J + C 2007

The one not chosen

2009-10-04T10:44:00.000-05:00

He would've been such a cute cow, but he'll be cuter as a monkey.

I just have to look away.

2009-10-03T21:52:00.000-05:00

I'm going to bed. I can't watch anymore. Maybe a miracle will happen in the last few minutes. Maybe not. Goodnight.

2009-10-03T18:30:00.012-05:00

Let's go, Ags! Beat the Hell outta Arkansas! Kickoff is at 6:30 pm and it's being televised on ESPN 2. Do you know where I'll be at 6:30?

Not in front of the tv, unfortunately. My mom wants to go to the Fair, but you know I'll be in front of the tv by halftime.

Right now, we're 3-0 and hopefully in a few hours, we'll be 4-0. Cross your fingers!!

Looking forward to Halloween

2009-10-02T22:19:00.000-05:00

I'm in Houston this weekend. Yay for visiting my parents. Anyway, my mom had bought Christian some Halloween costumes-a cow and a monkey. We tried both of them on him and had a great laugh. Christian loved being the center of attention so he didn't mind. We decided on the monkey. My mom and I are going to take him to get some pictures made tomorrow with the costume. I'll scan them and post soon or maybe I'll just wait for Halloween to show them. :)

A Weekend without Christian

2009-09-06T21:31:00.003-05:00

Christian spent the weekend with my parents so J and I could attend his cousin's wedding and so Christian could have some fun without his parents.

The wedding was so cute. It wasn't huge like ours, but it wasn't too small. She is from Hawaii and he's Hispanic so they had Mariachis and Hula dancers. So much fun.

But we missed this little guy.

Tomorrow we're spending our Labor Day at the zoo!

Update on us!

2009-08-31T17:18:00.002-05:00

I had an interview the first week in August for a 4th grade teaching position and I got it. Since that day, I've been working my booty off to prepare for the school year. So things are great for us.

Christian is doing good. He's growing like a weed. Right now however, Christian is a bit under the weather with a fever. We think he picked up something at daycare.

Mission: To get Christian to eat healthier

2009-08-31T17:04:00.002-05:00

Solution: SuperFoods by Annabel Karmel

Yesterday, I made two of the recipes in her book: Tiny pasta with swiss cheese, spinach and corn and Finger-picking chicken balls. They were delicious. The pasta you couldn't even taste the spinach. (Even my picky husband likes the recipes.) Unfortunately Christian didn't get a chance to taste them because he's been very sick and feverish the past day or so and he doesn't want to eat. They are in the refrigerator waiting for him to feel better.

Tiny pasta with Swiss cheese, spinach, and corn

-3 tablespoons orzo or other small pasta
-1 tablespoon unsalted butter
-1 tablespoon all purpose flour
-1/2 cup milk
-1/2 cup grated Swiss cheese
-2 cups fresh spinach, stems removed
-2/3 cup cooked frozen corn

Directions: Wash spinach and put in saucepan with a sprinkle of water. Cook until tender (3 min). Squeeze out all water and put spinach aside. Cook the pasta according to the package. Melt butter, stir in the flour and cook 30 sec. Gradually whisk in the milk to make a smooth white sauce. Bring to boil and let simmer for 2 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in the cheese until melted. Combine spinach and cheese sauce and puree in food processor. Stir in the coked pasta and corn. Enjoy. This can be frozen for later use.

Finger-picking chicken balls

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 medium onion, finely chopped
1/2 cup grated carrot
1 large Granny Smith apple, peeled and grated
2 chicken breasts, cut into chunks
1 tablespoon fresh parsley
1/2 cup fresh bread crumbs
1 chicken bouillon cube, crumbled
all-purpose flour for coating
vegetable oil for frying

Directions: Before starting to cook, prepare all ingredients and set aside. Heat the olive oil in a pan and saute half the onion and the carrots for 3 minutes, stirring occasionally. Useing your hands, squeeze out excess liquid from grated apple. Mix together grated apple, chicken, sauteed onion and carrot along with raw onion, parsley, bread crumbs, bouillon cube and chop in a food processor for a few seconds. With hands, form the mixture into about 20 balls, roll in flour and fry with a little oil until golden and cooked through (6 minutes to be safe). Can be frozen for later.

Good news!

2009-07-31T14:31:00.002-05:00

I have a job interview next Tuesday. Woo hoo!

100 Books

2009-07-27T13:35:00.002-05:00

The BBC believes most people will have read only 6 of the 100 books here.

Instructions: Look at the list and put an 'x' after those you have read.

