A New Nickname

The Boogie has had several nicknames. Before she was born when she would squirm and wiggle and kick and somersault and pole vault and run the 100-meter-sprint and who knows what else in my uterus, I would gasp and say, "Ouch! Little booger!" After she was born DH continued to call her Booger but it soon was shortened to Boogie. I have a new one for her lately. It is Lil Tiny Person. I call her that and she responds, as in I say, "Come here, Lil Tiny Person!" and she comes to me. So if you see me writing about LTP, you will know to whom I am referring.

What A Toddler Will Do In The Bathroom ...

... when she manages to spend some time in there undetected.

She used to get into the vanity but I finally rubber-banded it closed, so I guess she figured she would reciprocate by unrolling the toilet paper.

The Boogie spent the morning with her grandparents while I worked and went to the store. They said she was really good all morning. When she saw me her face lit up, she tossed her cup away and clapped her hands ... that's what I like, a welcoming audience. She was a happy girl but when she woke up from her nap she felt feverish so she and I are staying home from church tonight. I don't have anything interesting to write about. I'm just trying to avoid the dishes that are waiting in the kitchen for me to wash them, and the checkbook that is waiting for me to update it. I'm sure if I looked hard enough I could find multiple other little projects to work on, but I am terribly unmotivated. Maybe some coffee will help? I doubt it ...

Things You Find In Your Laundry

Oh, the joys of using a (semi)public laundry facility. The other day DH was folding his work clothes that I had washed in the laundry room downstairs and he found a ... a ... a T-H-O-N-G. Ha! Someone else's underpants found its way into our laundry. We thought it was hilarious and immediately started guessing which tenant it belonged to (you know you totally would have done the same thing.) I know that would gross some people out but I figured it was clean since it was either in the washer and got washed with DH's work clothes, or was left in the dryer so originally had been washed with the owner's clothes. So I just took it back down there and left it on the counter! I wonder how long it will stay there ...

Fun and Excitement

After 10:00 pm tonight, DH and I were winding down for the night and getting coffee ready for the morning and lunch made for tomorrow, when the Boogie threw up in her crib. DH had put her to bed shortly before which apparently incensed her so that she cried and then screamed ... I'm not sure if the upset tummy caused the crying, or if the screaming caused the barfing. I highly suspect the latter. We had a fun forty minutes or so of changing her, stripping her crib, rinsing her bedding, and cleaning the carpet. Of course she was perfectly fine as soon as she was out of bed. Guess she won that battle! I hope she doesn't choose to use those tactics very often. Hmm, actually I hope she never does it again. It's not my favorite way to postpone my bedtime, especially since I happen to like to go to bed and sleeeeeep. Now it's well after 11:00 and while she finally went down again (without a fuss this time) I still have to go put the clean bedding, p.j.s, etc., into the dryer and then take a shower. I did learn something, though. I learned that when my toddler is crying hysterically and I think it's because she doesn't feel well, I don't hesitate to hug her close even though her clothes are covered in vomit. Is this a good thing? I'm not exactly sure! Ha ha ha ... :) It's great to be a mom, barfing kid and all.

My Couch Plan

Our couch is dark blue. It has two seat cushions and five larger cushions that go along the back and sides. It was previously owned by a person with a dog. I know this because it came to our apartment covered with yellow dog fur. It was free and that is why we own it despite its previous dog-inhabited home. You can kind of see it in this picture. (I love this picture because it makes me think of Randy in A Christmas Story. "I can't put my arms down!" Also it reminds me of a tiny, pink Oompa Loompa. But the purpose of the picture is to show you the couch so please do your best to ignore the cute personage in front of it. I know, I know, it is difficult.)

It is structurally in pretty good shape. There are no holes or anything in the upholstery and the frame is solid. It's lightweight enough for me to move it around by myself. BUT here is my problem -- I have shampooed it twice and vacuumed it many times, and despite that I still occasionally find dog hair on it. This is gross. So I came up with a Great Plan. I'll slipcover it! I know that slipcovers are notorious for being hard to fit onto furniture, and they slide around and untuck when they are supposed to stay tucked, and they just look like covers. But I did some searching around and found these. I think they are cool because they supposedly conform the the shape of the couch. Of course I won't pay full price for them. I'll find them on eBay! I'll cover the couch and the seat cushions, and replace the rest of the cushions with some new ones, probably from Ikea. I'm very excited about my Plan. It has many good parts: (1) I can choose a color other than blue (which is not my favorite home decor color), (2) it won't cost nearly as much as getting a new couch so if something happens to it I won't care very much, and (3) when it gets dirty I can just throw it in the washer.

Yes, this is a good Plan.

Welcome Our New Arrival

Have I piqued your interest? Heh heh heh ... I couldn't resist.

