a little square. You actually had to use your imagination.
And there were no multiple levels or screens, it was just one screen forever.
And you could never win. The game just kept getting harder and harder and
faster and faster until you died. Just like LIFE.

When you went to the movie theater there was no such thing as stadium
seating. All the seats were the same height. If a tall guy or some old
broad with a hat sat in front of you and you couldn't see, you were just
screwed.

Sure, we had cable television, but back then that was only like 15
channels and there was no onscreen menu and no remote control. You had to use a
little book called a TV Guide to find out what was on. You were screwed when
it came to channel surfing. You had to get off your ass and walk over to the TV to
change the channel and there was no Cartoon Network either. You could only get
cartoons on Saturday morning. Do you hear what I'm saying? We had to wait ALL
WEEK for cartoons, you spoiled little bastards.

And we didn't have microwaves, if we wanted to heat something up we had
to use the stove or go build a frigging fire ... imagine that. If we wanted
popcorn, we had to use that stupid Jiffy Pop thing and shake it over the stove
forever like an idiot. That's exactly what I'm talking about. You kids today have got it too
easy.

You're spoiled.......You guys wouldn't have lasted five minutes back in 1980.

Some Photo Fun

Sugar Rush

Cutest Tiger-Boy Ever!!

Bad influences? ;-)

Purple Party Planning

You know how there are certain things that affect you, even if you’ve never been exposed to them first-hand? Alzeheimer’s does that to me. I don’t think I’ve known anyone who’s suffered from Alzeheimer’s, but I can tell you it’s been featured on some of my favorite shows and movies: Jerry’s wife had it in Rescue Me, Meredith’s mom had it on Grey’s Anatomy, and of course, Allie had it in The Notebook. I felt kind of shallow bringing up something I’ve only been exposed to through the screen, so I decided to do a bit or research about Alzheimer's. Did you know that tomorrow is World Alzheimer’s Day? Yeah, I just found this out.

I’ve been reading a lot about it, and an easy way to raise funds for and awareness about Alzheimer’s is to throw a Purple Party. It’s a pretty cool idea, actually. There are a bunch of great party planning tips and ideas in the Alzheimer’s Association website. And, by registering your party, you can create a webpage for your event with all the pertinent specifics, you can email guests reminders about the party, and even accept donations.

Even if you can't throw a party right now, keep in mind that any donations made during the month of September are matched dollar-for-dollar by the Harrah's Foundation. That's a pretty cool thing in my book!

Anyway, consider this my good deed for the day: Showing you all how you can do something for a great charity while having fun. I mean, really, who doesn't love a good party? Throwing it for a good cause is just icing on the cake!

Traffic Sux

Can I please share with you all that I loathe, LOATHE, my morning commute? I left my house at 6:30, and arrived at the office at 8:15. 15 minutes late because I decided to take the highway, assuming it would be faster than street traffic. In this town, nothing is fast anymore. Two small accidents on the side of the road can back up traffic for miles. There are way too many people, and way too many drivers in this d**m city. I think I'm going to experiment taking the train next week. I'll do it on Eric's day off, in case I run late in the afternoon one of us can pick up Brandon from school on time. If it works, that's it. No more driving for me!

Week 10- Finally, It's Back!

After a few weeks on hiatus, EOAS is back! I know, it took me a while. Frankly, I'm seriously overerestimating my free time with two kids. Well, really three if you count the big kid I share a bed with. Anyway, here goes. Enjoy!

As you can see, our little guy was 8 months old. I realized reading the journaling on this page that Matty and Brandon and just about on the same time table, if one considers Brandon's adjusted age (remember, he was born 4 weeks prematurely).

The baseball pages are some of my favorites! As you will see, on this set, and in a few future pages, I got very creative with the baseball theme in general, and the Marlins theme in particular.

I love this page! The tags on the top are a bit slanted, but I don't care. I blame it on the paper tearing technique. ;-)

Can you tell that the peanut loved to make faces?!

Yay, His First Halloween! Matty will probably end up wearing this costume, if I can find the head scarf thing.

Poor thing. He was exhausted after all that Trick or Treating!!

That's it for this week. More next Wednesday!