1 Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen
2 The Lord of the Rings - JRR Tolkien
3 Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte
4 Harry Potter series - JK Rowling - X
5 To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee - x
6 The Bible -
7 Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte
8 Nineteen Eighty Four - George Orwell
9 His Dark Materials - Philip Pullman
10 Great Expectations - Charles Dickens

total: 2

11 Little Women - Louisa M Alcott - x
12 Tess of the D’Urbervilles - Thomas Hardy –
13 Catch 22 - Joseph Heller -
14 Complete Works of Shakespeare -
15 Rebecca - Daphne Du Maurier -
16 The Hobbit - JRR Tolkien -
17 Birdsong - Sebastian Faulk -
18 Catcher in the Rye - JD Salinger -
19 The Time Traveler’s Wife - Audrey Niffenegger - X
20 Middlemarch - George Eliot -

Total: 2

21 Gone With The Wind - Margaret Mitchell -
22 The Great Gatsby - F Scott Fitzgerald -
23 Bleak House - Charles Dickens -
24 War and Peace - Leo Tolstoy -
25 The Hitch Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams
27 Crime and Punishment - Fyodor Dostoyevsky -
28 Grapes of Wrath - John Steinbeck - x
29 Alice in Wonderland - Lewis Carroll -
30 The Wind in the Willows - Kenneth Grahame -

Total: 1

31 Anna Karenina - Leo Tolstoy -
32 David Copperfield - Charles Dickens -
33 Chronicles of Narnia - CS Lewis -
34 Emma - Jane Austen -
35 Persuasion - Jane Austen -
36 The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe - CS Lewis -
37 The Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini -
38 Captain Corelli’s Mandolin - Louis De Bernieres -
39 Memoirs of a Geisha - Arthur Golden - X
40 Winnie the Pooh - AA Milne -

Total: 1

41 Animal Farm - George Orwell -
42 The Da Vinci Code - Dan Brown - x
43 One Hundred Years of Solitude - Gabriel Garcia Marquez -
44 A Prayer for Owen Meaney - John Irving -
45 The Woman in White - Wilkie Collins -
46 Anne of Green Gables - LM Montgomery -
47 Far From The Madding Crowd - Thomas Hardy -
48 The Handmaid’s Tale - Margaret Atwood -x
49 Lord of the Flies - William Golding -
50 Atonement - Ian McEwan -

Total: 2

51 Life of Pi - Yann Martel -
52 Dune - Frank Herbert -
53 Cold Comfort Farm - Stella Gibbons -
54 Sense and Sensibility - Jane Austen -
55 A Suitable Boy - Vikram Seth -
56 The Shadow of the Wind - Carlos Ruiz Zafon -
57 A Tale Of Two Cities - Charles Dickens -
58 Brave New World - Aldous Huxley -
59 The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime - Mark Haddon -
60 Love In The Time Of Cholera - Gabriel Garcia Marquez -

Total: 0

61 Of Mice and Men - John Steinbeck - x
62 Lolita - Vladimir Nabokov -
63 The Secret History - Donna Tartt -
64 The Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold -x
65 Count of Monte Cristo - Alexandre Dumas-
66 On The Road - Jack Kerouac -
67 Jude the Obscure - Thomas Hardy -
68 Bridget Jones’s Diary - Helen Fielding -x
69 Midnight’s Children - Salman Rushdie –
70 Moby Dick - Herman Melville -

Total: 3

71 Oliver Twist - Charles Dickens -
72 Dracula - Bram Stoker -
73 The Secret Garden - Frances Hodgson Burnett -
74 Notes From A Small Island - Bill Bryson -
75 Ulysses - James Joyce -
76 The Inferno – Dante -
77 Swallows and Amazons - Arthur Ransome -
78 Germinal - Emile Zola -
79 Vanity Fair - William Makepeace Thackeray -
80 Possession - AS Byatt –

Total: 0

81 A Christmas Carol - Charles Dickens -
82 Cloud Atlas - David Mitchell -
83 The Color Purple - Alice Walker -
84 The Remains of the Day - Kazuo Ishiguro -
85 Madame Bovary - Gustave Flaubert -
86 A Fine Balance - Rohinton Mistry -
87 Charlotte’s Web - EB White - x
88 The Five People You Meet In Heaven - Mitch Albom -
89 Adventures of Sherlock Holmes - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle -
90 The Faraway Tree Collection - Enid Blyton -

Total: 1

91 Heart of Darkness - Joseph Conrad -
92 The Little Prince - Antoine De Saint-Exupery -
93 The Wasp Factory - Iain Banks -
94 Watership Down - Richard Adams -
95 A Confederacy of Dunces - John Kennedy Toole -
96 A Town Like Alice - Nevil Shute -
97 The Three Musketeers - Alexandre Dumas -
98 Hamlet - William Shakespeare - x
99 Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - x
100 Les Miserables - Victor Hugo -
Total:2

Grand Total: 14

Don't give up on me!