Finally what I have been waiting for has arrived! A great big thank you to DH and FIL for hauling it over. This was a free dresser that has been stored over at 52 for several months. It is not the most beautiful thing you have ever seen. When you look at it closely it is rather hideous. Actually, it is so hideous that when DH and FIL brought it over, DH called me outside and said, "Do you want to come look at this before we bring it in? Because if you don't want it we can take it straight to the dump." LOL! But I do want it, for now anyway. In a few months I'll start searching Craigslist for a nicer one. Meanwhile this one cleaned up just fine and it certainly is large!

I realize that I've been remiss in posting. It's been a busy weekend. Last night we had the singles from our church over for pizza and ice cream floats and some MarioKart on the Wii. Also the D family arrived in town. I've known DD for several years. His wife KD is very sweet and they have two cute little boys. So they came over and hung out with us too! Here is the Boogie realizing that there were pizza coupons stuck to her back.

The counter space in our kitchen is rather limited so we acquired a baker's rack to give us a little more shelf space. It has worked out perfectly for my needs in there and I'm thankful to have it. It is complete with a wine rack which, since we don't drink, has been unused. However, the Boogie has found a way to utilize it.

It seems that sippy cups fit perfectly in the bottle holders!

Correction

When I posted the Boogie's check-up stats, I said she was 26 inches. She is actually 30 1/2 inches. That's what happens when I try to remember something instead of looking it up. :-0 She looks kind of small to me so when I try to imagine her four inches shorter ... wow, that is petite! LOL

Now I'm off to steam-clean my couch. It's so dirty that I've had a blanket over since we moved but we're having company tomorrow so it's time (actually WAY past time) to clean it. Yay. It's going to be so much fun ...

Check It Out

We are all aware of the crazy gas prices these days. Yesterday I was looking through some old pics and found this one from 2001 (yep, that's me in my 1984 Chrysler LeBaron convertible.)

Can you believe that? I remember the summer I got my drivers license gas was $0.99 a gallon. I'm not even going to tell you what year that was ...

And here's another picture I found of me and my BFF, also in 2001. That was a really fun summer!

Why Is This Bag So Heavy?

Yesterday was my BFF's anniversary. We have been friends for 14 years! She got married exactly three months after I did. Happy belated anniversary chica!

Yesterday was also the Boogie's 15-month check-up. She gained 1 lb. 10 oz. since her 12-month check-up, and grew one inch. She's still pretty petite at 21 lbs and 26 inches! Everything went great and she did so well for the doctor, talking to him and even letting him look into her ears without a fuss (for the first time), and then he gave her a shot. I hate hate hate when she has to get a vaccination. I just can't stand that I took her there and initialed that little piece of paper that gives the doctor the okay to poke my baby in the leg with a needle. Her little face just crumpled up and she cried the saddest cry like, "Why did you do that? That hurt!" Thankfully the crying never lasts long, and it wasn't long till she forgot about it, I'm sure. BUT then the doctor gave me a script for bloodwork! Are you kidding me? Now I have to take her somewhere else and have them draw blood? I think I'll make DH take her.

I know vaccinations have turned into a very controversial topic for parents these days. I debated a bit about it, but quickly decided that I definitely want to fully vaccinate. I considered doing delayed vaxing too, but so far we have stayed on schedule. In my mind the benefit of protecting my child from diseases that used to kill people or leave them paralyzed or sickly far outweighs the small risk of complications from the vax. That's just my personal opinion.

I couldn't figure out why the Boogie's diaper bag has been so heavy lately. I mean, all that is in there is diapers and wipes and a few little toys and a change of clothes, right? Finally I started pulling out some stuff and found several jars of baby food! I remember putting it in there to take to church for someone. Guess I forgot all about it and it quickly worked its way to the bottom of the bag. As if I don't have enough to carry around without adding small glass jars full of pureed food to my burdens! :)

Happy Birthday, Furry!

My baby brother is 18 today. I can't stand it. It seems like just the other day that he was a baby sharing my room, and I would get him out of his crib at night and play with him. Here he is at about 5 years old. How cute is this? (Thank you Christina for sharing your wedding pics.)

And here he is now.

All grown up!

Good Preaching

I'm feeling highly caffeinated. This is because on our way to church tonight we stopped at Wawa (of course) and I had an iced coffee (of course.) The reason I'm feeling a little more caffeinated than usual is because I had coffee on an empty stomach. Hopefully eating some dinner will help with that or else I'm going to be up for a loooooong time tonight. That's okay, though, because Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House is on tv tonight and I love that movie. :) (And thank you to SIL1 for showing me how to make the movie title a link. I love learning new stuff!)

