Bring on the new day

Connor has been trying to show us that he understands the word no. He's not displaying this new found understanding by stopping what he's doing when we tell him no, but instead doing the things that he knows will result in "No" and shaking his head. Things like taking his pants off. There he stands, in the middle of the living room with his pants down around his ankles, the weight of his stare heavy with his seriousness and shakes his head no. He pulls the cats tail and shakes his head no. But best of all was his demontration that we don't hit Mommy with toys. He crawled up in my lap, a plastic drumstick in his hand, cracking me over the head so hard I saw stars and then making sure he was only inches away from my face shook his head no.

"That's right honey, we don't hit Mommy in the head with toys", I replied to him once I'd recovered. The look of pride beamed across his face while I just tried to take deep breaths.

I can't sleep tonight. I'm not sure why, I should be exhausted as it's way past my bedtime and the fetus is still sucking out all of my life force. I think it's because I can't stop thinking about this children's book that I read before bed, The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane. It's a book about a china rabbit doll, and it's SO DAMN SAD. It's about 100 pages so it was a quick read, but chapter after chapter it just gets sadder and sadder until he finds his way home in the end. I sat up in bed crying over this damn china rabbit and it was all I could do not to surrender to complete and utter sobbing. I'm so hormonal I can't stand myself. Jorma bought the book for us to read to Connor once he's up to chapter books as a bedtime story. I don't think I'll be able to do it though. It's traumatized me. Not to worry, I'm sure tomorrow my mood will swing the other way and I'll be so happy everytime I speak sunshine and butterflies will pour out of my mouth. Bring on the new day.

Everyone needs a guilty pleasure

When I first told Jorma that I watched seasons 1 and 3 of American Idol, he scoffed at me. SCOFFED! When I wanted to watch last season, he scoffed again. I told him he didn't have to watch it, but I was going to. And I did. And my husband, feigning his disinterest watched too and suddenly, he was also hooked.

Remember last blog when I said I was so tired I was about to fall over? And that I was going to bed immediately? Oh no. I was up for another two hours, because Jorma said, and I quote, "I was hoping that we could watch Tuesdays and Wednesdays American Idol". What is that dear reader? Do you hear you scoffing at my husband? Not so fast... one day you are bound to watch ten minutes of Americal Idol by accident and then you too, will be come part of the home viewing demographic.

I admit AI is not intellectual TV, but it's sort of like a train wreck. You know it's bad bad bad, but you just can't not watch. And it looks like it's going to be a good fight this year. Here are my picks for the top 10:

Ayla Brown
Paris Bennett
Lisa Tucker
Katharine McPhee
Melissa McGhee

Chris Daughtry
Ace Young
Elliot Yamin
Gedeon McKinney
Taylor Hicks

Now I noticed that Simon was talking to one of the contestants when they were up to 40 and said, "They will never put you through to the next 20". Bockwat!? Who is "They"?

Which leads me to believe that the first group that they get rid of, (remember they go into the rooms and tell each room if they are staying or going) are the judges picks, but the next night they get rid of another 20 or so. Who picks those 20? Jumps up and down raising hand, " I know, I know!" The marketing guys! That's exactly who THEY are.

I would bet the farm that the second round of picks is done by a bunch of guys in suits that don't know dick about singing, but do know a whole, whole lot about demographics, viewer ages, races and desires. It's these guys that pick the next round, basing their picks on likability and hotness.

Commercial airtime for AI is a whopping 1 million dollars per slot. The marketing guys aren't going to leave that kind of revenue up to chance and a couple of homosexual twins with an attitude problem. HA! It's rigged. But I'll still watch anyway. Everyone needs a guilty pleasure.

A burst of energy

I had a burst of energy this morning. After the initial shock of waking up wore off, I felt almost no nausea until early evening. This is good. Without an angry belly to slow me down, I took a brief look around the house and realized that I haven't REALLY cleaned anything in the past 8 weeks.
ew.
So, I started with the office, spending two hours cleaning and reorganizing, then moved on to the kitchen floor high chair area, which just was scrubbed by Jorma, but again was layered with refused carrots, cherrios and banana. I scrubbed it again just for fun. Then I did about three loads of laundry, washed-dried-folded-put away, because you know, laundry is my favorite. Then I made dinner, washed the dishes, ate dinner, got the fussy butt ready for bed and then came in here to blog. And now. I feel like I'm about to fall over dead. I can hardly wait another 20 minutes because I feel like 9pm is a reasonable bedtime, unlike 7:30 which is when I first wanted to go beddie-by. So g'nite y'all, hopefully I'll be feeling better soon and will be able to wow the internet with my insane stories of. um. hmm. laundry. yay.