2009-07-25T14:23:00.002-05:00

I know it's been a long time since I last blogged. Things have been up in the air for us for so long. And I don't see an end in sight. We're not having marital problems or anything like that. We just picked up and moved our lives here to San Antonio and things are crazy. I don't have a job and I don't think I'm going to find one. Because I was the one making the bigger income, it's going to hurt us. Hopefully, things will get better soon. For the time being, I've been hanging out with my baby who's not so much of a baby anymore. He's more of a big boy.

I'm hoping to start blogging more as things get better for us. Please send me some positive thoughts that I get a job soon. Otherwise, I'm going to totally stress myself out. Thanks!

Lifetime Fitness

2009-06-16T09:24:00.003-05:00

J and I signed up for Lifetime Fitness yesterday. It was long overdue. We both need to do something to get ourselves in better shape. I'm looking forward to using all the facilities that they have to offer, especially the child care facility.

Last night, I worked out for 40 minutes. 20 minutes on the elliptical and 20 minutes on a treadmill. Great start for me!

Today Christian and I will be going to Toddler Time at the Library and then afterwards I'll be heading to the gym and Christian will be headed to the child care center.

I really hope this works out for us.

Update on everything

2009-06-09T12:54:00.002-05:00

Moving
We moved all of our stuff May 22nd up to San Antonio. The stuff that we don't need immediately is all stuffed into our storage unit. The rest of our belonging are here at my ILs house. We've moved into the upstairs on their house. We took over 2 rooms that are connected with a bathroom. Hopefully, we'll be here for about a year and then start looking to buy a home.

Old Job
My last work day was June 5th. I got a great goodbye gift (a snowglobe and a pen). It was really hard to say goodbye to my coworkers, but hopefully I'm on to bigger and better things.

New Job?
I've started the hunt for a new job in San Antonio. I've applied at a school district and yesterday there was a job fair for that district. And it was awful. There must have been at least 300 people and only about 20 available jobs. Hopeless. I really don't know what I'm gonna do.

Baby
Christian is wonderful. I've been enjoying the past few days that we've spent with each other. He's such a ham. So dramatic.

Hubby
Today is J and my 2nd anniversary. It's been a great two years and I'm so happy to be able to spend today with him, especially after living apart for 3 1/2 months. I've missed him. But that's all behind us now. Thank goodness.

Coming up: Cooking School!

Moving day

2009-05-22T19:01:00.000-05:00

We've been working on loading everything up since about 8 am. We were packed and ready to go at 4 pm. We're currently en route to San Antonio. It's been a really long day.

Moving Updates

2009-05-21T09:28:00.000-05:00

Closing was moved from Wednesday to Friday (tomorrow) due to J not being able to be here Wednesday night. So we're closing bright and early tomorrow morning. I'm resting my hand tonight because I'm sure I'll have to sign my name at least 50 times tomorrow.

The past few days I've been having issues with the fridge. It wasn't cooling or staying cold. I called J about it and he didn't really believe me. I really wouldn't care so much since we are moving, but the fridge is staying and I don't want the new homeowners getting pissed cause it's broken. So I convince J to call someone to come out and look. It turns out our fancy-schmancy refrigerator is run by a computer. And the computer board went out and needed to be replaced. $250 later, it's fixed.

Tonight the new owners are coming to inspect the house to make sure we have everything fixed up. Hopefully everything will be to their satisfaction.

We've got a UHaul for tomorrow and we should start our journey sometime around mid-afternoon. Then I've got a long day of unpacking to do.

I'm ready.

Wordless Wednesday

2009-05-13T21:11:00.001-05:00

Closing in 7 days

2009-05-13T09:06:00.000-05:00

We should be closing on our house next Wednesday and moving out next Friday/Saturday. It's crunch time and I'm getting really nervous. I'm just so scared that I'm going to get a phone call saying they are backing out.

On the other hand, I'm so excited. In about a week, we'll no longer have a mortgage to worry about and electricity bill, water bill, etc. This is gonna save us about $1,400 a month since we'll be staying with J's parents. We'll be paying off some credit cards and saving for a down payment for a new house in San Antonio.

We've been packing for about 2 weeks already and there is still much to do. Wish us luck!

First Haircut

2009-05-13T00:29:00.002-05:00

Look at those curls! They're gone now. Sniff, sniff.

Well, not totally gone. But Christian did get a much needed haircut last Saturday before his birthday party. He was really good during the haircut until a teenage girl walked in and then he started "flirting" and trying to get to her. So I only have pictures from before she walked in. After I was too busy holding him still to get any pictures. He just got a very minor trim. I love his curls too much to do anything drastic.

Broken Windows: Rowdy neighbors or a botched break-in?

2009-05-12T10:43:00.001-05:00

So I was out of my house all last week from May 1st through May 8th. We came home last Friday. I got to the house first since we were in separate cars.