Tonight at church Pastor was preaching about good choices in our conversation. He preached from Ephesians 4 and pointed out that conversation is not limited to the words we say, but includes our actions. For example, poor conversation would be lying, stealing, anger, etc. However, I've been thinking a lot lately about the words I use -- a lot of the things I say I don't think twice about coming out of my mouth, or hearing it from someone else. BUT the Boogie is starting to imitate so much, and I know she's going to start picking up a lot of words really soon, and I realized that I would be horrified if I heard her say some of the words or phrases that DH and I use. Not that we actually use swear words, but we definitely use some euphemisms and I definitely don't want her saying those things! It also made me think about how our children are such a part of our testimony for Christ. People want to see if we truly are different and that means that they watch how our children behave!

God's Blessings

The ladies' meeting last night was fine. I forgot that we were supposed to bring desserts that were red, white, and blue. My oatmeal raisin cookies didn't pass the visual test but seemed to be a hit taste-wise. There were several good desserts and I got to hold DR for most of the evening. He was very snuggly. :) Mr. R, H-Man, DH, and the Boogie were joined by BIL1, BIL2, and LCs HJ and EK. They Wii-ed MarioKart all evening and had a good time.

This morning DH went to work, then I went to work and he came by and picked up the Boogie. After work I went grocery shopping and got some salmon steaks which DH grilled ... yum!! They were delicious! And speaking of grocery shopping, God has always been very good to us. We've always had enough food, and always enough money to pay the bills and put gas in our cars, etc. Sometimes it has been pretty tight but we've always had enough. There have been weeks where I've only had $xx.xx to spend on food, so I would make a list and write the price of everything as I shopped, and when I got to that amount I stopped putting things in the cart! I'm not saying this to complain but to give testimony about how God provides for His children. We always had enough food to eat, one way or another. Anyway this month has been financially good and I've been able to do some extra grocery shopping. Tonight our freezer is so full of food we can't stuff any more in there, and it's such a nice feeling! Silly, I know, but if you've ever been in our shoes you can understand what I mean. God is so faithful and has NEVER failed us, never ever. I don't expect Him to fill our freezer, only to give us enough. Seeing it full shows me how He blesses us above and beyond what He has promised to do.

We had a fun day with the Boogie. Granted she did accidentally belt me in the face with the tv remote, hitting just the right spot to somehow give me a killer headache (but nothing a little Tylonal couldn't take care of.) She is so fun now. I love watching her learn things. She jabbers away all the time. When she sees me with her shoes she sits down so I can put them on. Yesterday she was in her room and I heard her doing her little frustrated scream. After a minute she came down the hall to find me, took my hand, and led me right to the box that was the source of frustration because she couldn't open it. So she's learning to communicate with us which is nice. She loves music and dances to anything with any kind of beat. She hums and sings a lot (reminds me of my brother Furry when he was that age.) We are really enjoying her! Here are a few videos. Again I have to say how thankful I am that my phone has a camera. These aren't great quality but they're better than nothing!

Trying to put on shoes (you can hear how creaky our floor is):

Being cute tonight:

Going for a walk after dinner:

A Clean Apartment

Mr. Comcast Technician showed up yesterday and hooked us up. Everything worked fine for about 2 hours and then the audio on most of the channels went staticky. I called them today and they said that someone would be out between 10:00 am and 1:00 pm. It is almost 5:00 and I'm still waiting ... I have a sneaking suspicion that it's our tv and not the cable. The reason I suspect that is because even when I completely disconnect the Comcast cable in order to put a DVD in for the Boogie, it's still staticky. DH will be home soon and can play with it some more.

I got to stay home today and clean all my floors. I also cleaned out our big utility closet and started putting some stuff in there. There will be Rubbermaids stacked to the ceiling by the time I'm finished!

It is at least 95 degrees outside and I just finished baking cookies for our ladies' meeting tonight. I must be out of my mind ... I don't even want to go to the ladies' meeting, but what else is new? I never want to go. :) The R family is coming over. Mrs. R and I will go to the meeting, Mr. R and their little one, H-man, will stay here and play with DH and the Boogie. Mr. R is bringing pizza and I think DH is going to borrow a Wii from someone. I just hope they pay attention to the little ones!

Putt-Putt Golf and Other Things

Yesterday morning SIL1 broke one of her wisdom teeth. She called the dentist and they were able to get her in that afternoon, so I had a couple of the LCs for a few hours. Sooo I didn't get any more unpacking done. I did, however, have two iced coffees from Wawa which is pretty good in my opinion.