I'm not a writer, I just play one on my blog

One thing I don’t miss about school is writing papers. In fact, the one thing that delayed the shipping of my diploma a few months back was an Incomplete I had for a course from the summer of 2006. The only assignment for that class was a paper "due" at the end of the semester. The problem was, there was no set due date, and that just did not work for me. I am a procrastinator when it comes to certain things, and writing papers is one of them. Since so much time had passed after the course, I had to re-read chapters of the text and my notes to be able to write the thing and answer the professor's questions in a semi-coherent, knowledgeable way . I was so tempted to use a service like Paper Masters, who specializes in custom essays, term papers, and even Master’s theses. Thankfully, I got my act together and finally turned it in two or three weeks after the graduation ceremony in May. I know I shouldn't have let it linger as long as I did, but it's done, and that's what's important.

Yo Ho, Yo Ho!

Ahoy, me hearties.
This here's Calico Anne Kidd. I reckon it's Talk Like A Pirate Day! So get off your burly arse and figure out your pirate name, then brush up on your pirate talk, or ye be walkin' the plank!

ARGH!!

It's crunch time!!

Alright all, time's running out!
My sister's race is just about a month away, and she's just $1,000.00 $990.00 $960.00 shy of her goal. Come on guys: $10, $5, even $2 makes a difference. Go here and hit the "Donate Now" tab on the left sidebar of her donation page. Let's make it happen, people!!!

A glimmer of financial hope

The Federal Reserve cut interest rates today by half a percentage point. Although it sounds like that wouldn't do much, it did help stocks go up throughout the day, and it will help some with variable credit card rates and ARM mortgages.
It seems that the problem isn't just in the United States, but in the UK as well. There's an abundance of people taking on mortgages they can't afford.
There’s no quick fix for taking on flexible mortgages, but the buyers are not solely to blame. There are way too many companies out there offering low mortgages and low interest rates, and sometimes they are just too enticing to pass up. These are great for the short-term, but then the variable rates catch up to you. Unless the market is flourishing and you can remortgage your loan, you're up a creek without a paddle. Sometimes it's best to just stick with a conservative approach and keep your sanity, even if it means additional fees for a mortgage payment protection plan. As tempting as a ARM loan would have been for us when we bought our house, I'm glad we chose a fixed rate. Otherwise, we'd be trying to dig out of a very deep hole, as opposed to the shallow one we are currently facing.

You don't look a day over 10!

Happy 25th Birthday to the smiley emoticon.
Wow, has it really been around for that long?!

Brandonism

The following is a story that Brandon made up on Friday afternoon as we were driving to his grandparents' house, as accurately as I can remember it:

Once upon a time there was a little fishy named Alligator that lived in the lake by our house. We went to visit him, and we saw some ducks, but we went home because a T-Rex dinosaur was chasing us. The fishy and ducks were safe because they are friends with the T-Rex. When we got home, the dinosaur turned into a tree, then into a bridge, and on that bridge was Thomas! Thomas was driving to Disney World, and we were on Thomas, but we had to be careful because the Polar Express train was on the same track. Then the other train pulled the switch on the track, and they went another way, but they had an accident and hit a tree. We came back from Disney World on Thomas and went to Tata's house and Tata said, "look, it's Thomas with Brandon and Matthew and Amanda and Eric riding him!"
And that's the end of the story. But I mention it because when I went to pick him up at school today, I decided to walk there instead of drive, and then walk back to the house the other way, by going around the lake. When I told him we were going to the lake, he said, "Oh, the same lake from my litle fishy Alligator story!" I said, "Yes, that's right, but I don't think we'll see any dinosaurs, do you know why?"

His answer:
"They don't live in these countries mommy. They live in the forests. And we don't have any forests here."