As I walked in from the garage, the first thing I felt was a spider web in my face. Yuck! I wondered how on earth that got there, but quickly dismissed it and went on with unpacking and waiting for my boys. Then I noticed that the AC was running which was odd because when I left it set for 95 degrees. But I didn't think about that too much.

About 20 minutes later, the boys walk in and start unloading J's car. It's already late about 9:30 and we hear the neighbors having a party outside. Christian is wired from sitting in a car for 4 hours so we let him wander around the house while we finish unloading. Once everything is settled down, J notices that part of our crown molding in the kitchen is falling (just barely). We figure that it's just the house settling. So we decide to turn on our soaker hoses for the night to moisten the ground.

As J's walking outside and I'm at the dining room tables inside, I noticed there's a piece of glass on the floor near the table. I scooped up Christian and yelled for J. We both noticed it at the same time. There was a hole in our double paned windows.

J called the cops and kept inspecting the gash. And then used a flashlight to check out the rest of the backyard. There were fast food wrappers all over and our patio chairs were strewn out the yard. We immediately suspected our neighbors kids.

We've always had issues with our neighbors. They are constantly throwing crap into our back yard. (I remember when I was a million months pregnant and I was outside picking up chicken wing bones and beer cans so the dogs wouldn't get them.) They've wrapped our house, etc, etc, etc. They are awful.

The cops arrives. We tell him what we know and he's off next door to ask them some questions. The cop come back and agrees with us. The neighbors are admitting to their kids being in our backyard with some of their friends a couple evenings, but not to breaking the windows. We have no proof but the cops really thinks it's probably them. We get a police report for our insurance and off he goes. We taped it up and have plans to get it fixed this week.

But the story gets more complicated.... That all happened Friday night. Well, on Saturday my dad and J are working on the house and yard while my mom and I and baby are getting ready for a Mother's Day bbq. While J is outside, our neighbor on the other side comes by and to let us know that she was broken into the previous Saturday. Someone threw a piece of concrete into her sliding glass door and took her TVs, lap tops, stereo, and jewelry.

Did someone break into her house and then try to come for ours? We know that nothing was stolen from our home. Our computer, TVs, video game systems, etc are all accounted for. I have no jewelry of value other than my engagement ring and wedding rings which I always have on. So we don't think anyone was in our home. There was glass on the ledge of the window which wouldn't have been there is someone had crawled through. The blinds weren't messed up which they wouldn't been if someone crawled in, etc.

We don't know what happened.

Swine flu vacation

2009-05-05T13:32:00.003-05:00

We're still in San Antonio. Hopefully, we'll be here until Friday and then head back to the Valley.

I'm getting a glimpse of what my life will be like in about a month when we are here permanently. Christian is adjusting well. He's sleeping awesome and taking good naps. My only concern is his eating, but it seems like he's coming around.

I've decided that I need to get some sort of schedule for the summer. Not like a rigid, official schedule. but some sort of balance.

Like today he got up around 8 and ate breakfast. Then by 9, we were out and about. We ended up shopping and looking around until 11:30. Once we were back, Christian ate a good lunch and went right to sleep. He's been sleeping since about 12:30 and it's already 1:30. I'm hoping he'll stay down until 2:30 and then we'll just play here until J gets home at 4:15.

By the time I move here for good, J will be on an extended schedule which will mean he works until 6, but he'll only work 3 days a week and on Saturdays.

I'm starting to really look forward to this summer. Now if only I could find a job for the fall then I'd really be able to have a relaxing summer.

Swine flu sucks...

2009-05-03T14:50:00.001-05:00

This blows. My school district just closed down starting tomorrow and will supposedly be closed until Tuesday, May 11th. That means 6 days out.

I'm sure we are going to have to extend our school year an extra week or so to cover the time lost.

This whole situation sucks because we're closing on our house May 20 and moving out the 23rd and I was going to have to stay with my grandma until school got out the 5th of June. Now I'll probably have to be with her for 3 weeks.

The upside of this mess is that I'm going to San Antonio and spend the week with my husband. And also I don't have to take my darling child back home on a plane. Ahhh, the small things...

I must be crazy

2009-05-01T14:16:00.000-05:00

Christian and I are flying to Houston tonight. We have scheduled Christian's party for tomorrow afternoon and I volunteered to fly instead of drive so I could help out my parent's with the preparations tonight. The last time I flew was in December and Christian was a terror. Now I know that tonight is going to be much worse. I just know. He's going to be antsy and wanted to be put down the whole time. Not fun. Thankfully, it's only an hour flight. Wish us luck!

Stats: Then and Now

2009-05-01T12:14:00.000-05:00

April 29th, 2008:
Height: 20 3/4 inches
Weight: 8 lbs, 6oz

April 29th, 2009:
Height: 28 1/2 inches
Weight 20 lbs, 14 oz

What a difference a year makes!