Last night we went miniature golfing with several other people from church. My whole life I have called it putt-putt golf, but today I mentioned it to a coworker and discussed it with someone else from church, and neither of them had ever heard that term before. So I can't figure out if it's a midwest thing (since my mom's family is from Kentucky and DH's family spent several years in Missouri) or a West Coast thing (since my parents both grew up in California.) I guess in Jersey it's only called miniature golf. By any name, it was really fun. I told DH that he has to take me on again, next time on a date. The Boogie cruised around the little courses and had a good time. I didn't take a single picture but snagged these from a couple of other camera-wielders.

The Boogie contemplates the hole

Our team

She was the happiest when she had her blade of grass.

Since we have been married we haven't had television. We own a television, we've just never been able to watch anything on it other than videos and DVDs. It was by choice, partly because I didn't want it and DH conceded to my wishes, and partly because we couldn't afford cable and didn't want to bother with the frustrations of rabbit ears. There are several tv shows that we enjoy so we have always gone to 52 or BIL1/SIL1's place to watch them. During the summer programming is usually pretty lame but this summer we've become addicted to "Wipeout" and "I Survived a Japanese Game Show" on Tuesday nights. Last Tuesday we watched "Wipeout" and when it was over it was 9:00 and time for the Boogie to go to bed. DH decided that he wanted to stay at 52 and watch "Japanese Game Show" so I had to come home by myself with the Boogie and the clean laundry, put her to bed, and fold clothes and put them away all by myself. When DH finally arrived I said, "Why don't we just get cable?" He agreed, of course, so I called yesterday and am now waiting for Mr. Comcast Technician to come give us the mad hook-up. We are just getting antenna service which is $11 a month. The main reason I have resisted getting tv for so long is that it used to be a real struggle for me. I'll just turn it on and leave it on all day, and I hate being like that. I would just rather not have it. But when it comes right down to it I'd rather have my husband home with me watching tv than across the street at his parents' watching tv! This is one area that I will have to get victory over. I will admit that I am excited about being able to watch "Jeopardy!" and "Wheel of Fortune" more than three or four times a month. :)

The Comcast person is supposed to be here between 1:00 and 5:00. I went to work this morning and on my way home I stopped at the grocery store. I had plenty of time to run in and grab a couple of things I needed and still get home before 1:00 without cutting it too close. THEN I knocked a bottle of apple juice off the shelf in the store and spilled it everywhere. I told an employee about it but didn't want to just leave a big puddle at the end of the aisle where someone would probably turn the corner and slip in it, so I stood there for at least ten minutes waiting for the clean-up person. I made it home at 12:55 -- whew! Of course it's almost 2:30 and still no sign of Comcast but I'm glad they weren't waiting for me to come home.

I <3 Wednesdays

I love Wednesdays because I don't have to do anything. I don't plan to work, run errands, do laundry, or go to anyone's house. It is so nice to chillax and do whatever I want. Today I want to unpack a couple more boxes. Yes, I am slightly ashamed to admit that I still have a few boxes sitting around from our move. It's partially not my fault though because I don't have a place for everything until the Boogie's dresser gets moved over here so that I can get the entertainment stand out of her room (where its sole purpose is to hold up the lamp) and into the living room where it will be loaded with the contents of a couple of yet unpacked boxes ... See what I mean? I can't move the dresser myself so I'm waiting for SOMEONE ELSE to do it. I'll bet you can guess who that person is. But there are a couple of boxes whose contents can find a home somewhere so I'll work on that for a bit. Also I think we'll go for a little walk to the bank and to Wawa where I can get my iced coffee.

Last night I went to work for a couple of hours. I love where I work but I'm hoping that in a month or so DH will get a decent raise, and then in a couple of months after that we will pay off my car and the Boogie, so financially we'll be able to afford for me to stay home. I'm looking forward to that but I'm not looking forward to giving my notice. I'm dreading it, actually. My boss and my office manager have been so incredibly good to me that I feel guilty about quitting. SO what I do is run over scenarios in my head of what I will say when it comes time to give my notice. But to be totally honest, these scenarios aren't always just in my head. Last night after work I was walking up to the back door at 52 (where DH and the Boogie were) going over a scenario in my head, and when I got inside the person standing at the window said, "Was it my imagination, or were you moving your lips and shrugging your shoulders as you came up the walkway?" Oh the shame. I've been caught talking to myself! How embarrassing ... This is a habit I need to break or my children will think I'm a crazy person.

Time to really get my day started, which means I need to put on something other than jammies.

Vinyl Jackpot

For his birthday last year DH bought himself a little portable record player. Ever since then he is constantly on the look out for fun records. Well, tonight he hit the jackpot. MIL and FIL found a new(ish) dining room table on Craigslist and when they went to pick it up they saw boxes of records sitting out on the curb. The seller of the table said that she had had a yard sale and whatever didn't sell she was just throwing out. She told them to take what they wanted, so they brought all of the records home for DH! He is in heaven. There is Bill Cosby, Dean Martin, Nat King Cole, Burl Ives, The Ink Spots, Glenn Miller, Doris Day, Abba, The Village People, Engelbert Humperdink, Elvis, Johnny Mathis, the Partridge Family, Frankie Avalon, Queen, Bobby Darin, Disney, excerpts from various operas, Shakespeare, Mantovani, Roger Williams, the Animals ... just to name a few.