The Growing Honey-Do List

I called in sick to work today because I woke up with a nasty migraine, which caused me to get dizzy when I got up to get ready. I kept Matty at home with me since the sitter is pretty far, and I didn’t want to drive in traffic with that dizzy feeling. He was a very good boy, considering how mobile he is now, and I got to catch up on my favorite home improvement shows once the migraine subsided. One thing we’ve wanted to do since we moved into this house is install laminate flooring but we’ve yet to do it. All those shows make it look so easy, but I know it’s because there’s a team of people working on the house to get it done in the usual 48 hours. My worse fear is making all the wrong cuts and having to trash a bunch of material.
First on our list though, is weatherizing our home. Since we have siding damage, I know that there are a few gaps throughout the house where we're basically blowing air and money out the window (pun intended!) I found a very useful article online called weatherize your home on DoItYourself.com. I bookmarked to show hubby so we can tackle that when finances allow.
We’ve gotten a couple of quotes for these things, and we could save a bunch of money doing it ourselves. Thing is, we're not just tight on money, but time too. It may be a while until we finally get to it, but I figure that in the meantime, we can do some research online, and order the Do It Yourself DVD when we're ready to begin. I'm a visual learner, and I'm sure the video will be a great help to us. As they say, knowledge is power, and maybe that knowledge will give us the confidence to finally take on this, and maybe other money-saving projects, in the future.

He's fearless!

They say that second-born children grow faster, but this is ridiculous!!
I just took this video of Matty cruising, walking along the living room couch while his dad and brother watch TV. Notice how fearless he is that he lets go to try and get the stuff on top of the couch.
Oh boy, we're in big trouble!!

Saturday Night, and I'm feelin' Alright

Just finished bathing the boys, and I'm ready to jump in bed. It's been quite an eventful day. The little one woke us up around 3:30AM, and we managed to get him to sleep until about 7:30, when hubby had to get ready for work. While hubby was showering and dressing, I was loading the dishwasher and preparing his breakfast when my nose started running. Not long after, I was sneezing uncontrollably. I thought, "great, I've got an allergy attack, and we have Max's party in about five hours!". But it seems that my bad luck was short-lived. I took a Benadryl, had breakfast, gave Brandon and Matty breakfast, put Matty in his swing, and was able to take a two-hour nap on the couch to let the Benadryl take effect. I felt like a new person around 1PM, so we got dressed, had lunch, wrapped up Max's gift, and headed for the party.
We had such a great time!! Brandon spent most of his time in Max's playroom, with small stints on the swing set and in the bouncehouse. Matty was on my lap, watching everything and everyone. We left around 6PM, then headed to Target since I still had to buy my nephew's present for tomorrow's party. I was supposed to help my sister with some last minute details but she wasn't home, so we headed to our place for dinner and baths. Tomorrow will be filled with more birthday fun, but now I must go recharge my batteries or I'll be completely useless in the morning.
Good Night!

Reading is Fundamental

There was a group of about 10 parents that helped chaperone Brandon’s field trip on Wednesday. One of them is a reading teacher at a local high school. She has had students with reading skills at the second grade level. Yes, you read right, high school students with second-grade reading skills. Some of these are the “trouble” kids, involved with drugs and gangs, that don’t apply themselves and think they have no future outside of that world. These kids act up in order to be sent to suspension, since they can hang out with their friends there rather than sit still and learn something in the classroom. It seems to me that these kids' parents were simply not involved enough in their children’s learning process. I am not a perfect parent but I do know what my children should be learning, and when. If the parent of a teenager hasn’t noticed that their child can’t read anything thicker than a Dr. Seuss book, something’s wrong. I strongly believe that if these children’s parents had played a more supportive role in their children’s early education, maybe providing them with Reading Tutors at the first signs of a delay, they would be in a better place right now.
The good thing is, there are teachers like the parent I met on Wednesday who don’t give up and encourage the kids to do better. Last year, she had a twelfth grader that started the year at a second-grade reading level and graduated reading at the ninth-grade level. Not quite where he needed to be, but a very significant jump. It takes a special kind of person to be a teacher. They are overworked, underpaid, and not just educators, but parents, counselors, advisers, confidantes and cheerleaders all rolled into one. Hooray for teachers, they really do make a world of difference.

You're One!!

Today is my nephew Maxx's First Birthday. I can't believe it, he's grown so fast...and Matty is right behind him.

Happy Birthday gordo rico de Titi!! We'll see you at your big party this weekend!