I hate my ped

2009-05-01T11:23:00.000-05:00

Yesterday was Christian's 12 month appointment. The appointment was scheduled for 5 pm.

I decided to arrive early at 4:30 because I had new insurance and wanted to give them time to process. Christian and I went to sit in the waiting area.

As soon as we sit down and Christian starts exploring, another woman in the waiting area lets me know that a kid JUST threw up on the floor where we were sitting. I immediately swoop baby up. And guess what happens when you pick up and newly walking toddler and want to carry him? Yep, the hysterics begin. He's crying and kicking and scratching.

That lasted for 30 minutes when they finally called me back at 5:00. We head back to the weighing room (stats later). After being weighed and measured, we go to another little sitting room and wait for an exam room.

Five minutes later another mother and toddler come in. He's a sick toddler. His mother just puts him down and he wanders to the play area and starts playing with all the toys where Christian was!!! WTF? I swoop him up again and hysterics start again! But I wasn't having Christian play in the same area where the other kid was playing. Seriously, that mother should have been carrying her son or containing him in some way. Don't just let him wonder over to my healthy child.

So I'm holding him...and holding him...and holding him....and holding him....until 6:05. By this point, I'm exhausted (I've already had a horrible day.) and my back is hurt and I'm just pissed. On a normal night, Christian would be eating dinner and settling down to some quiet playtime before bath. Not screaming in the doctor's office.

Finally, I just reached my breaking point. I walked out. At the front, the office manager (who happens to be the ped's wife), she asks me if everything's okay. I tell her no. I've been waiting for over an hour. I want another appointment where I won't have to go through this again. She offers no apologizes and no explanations. So we're scheduled for sometime next week. I'm not even sure what day. I already lost the appointment card. I'll just have to call them next week.

Seriously. Is this the way other peds operate? Thank goodness I'm moving and will be finding another ped. Next week's appt will be Christian's last with him.

Happy 1st Birthday!

2009-04-29T22:00:00.000-05:00

A year ago today, I became a Mommy and my life changed dramatically.

Happy Birthday, Goobie!! You are the light of my life.

(Pictures to come this weekend. We're partying it up on Saturday.)

ENT Results...

2009-04-29T19:51:00.001-05:00

...are perfectly normal. It must have been a bad test or bad behavior from my darling son. Whatever the case is, I'm beyond thankful. This is a huge load off my shoulders.

No news yet

2009-04-28T20:07:00.001-05:00

We're still waiting for Christian's test results. I talked to a nurse today and she said that he hasn't had a chance to look over them yet.

I hate playing the waiting game.

Today's the day

2009-04-27T07:49:00.002-05:00

Christian's second hearing test is in an hour. We kept him up last night until 11:30 and woke him up at 4:30. So hopefully he'll fall asleep during the test.

I'm going to have my phone glued to my hand until J calls me with the news. I've already got butterflies in my stomach.

Update: The test went well. Christian slept the whole time (thankfully). J and him here out in 2 hours. The ENT was going to call us late this afternoon or early tomorrow morning for the results. He didn't call today. So hopefully, we'll hear something tomorrow (pun not intended).

2 week ENT follow up

2009-04-24T10:16:00.000-05:00

Today was Goobs's tube follow up with the ENT. After we checked in, he had a hearing test. He didn't like it. He kept squirming around and trying to pull the things from his ears and crying. The audiologist (is that what's she called?) said that she thought she got enough from him.

About 20 minutes later, our ENT and the audiologist come in and tell me that he passed his left ear hearing test and failed the right ear hearing test! Doc thinks he just didn't sit still long enough. He also told me that I would definitely know if he was deaf in one ear. (Would I?)

Now we have to go back on Monday for another procedure where they will sedate him and do a more extensive hearing test.

(At first they scheduled me for the second test on May 7th, but I cried and told them I couldn't wait that long. I would be too stressed out about it. So the audiologist took pity on me and squeezed us in on Monday.)

I'm so scared. I have so many questions running through my head. Could he really be deaf in one ear? What will we do? Can it be fixed? Did the tubes cause this? Would I have noticed deafness?

I'm going to go to pieces.

*******************************

That was posted yesterday at JM. I just did a quick copy and paste so that I could keep my blog updated.

I'm feeling a lot better, especially after hearing from Kel. (Thank you, Kel!) I'm pretty much sure that the test they did wasn't worth a dime and that he can hear. Last night, I spent about an hour testing him. I'd whisper on his right side or bang something on his right side, and he always turned his head or acknowledged me. He wouldn't do that if he was deaf, right? And if he is, we'll get through it. But I'm not going to worry myself sick until I know for sure what's going on. I just can't take it.