Here he is sorting through his loot. He is one happy man! We're going to keep what we like and sell the rest on eBay or Craigslist.

A few more pics:

Nap time on Mama's bed

Hitting the bottle (yes, he did indeed add milk to the chocolate syrup.)

What DH found on our bed not once, not twice, but three consecutive times after the Boogie raided the cupboard:

Because doesn't everyone like tea in bed on occasion?

A Rainy Day

Coffee didn't exactly make me less crabby per se, but it did take away my headache so maybe it helped in the long run! DH and I made up last night ... turns out what he did to initially tick me off was totally unintentional and he had no idea he did it. We both apologized and it's all good now! But I was thinking about it last night and while I was mad at him for what he did (and consequently what he didn't do since one irritation never fails to remind me of past and/or ongoing irritations) eventually what it came down to was that it was kinda my fault. It always seems to end up that way. Several years ago I heard a lesson at a ladies' meeting at my church that talked about expectations, and how we should put our expectations not in people but only in God. If we don't expect things of people they can't disappoint us! Disappointment can lead to bitterness and bitterness can end up in personal destruction. However, if we put the right expectations on God He will never disappoint us. It was a really good lesson and I've tried to remember that concept ever since. BUT it is almost impossible to never expect things of people, especially the ones I am close to, like my husband. Anyway by the end of the day yesterday I was tired of being mad and wanted things to be back to normal between me and DH and I started thinking that if only I would have just said something to him in the morning about why I was upset I wouldn't have gone through the whole day being miserable. We'll see if I remember to do that the next time. :)

It's very rainy today. I don't like rain on the days I have to go to work because I invariably have to run an errand or two and it's such a hassle getting the Boogie and all her paraphernalia in and out of the car. Then the more humid it is outside the more the air conditioner runs at work and it's FREEZING IN THERE. I feel so sorry for our patients because they have to undress down to nothing and then put on a thin cotton gown for their treatment. But the doctors get warm while they work so they like the a/c set to "frigid". The rest of us freeze. My office manager literally has a little heater that she runs in her office while she's in there.

I am way behind on posting! Let's see: on Friday I went to the church and helped MIL set up the fellowship hall for FIL's parents' surprise 50th anniversary party. On Saturday DH and I both worked then went to the party where SIL3 and I sang "The Prayer". There weren't a whole lot of people at the party and I hardly knew any of them. It was very warm and muggy and there was no a/c in the fellowship hall, so every chance I got I grabbed the Boogie and sneaked down to the nursery where the little window unit a/c was going full blast. (I've discovered that one can use their children for excuses sometimes which is very nice. At someone's house and having a terrible time? "Well, thanks so much for having us over! It's been really fun but it's time for little Johnny's nap." Heh heh heh.) I think the grandparents were truly surprised and hopefully they had a nice time.

Yesterday was Sunday and we went to church. I ended up in the nursery during Sunday school because the person scheduled simply didn't show up. This is a major pet peeve of mine. IF you are willing to work in the nursery, then have the decency to show up when you are scheduled OR make arrangements to trade with someone! Even if you wake up sick that very morning you can still pick up the telephone and call me to let me know you will not be there. It's frustrating when I have to scramble to find someone to cover for someone else, or end up in there myself for the umpteenth time this month. But then I start thinking, what if something terrible happened to the nursery worker and that's why they aren't here? Like, what if they got in an accident on the way? Or they got terribly sick in the middle of the night and had to go to the hospital? Or a family member died and they had to drop everything and drive to Chatanooga or Baton Rouge or Denver? So when I start thinking stuff like that I can't stay mad. The excuse is usually more like, "We decided to go with so-and-so to their church this morning." *sigh*

Yesterday I finished altering the curtains we bought for the Boogie's room. They are supposed to be lilac color but they seem more blue to me. Also they are not nearly dark enough so I think what I'm going to do is find a dark purple fabric and line them. That should do the trick! I think that will make it uber dark in her room.

This morning the Boogie woke up at 4:30. She had a dirty diaper so I turned on her light and changed her. Then she was wide awake and running all over, happy as could be. She's always been that way. No matter what time of the night or early morning she wakes up, she's a happy camper as long as I'm around. Thankfully she didn't stay awake. A good dose of boob and she was off to dreamland again.