Love,
Titi, Tio, and your primis

They walk among us

Without commentary:

The Pleasures of Paid Posting

The 17th marks one month that I've been blogging for Pay Per Post, and I must say, I love it!
So far I've written 22 posts (including this one) for them totaling $203.70, and 16 of them have been approved. The remaining 6 are pending, and I figure they should be reviewed by next week. I'll be receiving the first of my profits in five days, and then I'll have a few dollars rolling into my PayPal account every day.
I've noticed that Pay Per Post isn't just about blog ads, but about a united online community. I love the PPP blog, and how friendly and funny the writers and commenters are. It's another one of my daily must-reads. I think this is one of the reasons why this paid blogging gig doesn't feel like work. If only all jobs could be this much fun...

The wheels on the bus go 'round and 'round

Hi all, did you miss me today?

I didn't go to work in order to chaperone Brandon's very first field trip ever. The three PreK classes at his school went to the Miami Children's Museum, a place you all know we are familiar with, but don't tire of visiting. All the children had a wonderful time and my lucky boy, along with a few others whose parents also chaperoned, got to go home early today.
I think the most exciting part for them was riding a school bus for the first time.

It was a pretty fun day, but I'm beat. I'm headed to the shower, and then to bed.
Hope everyone had a great day!!! =)

Financial Juggling

Both hubby and I get paid at the end of this week, and it couldn’t come soon enough. I don’t know how we’ve done it, but we’ve managed to keep ourselves afloat for the last couple of months in spite of facing a financial crisis. Our initial solution was to refinance our home, but both of our mortgage loans, the first mortgage and the HELOC, are at excellent rates and should not be touched. So I had to think outside the box and see what else could be altered. Fortunately, I was able to change our homeowner’s insurance, which decreased our payment to escrow by a good amount, and with my upcoming promotion and hubby’s new job, we’ve kept our heads above water. Thank goodness we don’t have auto loans to worry about, or we’d be waiting at the door for the repo man, ready to offer him a cup of coffee before he drags our cars away!

Moving Forward, and Celebrating Life

Nothing can erase the events that took place six years ago. Most of us will not forget where we were, who we were with, and what we were doing when our country was attacked. Tears fill my eyes every time I see footage of that terrible day, of the lives lost and families broken, but I know that as hard as it may be, we must be strong and move forward.
Sometimes things happen that help mend our wounds, and I know that my friend Tere feels this way. A passionate and compassionate person, I'm sure that September 11, 2001 affected her deeply, but she had a ray of sunshine come into her life on September 11, 2005. Her little monkey Max was born, and right then 9/11 no longer stood for sadness and tragedy, but new life and happiness. It's things like these that remind us that we can smile through the tears, and laughter can follow the sorrow.

Quiz Me

With the kind of day I had at work, the last thing I want to do on a day like today is get online to do “important stuff” like pay bills and read up on the news. I just want to relax and do something fun that doesn’t require too much thinking. Sometimes we just need an escape from the mundane, and that’s where Quibblo comes in. I came across this site recently, and I gotta say it’s a lot of fun. It has tons of quizzes and those personality tests that don’t really tell you much, but are fun to do anyway. You can even make your own, if you’re creative like that. My brain can’t work that hard right now, but I don’t mind doing a few of the free MySpace quizzes to amuse myself for a bit before hubby gets home and we start our nightly rituals. Gotta go now, I want to finish my "Are you smarter than Paris Hilton?" quiz.

Monday, Monday

Just a bit over noon, and I've been working so hard it feels like it should be 4:30 already.
You know what irks me? When people owe you something (payment, documents, some sort of status report, whatever), and they stall by requesting information that you provide to them every.single.month when you bill them what they owe. Don't insult me. I'm not stupid, and I know I've sent you what you're asking for numerous times already. Just go ahead and do your job so I can do mine.
That is all.

Sunday morning Brandonism

Mommy: Baby, can you do me a favor? Can you go see if the washing machine is still on?
Brandon: Which one, the one with the clothes, or the one with the dishes?

I'm telling you, the kid is a genius!!