Captivated by Jack's Big Music Show

The iPod Scuffle

Today when I first started playing with my new Valentines iPod, I decided that I hated it. I went into the living room where Jorma was sitting with Connor and said, I think the iPod might have to go back. I just spent 15 minutes trying to set the time and I still don't have it. I couldn't figure out how to work the controls. The instructions say, move thumb around click wheel. So, I was sort of doing that... using the center button like it was a laptop mouse. As a result, I was able to move around the screen, just never to the area that I was trying to get to... frustrating. Turns out that you just have to run your finger literally AROUND the click wheel, not clicking... just touching. It's kinda weird.

Jorma took a stab at it and once he figured out how to steer it, (because he didn't know either at first, HA!) I played with it for a while longer and have now determined, the iPod, is bad-ass. It holds 1.8 GB of music, pictures and games. It plays solitare. It has multiple alarms. It has a calendar. It organizes songs in play lists. It's barely bigger than a credit card. And best of all... it's shiny.
So now conversations between Jorma and myself sound like this:

Jorma: thuum ooo orr kearnmm haa sheseshn

Me: Huh? Removing iPod earbud from ear

Jorma: I said, Thanks for cleaning the kitchen.

Me: Oh you're welcome. Putting the ear phones back in

Jorma: Mumph hirrty

Me: Smiles and nods

Oh glorious day!

Dear Internet, Guess what I'm doing? Oh nothing, just blogging and watching Lost at the same time. That's right. I finally got the wireless card on the laptop working. Only thing is, after arguing with the laptop all day, removing viruses, configuring VPN connections, and getting everything installed the way I want it, I now find that the space bar on this laptop sucks. But hey, I have internet in the den now! That means that I might be able to get some work done during the day! Yay! I know that working during the day doesn't sound worthy of a Yay! but it is to me. It means that I have more time at night to relax with my sweetie. It's disheartening to spend the whole day entertaining the fussybutt and then once he's off to bed, the rest of the night working.
Now if I want to work in the evenings, I can! And watch TV at the SAME TIME. Oh glorious day!

I can hardly wait

We are buying a house in the spring and I can hardly wait. I think about it every day. Every day when I jiggle the toliet handle, every day when I try to cram all of the coffee cups on one shelf, every day when I worry about the space heater running in Connor's room at night because the heat just does not seem to work well in his room and a million other times each day.
A new house will save me.
A new house that doesn't have odd wiring hanging out of the sockets for our child to grab. A new house that doesn't have a mouse that pees in the front left burner making the house smell like fresh cat piss every time you get something warm even near it. A new house that can truly be child proofed so that Connor and I aren't confined to the den all day long. A new house with a new washer and dryer so I'm not resigned to running Barbie sized loads each time we wash. A new house with a yard to be planted and a fence to keep the little one from running up the driveway. A new house with closet space to rid us of the clutter. A new house with a garden tub and a standing shower. I think I might be nesting just a little bit.

How to order wine

waiterrant.net � HOW TO ORDER WINE WITHOUT LOOKING LIKE AN ASSHOLE

I've gotten to where I read this site almost daily. I LOVE it. I really wish I would have discovered it back when I was waiting tables. Instead I just have to read it now and atta-boy! with a sense of nostalgia. I don't think I've ever smelled a cork though.

Pink, I'm sorry

Pink, I'm sorry.
For being out of diving distance when Connor walked over and slammed you in the head with his jack in the box today. You have to understand that he didn't mean it really, but I know you don't, since you haven't clued in that every time you come into the living room some form of torture awaits you, but you still insist on coming back in when the baby is in there. Time and time again. I thought this might be because I was in the living room and you were trying to get to me, starved for attention as you are. I know this isn't the case however, as I will frequently have to go in and remove you from the living room when I'm in the kitchen washing dishes and hear your distress howl, because Connor has you cornered.

It must not be easy to have a brain the size of a walnut.

I'm also sorry for yelling at you last night, when you were jumping up and down on the bed on all fours making a very un-cat-like noise. I didn't realize that you had jumped up on the bed and landed with your paws directly on a disgarded Thermo-care heat wrap and had the tape stuck to your foot. I thought you were just randomly freaking out. My bad.

You take a lot of crap and for that we are thankful. I know it must be hard for you, not being the boss of your humans anymore, but hopefully, we make up for this, by rescuing you from the child when you cry in distress, since you don't have the brain capacity to only come into the den once he's asleep at night. Tomorrow, I'll give you a can.

Baby Steps

Today, Connor and I went to his 15 month check up. Because he was just at the Dr's office a few weeks ago with some other random virus he was happy as a clam until the nurse walked in. I could see it in his face- suddenly the memories all poured back into his little head and the clinging and howling began. She got out the stethoscope... he screamed like she was burning him, we laid him on the table to be measured... he bucked and squealed to get back into my arms, she walked out of the room, suddenly he only wanted to be down so he could get to the doctors cabinet under the sink to see what treasure awaited him.