I just fed my child a waffle and three donut holes for breakfast. I am the greatest mom EVER! Today is going to be a good day. :)

A Crabby Day

I'm having a crabby day. It's because I'm ticked off at DH which isn't very fair to him ... he didn't really do anything, at least not on purpose. I'm being a WB and he doesn't know why. I can feel him treading lightly. Maybe coffee will make me feel better.

Two Funny Things

Yesterday I stripped the Boogie down to her shirt and diaper and let her run around that way. I left her alone for a couple of minutes and when I came back into the room I caught her dancing around in only her shirt! Aaah, naked toddler butt! Good thing I found her before she peed anywhere ... From now on she is not allowed to have uncovered diaper except under constant supervision.

Last night I came to bed after DH was (I thought) fast asleep. I was just dozing off when he suddenly sat straight up then leaned over me. "Are you all right?" I asked him. "Yeah, I'm fine," he said, then laid back down, but he seemed kind of confused. I figured he was asleep but asked a couple more times if he okay. He assured me that he was, then said, "It's just ... the copper connection." Aha, I thought, he's asleep and dreaming about work! I couldn't help laughing and I guess I was shaking the bed because then he said, "Don't make fun of me." Hee hee it still makes me laugh ... "It's just ... the copper connection." LOL I'm a mean wife. :) But he's so cute when he talks in his sleep.

Not the Sharpest Tool in the Shed

This morning the Boogie stayed with MIL while I went to work and the grocery store. I had fun at the store -- DH's paycheck was much bigger than normal so I bought lots of snack stuff and frozen food that I wouldn't normally buy. When I got home I popped the trunk, took my keys out of the ignition, dropped them into my purse, rolled up my windows, opened the door, hit the lock button, got out and closed the door, got half of my groceries out of the trunk, closed the trunk, started toward the apartment building while feeling around in my purse for my keys, couldn't find my keys, went back to the car, and saw my keys on the passenger seat inside my locked car. I wish I had a picture of them sitting there but it didn't occur to me to take one. So, half of the many frozen foods I had bought were in the trunk of my locked car, and half of them were in the parking lot with me with no way of getting them into the apartment and fridge. (It had to be at least 85 degrees outside.) I hauled the bags I had over to 52 where thankfully MIL's new fridge had lots of room, and called the apartment office to ask if I could come over and get a key from them. They didn't have a spare for our apartment but they sent someone over with a master key to let me in. Then I was able to use my spare car key to get into the car. So it ended up well enough but I'm SO THANKFUL that I didn't have the Boogie with me! Things like that make me seriously fearful that one day I will accidentally lock her in the hot car. I think from now on I'll make it a habit to lock the car from the outside ...

Cake for Breakfast

I just ate a piece of cake for breakfast. It was delicious. But then I decided that it probably was not the best way to start my day so I made some eggs with sausage for me and the Boogie.

Today is laundry day again. MIL's dad and his wife are coming to MIL's house, so SIL1 and I are going over there too with all the LCs. I've actually been doing some laundry here (finally got some quarters!) which has been great. But clothes exceed quarters so I'll do a couple of loads at 52 today.

The Boogie is watching Veggie Tales. She loves Veggie Tales. The sing alongs are the best because then she can dance the whole time.

I tried the sunless tanning lotion last night. It definitely has a smell which I don't like, so I think I might start using it in the morning instead of at night. I don't want our bed to start smelling like it. Also it seems to have burned my face a little bit, isn't that strange? Maybe I should take a break for a day to see if it gets better.

Junk Food Junkie

The Boogie is currently in love with junk food, especially potato chips. She was recently introduced to chips and now whenever she sees a bag she sticks her arm in it if she can and pulls out a single chip, then walks away while she eats it. If she can't reach it she whines until we give her one (yes, that is positive reinforcement for a negative behavior.) She's a potato chip fiend!

She also loves french fries. In fact fries were one of her first solid foods. Today after work I thought she was hungry so I went through the McDonald's drive through and bought some fries. She ate a few but it turns out that she was sleepy, not hungry.

I'm so thankful that my phone has a camera or else I would miss all of these great Kodak moments.

Today I went to Target and bought some sunless tanning lotion, the kind that is supposed to gradually tan you. I'm going to try it tonight. I haven't liked any sunless tanner I've tried -- it's difficult to put it on evenly, and there is always an odor which I hate. But I won't suntan because of the damage it does and I'm just so white ... we'll see how this goes!