And I'm so thankfully that I have such a great husband. Next week is our state-wide testing and I just can't take any time off. So he's taking time off his job to stay here in Harlingen and take Christian in for his procedure next Monday. Then that afternoon, he'll drive back up to San Antonio for work on Tuesday.

April 23rd, 2009

2009-04-24T10:05:00.001-05:00

... was the day that Goobie officially started walking.

Before that day, he'd take one step here and there, but not more than 2 or 3 steps. Well, yesterday, I picked him up at daycare and he was walking the halls in the center with his teacher. She was holding his hand. When he saw me, he let go of her hand and walked about 5 steps to me and then laughed because he was so excited.

My baby is growing up. Sniff, sniff.

Goob's Surgery

2009-04-14T08:10:00.000-05:00

So we've been fighting ear infections and fluid in ear FOREVER! It started last August and has been continuing until now.

Our ped originally prescribed Claritin Allergy meds last October. It didn't help with the fluid. The infections would clear with antibiotics. The fluid won't budge. So in December, ped prescribed Claritin AND Nasonex spray. Still didn't work. Finally in January, he referred us to see an ENT.

The whole time during this process I was freaking out because I was worried that his hearing and speech development would be behind. The doc even mentioned Goob going deaf. Hello, don't say stuff like that to me. I'm a hypochondriac and I always overanalyze.

We finally got an appointment with the ENT for mid February. We confirmed that he did have fluid in the ears and beginnings of an infection. Doc prescribed heavy duty antibiotics. And we had a follow up in March. Fluid was still there during follow up. So it was time for tubes.

Tube surgery was scheduled for April 9th. We had to jump through so many hoops to get our insurance straighten out, but thankfully we got it all in line. (It's all out of network so we ended up paying a pretty penny.)

So last Wednesday night, my parents came in to be with me during the surgery and afterwards. They arrived late and we all went right to be. Goob had been asleep since 8. And I was instructed not to give him any thing to eat/drink after 12. And wouldn't you know that he woke up at 1 am?

He was very stubborn and wouldn't go back to sleep. And of course once he was awake, he saw his grandparents and thought it was time to play. Finally, finally, finally, my dad got him to sleep around 4 am. Enough time for me to barely get back into REM sleep before I had to be up by 5:45 to get to the Ambulatory CEnter at 6:30.

We arrived at 6:30. Goobs came in his pjs. He was happy as a clam with his grandpa.

And a water bottle.

Around 7, they called us back. My mom and I went to the pre-op and changed him into his hospital gown and talked to the docs.

He looked so cute in that little hospital gown. But hopefully, it'll be the only time he'll ever been in one.

Then one of the docs came and picked up Christian and started cuddling and tickling him and took him back. I loved that they didn't make this long drawn out goodbye. Just really quick. I got a little teary-eyed.

I walked back to the waiting room and sat down and called J and told him what happened. While I was still on the phone, the recovery nurse came and got me and told me they were done. It took less than 10 minutes.

It was a snap. But coming out of the gas was not. He cried and cried and cried for about 20 minutes. Finally, he was able to eat and cuddle with me and quieted down. About 30 minutes after surgery, I got him dressed and we were out of there.

He wasn't too happy about getting dressed. He really liked that hospital gown.

We left the facility at about 8 am. It only took 90 minutes from entrance to exit.

At home, he ate some pancakes and got his ear drops and Tylenol and went to sleep for several hours. By that afternoon, he was as good as new.

And I'm already noticing that he's a lot more vocal. We went to my Aunt's house on Saturday and it echoes and he was yelling and screaming just to hear himself. I think he liked the echoing.

The only set back was some minor bleeding on Saturday. I put his ear drops in and blood came out. Called ENT and he said it was probably infected and just to keep putting in drops. And the bleeding stopped!

We have a follow up appt on April 23rd. I'm so glad this is all behind us.

Long Overdue Weekly Pics: Weeks 39-49

2009-04-13T19:53:00.002-05:00

Week 49: April 7th

I'm a bad mommy. I have no pictures between February 19th through April 7th. I'll blame the fact that I didn't have any batteries in my camera and that J just started his new job and I was adjustin to being a single mommy Monday through Thursday.

Week 42: February 17th

Week 41: February 10

Week 40: February 3rd

Week 39: January 27th

Please.

2009-03-25T16:44:00.001-05:00

Still kicking

2009-03-15T22:04:00.003-05:00

It's been awhile since my last post. Sorry about that. Things have been crazy around here. I'm basically a single mom during the week. And by the time I put my Goobster to bed, I can barely do more than stare blankly at the tv. I'm always so tired. Ugh. But we've survived for 3 weeks. We have 12 more to go.