Then the Dr. came in. More howling. More squirming. Until she ignored him for a few minutes, I let him down and he wandered around the room a bit more. Then the funnest part of all. I got to hold, while the nurse injected microscopic amounts of deadly diseases into our child. He really loved that part.

While we were there, the Dr. suggested that we go ahead and wean him from the bottle. It all looks good on paper, but it makes me a little bit sad too... 1. How in the hell are we going to get him to sleep at night? 2. Once the bottle is gone, part of our baby is gone.

It all happened so fast, why can't he be a baby for a another few years? Just a couple of little bitty years? Before we know it, he'll be rolling his eyes when we address him in public, slouching and involving us in general teenage angst. Noooooooooooooooooooooo. I like him now. How sweet he is when he's sleepy and how good his head smells when he rests it on my shoulder. How he points at something as says, um? because he wants it, how he charges the kitty yelling, GEE GEE! At the top of his lungs. Once it's gone, it's gone. I know I don't have to let go completely, after all I still have plenty of diapers to change, plenty of scraped knees to kiss and shoes to tie, but it's still hard letting go... even if we do it in baby steps.

The Chronicles of Narnia

Today Jorma and I escaped for a bit and caught The Chronicles of Narnia on the big screen. It was FANTASTIC! I knew the special effects were going to be good and I've read the books, (well the first two anyway) but I didn't know how much I was going to like it. Or how sad it was going to be. Plus, what's not to like when a movie has talking beavers.

I heard a lot about the religious significance or symbolism rather before I saw the flick, and remembering back to reading the books, was like, yeah... I can see that. But seeing the book played out, I noticed the details I had forgotten about. Details that made it profoundly symbolic, which suprisingly, I really liked.

It's not really a sad movie, but when you are pregnant and hormonal it's a little more dramatic. I started crying as soon as the White Witch spoke with Aslyan in the tent... and I don't think I stopped until 10 minutes before the movie ended. In retrospect the movie could actually be really crappy and just appeal to my hormonal emotional state. nah.

You'll just have to see it for yourself to judge. If you've seen it, leave a comment and let us know what you thought.

How splendidly the boys get on

Today, Jorma kept Connor off and on all day so I could get some work done. Actually I only worked for some of the afternoon, managing to squeeze in a hot bath and some TV. It was a good day. That's two days in a row I've had some child free time. Tomorrow Mom's watching the Fussy Butt so we can squeeze in a movie, so I'll have three days in a row. All the extra time to myself almost makes the morning sickness worth it... nah.

Here's a shot of how splendidly the boys get on without Mommy.

I think it's a girl

Today Jorma and I went to my first OB/GYN appt. I like the new midwife but before we start with all of the ultra-sounding stuffs, I'd like to go on the record to say, I think it's a girl. They didn't do an ultra sound today, because she was able to hear the heartbeat with the doppler. It's so amazing to hear the heartbeat. It makes me feel a little bit better to know that I've got morning sickness because the baby is thriving, rather than some mutant strain the 12 week flu.

Grammie watched the little man and then tested out her new car seat by taking him to her house for a few hours. Do the math people. That means. I was alone. In my house. For a whole three hours. THREE HOURS!

What should I do? Should I take a hot bath? Sleep? Clean? Run naked through the house? Go to the grocery store alone? Fold laundry uninterrupted? Listen to music really really loud? Eat chocolate? ooooo, I know, I could eat chocolate in the bath while folding laundry, listening to music loud and then nap! Nah, that's too much effort.

So paralyzed by my analysis was I, that I ended up working for a couple of hours, taking a short nap and running to the grocery store before going to pick up his majesty from Grammie's. And now tonight, all I can think about is all of the stuff I could have been doing instead of working during my free time. The thing that I wish I would have done the most though, is curl up in the bed with a new DVD and the cat, and just lay and watch a movie, eat popcorn and drink Coke and just do absolutely nothing.

Now I get a good daily dose of doing absolutely nothing as I feel on the urge of vomiting 24/7. The husband will attest to this, since I just don't seem to put as much effort into the things I used to, like doing laundry and sweeping the dropped banana off of the floor. But you see, there is a difference in doing absolutely nothing while a toddler grovels in your lap and doing nothing while laying in the bed with just the cat, who also grovels but lands on his feet when you accidently kick him off the bed. Not being responsible for another humans life for three hours. Real nothingness.