New Crib

The 4th didn't end up being quite like we had planned. DH did work, but the Boogie slept until 10 am so I didn't go to work. By the time I fed her, got us both ready to go, drove to work, got her set up to watch a movie, and got set up with what I needed to do I only would have been able to work for about an hour before packing up and coming home in time for DH to get home as well. He went in earlier than usually so that he could get off early to spend more time with us, so I wanted to be home when he got here. Anyway it just wasn't worth the effort. We grilled hot dogs and had corn on the cob, then took the Boogie over to MIL and borrowed FIL's truck to go get the crib. It's actually in pretty good shape for $25 and it has really grown on me. I don't want to paint it. It looks really cute with the crib bedding someone gave me.

It's not a very good picture because our camera doesn't work so I took it with my phone, but you get the idea. I love the skirt. I was able to fit two of those plastic bins off to the side underneath it and can't see them at all!

I also took this with my phone:

Cute, huh? She loves herself.

It's so nice and quiet right now. DH and the Boogie are both napping. I think I'll go lay down for a while too. I feel kind of "off". I was dumb this morning and had a cup of instant coffee before church, then we stopped at Wawa and DH got me an iced coffee. After church we went to Taco Bell and I had one of their new frozen drinks along with my burrito and taco ... Anyway I think too much caffeine combined with fast food along with not enough water today has upset my stomach a little bit.

Job Story

Tomorrow is the 4th of July, Independence Day, the Glorious Fourth. I love this holiday. I love my country! However I am not in the holiday mood. Perhaps this is because we don't have any holiday-ish plans. DH and I are both working, then we are driving 45 minutes away to pick up the crib. Normally DH would not work on a holiday -- the man works 55 hours every week so I encourage him to take any paid time off that he can get. However we just got back from vacation and we can definitely use the money so he is going to put in eight hours tomorrow instead of his usual ten, and will get holiday pay plus regular pay which will essentially be double-time pay. Woohoooooo!!! I, on the other hand, work most non-major holidays (the major ones being Christmas, Thanksgiving, Easter, and Mother's Day. And Sundays.) Here is the reason:

In the beginning of July 2006 I started working at a chiropractor's office. One month later I got pregnant (which was not in the plans, but we'll talk more about that later.) DH and I decided that I would work up until I had the Boogie and then I would quit my job and stay home. That's exactly what I wanted to do. All I've ever wanted was to be a stay-at-home-mom (except for when I was little and I wanted to work on jet engines in the Navy like my dad.) About two weeks after the Boogie was born we started getting EOBs from our insurance company and discovered that instead of the delivery and hospital stay being covered 100% after our meager copay of $40, we owed a deductible of several hundred dollars. We're talking SEVERAL hundred dollars. It was my own fault because I neglected to carefully read our insurance handbook at the beginning of the year. We didn't have the money because we are terrible at saving ... So I went to the chiropractor's office and asked if they would let me come back to work for a few hours a week, doing whatever they wanted me to, and bring the Boogie with me. They love me there and they said yes. Not only did my boss say yes, he gave me a raise! So that's what I've been doing for the past year. I go to work 3 days a week and work about 2 hours each time. Sometimes it's a little more, sometimes it's a little less. I've done this and that and the other thing and eventually I started doing Medicare billing (we'll talk more about that later, too.) To do billing I have to be on a computer that's hooked up to the billing software and only three computers are, so what it boils down to is that I have to work when someone else is not: for example, over lunch when the office is closed for two hours, or on my manager's day off, or when the office is closed for a holiday. And that very long explanation is why I will be working tomorrow. Now that I think about it, Saturday is my 2-year anniversary to work there. It has been a great job and I have a wonderful boss and also a wonderful manager. While my preference is to be a SAHM, this is the next best thing and it's not bad at all. Plus we have to keep making payments on the Boogie or she might be repossessed!

The Whining Will Drive Me Mad

Hindsight being what it is, I know that I have brought the Whining Curse upon myself. In my younger, stupider, judgmental, pre-child days, I often looked at parents of whiners in disgust and said to myself, "My children will never be allowed to whine." What I should have said to myself is something along the lines of, "My children, once they have reached an age where they can understand exactly what whining is, will hopefully be handled in such a way as to keep it to a minimum whenever possible." It's all well and good to tell the whining 4-year-old, "I can't understand what you're saying when you talk to me like that. When you can talk in a regular voice come find me," and then walk away (this method does work, by the way. I used it when nannying and also when babysitting and also when teaching Sunday school. It is an amazing trick. Thank you, Mom.) It never occured to me that the whining would start long before the age of understanding! How do you get a 14-month-old to understand that it is not an acceptable means of communication? Especially when her only other means of communication is limited to senseless babbling? Or crying? Or screaming? I don't blame her for being frustrated. It's just that my patience wears thin after a while. Then we're both frustrated.

It's actually a good thing no one else reads this blog. It is full of complaints! But I guess it's better for me to write them down and get them out of my system, rather than complain out loud to people all the time. I've known people who struggle with complaining and after a while it's no fun to be around them. I don't want to fall into that habit. Think positive thoughts, positive thoughts! How about this: I only have one whining child when I could have two or more?