This next week will be great. I'm on spring break from work. So I've been here in San Antonio with J since Friday. Then on Wednesday, I'll head to Houston and spend the rest of the week with my parents. J will fly to Houston to spend the weekend with me and then drive home with me. That evening he'll fly back up to San Antonio, ready to start the work week. Doesn't that sound complicated? But it works for us.

I hope to be able to devote more time to posting as I get more used to being on my own. I have some great pictures to share. My baby is growing so fast!! Can you believe we're only about 7 weeks from his birthday? Eek!

On another note, remember my post about going off the pills and to try charting to avoid pregnancy. Well, I'm very happy to report that our first month was highly successful. I didn't get knocked up! Woo hoo!

I have something else to say. It's highly embarassing, but I need to get it off my chest. I've already told J but he doesn't grasp the seriousness of the situation. So here goes, don't judge me too harshly. ....... I'm a Twilight fanatic. It's bad. Real, real bad. I've already read the books at least 4 times. I try to put them down and leave them alone. But I always keep getting dragged back into them. I was doing real well handling my addiction, until last Monday. At lunch, one of my coworkers brought up how they were filming the next movie. Well, that night I just had to go back and look through a few parts of the second book. I then couldn't put it down. I had to reread all the rest of them. Ugh. I have a problem. I think that I'm going to leave them all here in San Antonio that way I can't get to them.

First week-done!

2009-02-27T13:00:00.002-06:00

So this past week was J's first week at his new job and back at his parents'. It was also my first week home alone with just Goob.

It went well. I did have a mini breakdown on Sunday evening, but I got through it. The rest of the week flew by. Goob and I really have our routine down pat in the afternoons. So that really helps. He's usually in bed by 8 and I'll have the rest of the evening to myself.

This week was a short week for us due to a local holiday. I got off of work yesterday at 12 and had today off. So Goob and I drove up to my ILs for the weekend. J's still at work now, but he'll be off in about an hour so we'll have all weekend to be together.

J's new employer is helping us sell our house and will help us buy a new house which is great. Within 20 minutes of J talking to the moving coordinators, we had two local real estate agent calling us to set up appointments.

Things are moving fast!

Happy Valentine's Day!

2009-02-14T19:02:00.003-06:00

Our Valentine's Day is winding down. It was very simple and low key and spent with my two boys. We spent the morning running errands and then we went to the movies. We saw Confessions of a Shopaholic. It was adorable. The Goob came with us and was behaving beautifully until the last 15/20 minutes and then J had to walk him around in the hallway. Now we've spent the afternoon at home. Goob is fixing to head to bed and J and I are going to enjoy a steak dinner. We've refused to go out since we're sure lines will be ridiculously long. And we also picked up some chocolate covered strawberries for dessert. Yum.

Happy Valentine's Day!

February 23rd

2009-02-10T19:50:00.003-06:00

J will start work on Monday, February 23rd...in San Antonio. That's about 5 hours away. And since I'm under contract until June 5th. We'll be apart. For 15 weeks.

I'm trying to not stress about this, but it's hard, especially since J is so excited to start his new job.

Something new

2009-02-09T09:38:00.000-06:00

Well, I'm officially off of my birth control pills. But I don't want to get pregnant! I'm off of them because they just are not fun for my body. I'm moody, irritable, always hungry, etc, etc.

So I did some research, asked for some advice from some JM pals. I bought Taking Charge of Your Fertility and devoured it. It's an awesome book. So informative.

J and I have decided to give Natural Family Planning a try. I'll follow the Fertility Awareness Method from TCOYF. This is the perfect time for us to start. J is fixing to move in with this parents to start a new job and we'll only see each other on weekends. This will give me plenty of time to observe and chart.

Of course, we both know that we're taking a risk here. But we've decided that if I do end up getting pregnant (which I don't want to right now), it wouldn't be the end of the world. We'd welcome another baby, especially if he/she's as cute as Goob.

Wish us luck.

Ocho

2009-02-04T19:25:00.002-06:00

Eight years ago, J and I started dating. We were both freshmen in college. Ahhhh...memories.

Here we are. We've been married for about a year and a half and we have the cutest baby ever.

What more could we want?

J got a job!

2009-02-01T19:23:00.002-06:00

J was offered a job on Friday. Yay! But, it's going to bring a lot of changes. It's a lot to process for all of us. More on those changes later.

Waving

2009-01-25T08:48:00.000-06:00

Tonight J went to get us some dinner. I fed Goob dinner and then we played on the floor. J returned. Goob got all excited and smiled at him and then raised his hand in the air, like he was waving. It was cute....unless he was doing the Nazi salute and in that case, not so cute. I'll give him the benefit of the doubt.

And then as I was walking in the bathroom to take him from J after his bath, he did it again!

Weekly Pics: Week 37-38

2009-01-24T20:29:00.001-06:00

Week 38: January 20th

Week 37: January 13th (Not the best picture, but it's all I got. I was documenting his first time to eat real bananas. We get excited about the silliest things around here.)