Shop Till Ya Drop

We just got home from spending the day at the local outlet mall. Local, considering it's over 40 miles away in the next county, but I digress. We started off our day by going to B&N to take Brandon to storytime, but we got there 10 minutes late and missed it. After hanging out there a while, we headed to Sawgrass Mills Mall. It did not seem crowded when we got there, but after a while it got pretty packed. I love going there during the holidays. I usually try to go on Black Friday because of all the great deals, but I'm not keen on the masses of people, especially now that we have two strollers to push around. We didn't really buy much, just walked around for about four hours. I did end up buying 2 pj's and 1 t-shirt for Matty for under $15 at the baby store, we checked out all the deals at the KB Toys outlet (but didn't buy anything, just browsed), and of course you all know we visited and spent the most at the Super Target. We were good though, we just bought essentials and a couple of birthday presents for parties we'll be attending in the next couple of weekends. We also did a bit of window shopping and I made mental notes of some items I'd like to get for our friends and family for Christmas. I'm glad that I recently discovered the Black Friday Ads site, (which I noted as bfads in My Favorites on the computer). I will probably still need to go to the stores for some items on our list, but the less wading through mobs of people we have to do, the better.

Two!! Two itty bitty baby teeth!!

(you must imagine the title in a Count Von Count voice for it to make sense)

Just a small post to let you all know that tooth #2 made its appearance today. I'll try to get a picture over the weekend, though it's not really visible, just the gum tear.
We're having over a few friends for a playdate, so I'll probably be offline for the rest of the evening.
Good night all!

Here come the brides...

My office is abuzz with wedding talk lately. Two co-workers are getting married in the first half of December, and another just got engaged over the long weekend. The halls are filled with talk of dresses and tuxes and flowers and photographers and locations and food and registries. The two brides-to-be are of course exploring every possibility to make their big day absolute perfection.

The boys are walking one of the weddings in December, and they will be decked out in tiny little tuxes. There will be several little girls in the wedding party, as well as three bridesmaids. My friend chose these bridesmaid dresses from Forever Yours for her girls, and I must say they are absolutely gorgeous! I love the delicate latte sash against the rich, warm chocolate brown tone of the dress. This is definitely a great color combination for a late fall/early winter wedding. I didn't really have a bridal party. I had a flower girl and ring boy, and my sister and my husband's best friend were witnesses. But if I'd had, I would have probably chosen the same exact dresses. Well, I would have probably gone with a different color since my wedding was in August, but same style? Definitely!

Lles, lles! I like it very much!!

My mother-in-law is currently in the process of becoming a naturalized citizen. I was on the phone with her yesterday afternoon, and she told me she's been spending all her free time studying for her interview. She can understand English fairly well, but she has trouble speaking it, so I know she's quite worried about how it will go. I told her not to worry about it too much, to just be prepared, that it shouldn't be so bad. I adviced her to make sure she understands the questions before answering, ask the interviewer to repeat if she didn't catch something, and to think about her answers before she gives them. I hope she doesn't decide to answer "yes" to most of the questions...

Through the eyes of a first grader

I was helping my older sister grade papers last night, and I was so amused by the scribblings of her 1st grade class. There was one assignment where they had to write a sentence describing an animal, and what that animal would eat. One little girl wrote, "The horse eet sugr qubz". Another assignment consisted of identifying items that were large, small, round, square, sweet and salty, and they had to draw a picture for each of those categories. Most of them drew ice cream cones and french fries for sweet and salty. One little boy drew a television for the square column, with a little stick figure inside the tv screen. Another one drew a tennis ball for the round column. I was thoroughly entertained by their work, and told my sister I wouldn't mind at all having weekly grading sessions with her, just so I can see what else they come up with!

Liquid Money

I just finished paying the bills, and I must say that our recent purchase of a new showerhead made a small dent in our water bill. I know we can do better if we change the hardware in the boys' bathroom. The current Moen faucet hardware in there is something similar to this model, and the shower hardware looks like this one. I find the two models we own are not very good at conserving water. It doesn't help that the ones we have are more than a decade old, maybe even two, so they are a bit antiquated, and probably not as conservation-friendly as modern sets. In order to get warmer water in the shower, the handle needs to be turned, which automatically increases the water pressure. Whenever I bathe the boys, the water is running for about 10 minutes at full speed, and yes, I know, I can shut the water off, but it's much faster to pour water on a wiggly infant and a mischevious pre-schooler with it running. As for the sink, it's the pull-up kind, and we have to accompany Brandon (or whatever little guest might be visiting) whenever he goes to the bathroom because he doesn't have enough strength to pull it up himself. I wouldn't mind swapping out our existing hardware for this set for the sink, and this one for the shower. As they say, you have to spend money to make money, and in this case, I think that investing in new sets would save us a nice chunk of change in the long run. Since both of the sets include free shipping through faucet.com, and the prices are rather pleasing, I think I just might be telling hubby to prepare himself for a little home improvement in the very near future.