Okay, so on to a positive item: I found a crib on Craigslist today. It doesn't look as nice as the other one I found (the seller of the first crib finally wrote back to me today saying that they sold it) and it's about forty minutes away instead of ten, but the seller accepted my offer of $25. It's dark wood which I don't really like; however, it occurred to me that I might be able to paint it white. Paint isn't that expensive and I know that DH's parents have all the brushes, etc., that I might need. If I am going to paint it I'm tempted to do a color, like purple or green, but if we have more kids (which hopefully we will) they'll probably use it too so I don't want it to be too gender specific. I'll probably end up with plain old white. But white is better than brown, in my opinion. We shall see.

Write Me Back, Already!

The Boogie has been sleeping in a portable crib since she was born. It is about the size of a Pack'n'Play and she has been pretty comfortable in it, but now that she has her own room it's time to get her a regular crib. We can't afford a brand-new one so I've been stalking craigslist.com for a cheap used one. I found one this morning for $20 and it's only about 10 minutes away! I'm so excited about it but no one has responded to my email. It's killing me. Ack. I keep checking my email every fifteen minutes.

Today is Tuesday which is laundry day. It used to mean that I loaded up my car with all our dirty laundry, the Boogie and her paraphernalia, and whatever else I thought I might need, and drove to 52 (the common name for DH's parents' house) to spend the day washing multiple loads of clothes. Since we now live across the street I loaded the Boogie and my laundry basket into SIL1's wagon and walked over. We've been here for 6 hours and my third load is drying and fourth load is being washed. I have one more to wash and we're all caught up. I fully intend to use the laundry facilities in our apartment building but that takes quarters. Since we currently have no quarters to spare, we'll continue to frequent the free washer and dryer at 52. The Boogie is sleeping right now and I'm eating watermelon which is delicious.

Now that we're in our new apartment I am wanting all kinds of new things. New furniture, new curtains, new clothes. Why is this, I wonder? There isn't anything wrong with the old stuff. Plus there isn't room for anything new. I haven't even been able to find places for all the old stuff. I'm going to indulge myself with a new(ish) crib for the Boogie and some new curtains for her room. I want dark purple. Purple because that's been her color since before she was born, and dark to block as much early sunlight as possible. Then I think I'll look for some cute flower or butterfly decals to put on her walls, the kind of decals that stick on and peel off easily. I'm even toying with the idea of painting her dresser ... But I probably won't do that. I'm not that motivated.

I just realized that I haven't written about our vacation. I'll do that soon with some pictures. I took about 300 pictures and videos while we were gone. MIL let us use her camera which was very generous of her. Ours has just about bit the dust. See, another new thing that we need!

Spoke Too Soon

It's all well and good to praise Daddy for his supernatural abilities to get the Boogie to go to sleep right away at bedtime, but what about when she wakes up at 3 a.m. and he has to get up at 5 to go to work? You can bet he's not going to be the one to get up with her. I refused to get her out of her crib so I ended up on her floor for a couple of hours while she whined and laid down and stood back up multiple times. It's nights like that that make me SO thankful for a super flexible and very part time job!

Meanwhile though she can be a real stinker, she is so cute and funny. She's learning new things all the time. She gives hugs and kisses now which just melts my heart ... I love it! She is a talker too, though not words that you can understand. Her favorite thing to do is come up to us and babble something ending in an upward inflection as if she's asking a question. We respond with any word or phrase that pops into our heads, like "toaster strudel" or "Mount Saint Helens" or "helicopter" and then she says, "yeah". It's hilarious. We have long conversations consisting of such brilliant repartee. I taught her to say "ta-da!" so she lifts her arms up over her head and says, "ta-ka-da!" which of course I, as her mom, think is quite adorable. She loves to open and close doors and put things inside other things. We've been finding sippy cups full of water in random drawers and burpies (cloth diapers used as burp cloths; they are her little security blankets) inside the food cabinet. She is madly in love with her reflection. If things are a little too quiet I know I can find her gazing at herself and making faces in the mirror in our bedroom. The mirror belongs to my dresser but I can't bring myself to attach it since she enjoys it so much. It's just leaning against the wall right now which is probably a safety hazard. Anyway we have fun with our Boogie when she's not being her namesake, a booger!

I am really enjoying blogging but am wondering if it's sort of pointless to have an online journal if no one else is reading it? One of the things I loved about journaling before was that it helped me to remember when things happened. So blogging is mostly for myself to write down things that happen so that I can look back when I need to. The wannabe author part of me wants other people to read this too, though. I guess eventually I'll start telling folks about it. Right now it's my private little page. :)