Next time I have three hours alone, I'm totally doing that. although by then, I probably won't be feeling like crap anymore and will have so much catching up to do from the past 12 weeks of nothingness, that I'll just end up cleaning the crap out of the house. Won't that make a fantastic blog entry? sigh~

The 2006 Grammy Awards

Did y'all see the Grammy's last night? I actually saw them about 2am this morning, (Thank You DVR) because Connor decided that he didn't want to go back to sleep when he woke up in the middle of the night.

I have only a few comments.

Dear Kelly Clarkson, you have got to appear on at least one awards show with a speech. You know, something besides your traditional, "Ohmygod. Ohmygod. I won. I'm crying. I'm crying on national TV. Ohmygod. I won. Thanks. Ohmygod. Ohmygod. Ohmygod. Ohmygod. Ohmygod. Ohmygod. Ohmygod." Like totally. You thanked your publist twice and most likely because, he must have quite the job keeping the world from thinking you are a total dumb-ass.

Dear Gwen Stephanie, You are beautiful. Why were you wearing leopard print drapes? I know you are pregnant and believe me I understand the whole hormonal thing, but why did Gavin let you out of the house like that? You could have done so much better, girl.

Dear Bono, Wow. You are so hot, I can't even think of anything else to write about you.

Dear Bruce Springsteen, I'm so glad you are still alive. Thank you. Love the soul patch.

Dear Lead Singer of Green Day, Stop with the eyeliner already.

Dear Madonna, How are you in your mid fifties with legs like that? Go ahead and admit it on the dewchild blog girl, you're really an alien.

Dear Time Warner Cable, DVR, It's so fantastic to be able to ff through all of the commercials and condense a 3 hour show into an hour and 15 minutes. If it weren't for you, we would never be able to watch TV at all.

Nesting

Tonight I'm supposed to be working. Tonight I'm not working. I'm blowing off work. Do you know why? Because I've been wanting for years to take my bazillion back up CD's and move them to my system, sort them and then burn them to DVD, thus turning 50 CDs into 5 DVDs. And tonight I decided... I'm doing it. And I did it. Well, half of them anyway, although I haven't burned any to DVD yet. Right now they are just living on my hard drive which is just chugging away with all of the extra weight.
Isn't it amazing the things that you can come up with to do when you are procrastinating something?

I think I've decided to undertake this task because I felt so crappy (morning sickness) all of the time. I'm not getting anything done because of this and am sorely missing a sense of accomplishment. So now I'm organizing. Or maybe I'm nesting.

24

Are y'all watching 24? Why in the hell are they still hooking up Jack with Audrey? He would have done so much better with the chic that used to be on Frazier, Diane. One, Diane is totally like, oh you love someone else, that's cool. While Audrey likes to call Jack in the middle of a hostage situation, to ask him questions, like, Jack, I was just wondering... is it true you still love me?
Jack would get so much creditability for going... Sorry, Audrey but, I'M A LITTLE BUSY RIGHT NOW.
Plus, Audrey has a weird nose and always has a look on her face like she's just eaten 2 week old sushi. So Jack is sending Audrey to go and pick up his daughter... so you know that the two of them are going to end up in some sort of hostage/bait situation. Especially since his daughter doesn't even know he's alive.
Thank God I don't watch soaps anymore.

The Silly Squirrel Face

We call this the Silly Squirrel Face. Doesn't it just make you want to start feeding him peanuts from a paper bag?

Best seat in the house

Coulda, Shoulda, Woulda

There's a whole list of things I could have written about last night, had I not taken a Chlor-Trimaton; since I haven't been able to breathe since conception. I was ready for bed by 8:30, and asleep by 9.

- Proving that no good deed goes unpunished, my car would not start after dropping off a meal for the Mom's Club helping hands program. One of the battery cables had come loose, nearly sending me into a panic, as I had a meeting with my new web client, scheduled within the hour.

- The meeting with my new web client, in a Lutheran Church, where the pastor has a golden retriever that lives in the church. "Goldie" sometimes helps with the sermons and sleeps under the piano during choir practice.

- The sea of plastic kids toys I found outside of a consignment shop, shortly before learning that they only took cash

- The fact that I no longer carry cash

- The saga of Connor thumping Pink on the head with his plastic T-Ball bat

- The glorious relief of only feeling a little bit sick all day long

- My date to stop smoking, (currently weaning down)

See how exciting is this life of mine?

I'm feeling it

I'm old. It's official. Today when Connor and I went for a walk, we were heading up the gradual incline that is the back road in our neighborhood. It's one of those hills that doesn't look like much of a hill and actually isn't, until you walk it and realize that half a mile of gradual incline really sucks.
Today while we were happily wheezing up gradual incline hill, we passed a little girl about the age of 6 who was picking up her scooter from the driveway. We had probably half a block on her before she got started, but she zoomed past us. Uphill. On one foot. And by the time we had reached the top of the incline, she was no where to be found.
Old I tell ya. I'm feeling it.