Rest in Peace

I've never been to a burial before. Yes, I've been to many wakes (unfortunately), but never a burial. There's a first time for everything, and this morning was that first time for me. My friend Marilu's father passed away on Tuesday morning. There was no velorio, solo un entierro, and so I went to provide our love and support to our friend during this difficult time. Eric wanted to go as well, but you all know he just started his new job two weeks ago, and although they would have normally let him leave for about an hour, it just so happens that the boss was away at a meeting, so they were short-handed and needed him to be there. Turns out that my friend's dad was a Vietnam veteran, with a purple heart to boot, so it was a military burial. It was quite emotional: the American flag drapped over the casket, two soldiers flanking it, then performing their ritual with the salutes, and the playing of "Taps" and the folding of the flag and presenting it to my friend's mom. It was all very sad and very beautiful.
Descanze en paz, Señor Cruz. Thank you for serving our country. I never got a chance to meet you, but if your daughters and service are any indication, you were an extraordinary man.

EOAS will be back soon

I know I'm overdue for the next installment of Evolution of a Scrapper. The next batch of scrapbook pages came out very blurry, and I'd like to re-take the pictures but I just haven't had time. It will be back before the weekend. In the meantime, a little update. I mentioned with the last EOAS that I was going to get working on Matt's album, but that has not yet happened. My dining room table, which doubles as a scrap table, is currently covered by an array of items that need to be put away: maternity clothes that were on loan, some of the gifts I received for my graduation, and other miscellaneous household items that need to be put in their proper place. My plans are to clean that up on Saturday, and then get some scrapping done on Sunday, after we get home from visiting the grandparents on Grandparents Day. I've already created a folder in the computer of the pictures I need to order, and once I pick those up, I'll be all set.
Now I present you all with a dilemma: shall I continue two different books, one for each child, or shall I merge them together? I fear that I'll end up repeating a lot of events for both boys and it will just be double the work, but I also don't want to cheat Matty out of having his own books. What do you all think?

In lieu of a thought-provoking blog entry...

I offer you pictures instead. I just loaded 70+ pictures from this weekend to my flickr account. Just click here, or on that little box on the right. I still have to add titles and captions, but feel free to peruse the images while I get some work done. I'll be back later.

Sales addict

We just got back from our weekly errands, and our favorite retailer is in-between seasons. They just put all the leftover summer stock and back to school stuff on clearance. I am addicted to end of season sales, and those clearance racks in particular. Too bad we are on a budget and only bought necessities, or I would have started piling up the cart with school things for Brandon for next year (when he starts kindergarten), or bought a few discounted garden items like this birdfeeder for my bare backyard. But, I know that by the end of the week, the Halloween decorations will be out, so I'd rather spend money on those. I need a new doormat, and Brandon said he wanted a silly ghost for his window, which faces our driveway. Now, to convince my hubby that we need even more Halloween decorations....

Mid-Weekend Mayhem

Hi everyone. Hope you're all enjoying your Labor Day weekend so far. We spent the day with Lilli and company at Pinecrest Gardens, then we all headed over to our house and the guys made BBQ while Lilli and I entertained the kids. A little less than two hours ago, Matty had his evening bath, followed by a little fun before I dressed him in his PJ's and settled him for the night. Check him out!!

More tomorrow, I'm beat. Gonna take a shower and go to bed. Good night!

Free-for-all

Some of you may have noticed that I had comment approval set up for the last few weeks. I was getting a lot of spam and was tired of having to clear out the comments several times of day. It's as annoying for me to go an approve them as it is for you to have to wait for me to approve them, and seeing as how the spammers have simmered down, I'm opening them back up. Let me know if you see any shady comments and I'll take care of them.
Thank you mucho!