Boys will be boys at any age.

2009-01-20T17:43:00.003-06:00

A few minutes ago, I was sitting on the floor. My almost 9 month old crawled over to me, climbed into my lap, and put his head on my chest. It was awesome. I finally felt that he truely and deeply knew that I was his mama and that I would do anything for him. And then he burped. And then laughed at his burp. Boys!

Not Me Mondays!

2009-01-19T17:06:00.003-06:00

Welcome to Not Me! Monday! This blog carnival was created by MckMama. You can head over to her blog to read what she and everyone else have not been doing this week.

Here are the things that I didn't do this past Saturday.

I didn't wake up at 7 am on Saturday morning when I have to be at work at 8 am and that work is certainly not 30 miles away. I certainly wasn't so late that I just threw my hair in a ponytail and threw on the clothes that I wore the previously night.

I definitely didn't stop at McDonald's on Saturday morning when I wasn't late to grab a delicious sausage biscuit.

I was not gullible and I didn't fall for L's joke that C wasn't at work yet when she was supposed to be there at 7 am and it was 8am. I certainly didn't pull over and have a freak out and call another friend to call C's mom and try to figure out where she was. I defintely shouldn't have known better to believe a thing that L says.

I didn't whine and groan all morning cause I was having to work on a Saturday.

I didn't get snippy with an older teacher when she got snippy with me. And I certainly didn't tell her to "get over it" when she wanted to argue with me. That was not me, my parents certainly raised me better.

I didn't go home and collapse on the couch for the rest of the afternoon. And I didn't jump for joy when Goob took a long nap while J went to a job interview.

I didn't force my husband to drive us 50 miles to get to a nearest Babies R Us cause they were having a sell on diapers. (Buy 2 value boxes, get a free $15 gift card. I promise you it was a great deal!)

I didn't have a melt down at BRU when I couldn't find my needed size. (A size 3, in case anyone wants to send me diapers.) And I did't make my hubby go and ask the associate to check in the back.

I didn't convince my husband to take me out to dinner when I just spent almost $100 at BRU. And I certainly didn't have dessert. Yum! Or not yum!

(Wow. Saturday really wasn't my day!)

So many changes so fast

2009-01-18T20:26:00.003-06:00

To make a long story short, since the last time I posted, my husband lost his job and our world flip flopped. He got laid off last Friday (1/9).

After spending a weekend in shock, he got to work looking for another job. He's got great experience, but he's been considering a change...out of the world of retail. Besides, the retail world is so scary lately with all the big box stores closing (Bye, Circuit City!). So he's exploring other options. Right now, he's got 5 big prospects. 3 are retailers. 2 are not. The 2 that are not are located in San Antonio, about 3 hours away.

Right now he's in San Antonio staying at his parent's house because he has an interview tomorrow. This was a job recommended to us by my grandfather. It's a management training position. There is a lot of growth in this company.

I think we both really want him to get one of these San Antonio jobs (the other he applied for last week and is waiting to see what they say). We've been living down here in south Texas for 4 years. We've always talked about moving and now it really looks like the opportunity might be presented to us.

Him getting the job is going to be a major change for us. He'll mostly likely have to start ASAP. We've discussed that he'll probably move to San Antonio and live with his parents while I stay here and finish up my year of teaching and put the house on the market. Then we've talked about not looking for another house for awhile. We'd like to live with his parents (they have a HUGE house) for about a year and save enough to pay off some of our debts and for a down payment for another house.

Lots to think about. Lots of new possibilites. If you can, please send us some positive thoughts for DH's job interview tomorrow and for our fresh start.

Weekly Pic: Week 36

2009-01-06T20:47:00.001-06:00

Week 36: January 6th

Now and Then

2009-01-04T04:03:00.001-06:00

May 2008

January 2009

Another resolution

2009-01-03T17:09:00.000-06:00

I'm not going to spend time worrying about things that are not in my control. In Randy Pausch's words, I'm gonna be a Tigger, not an Eeyore.

Bad night last night

2009-01-03T15:52:00.002-06:00

Goob went to bed normally. Ate dinner, played, had a bath, played, ate a bottle, went to bed. Nothing out of the ordinary.

J and I had some quality, playing Wii and reading. It was a nice night. We went to bed around midnight.

At 3ish, I hear it. The whining and crying on the monitor. At first, I didn't think anything of it. Sometimes he just cries in his sleep. But he kept at it. After a few minutes of whining/crying, I elbowed J. He went to get the Goob, I went to get a bottle. I thought he'd take a few drinks and fall back asleep. We put him in bed with us and watched tv as he ate his bottle.

He finished the bottle so J put him back to bed. J didn't even get out of the room when he started crying again. We put him back in bed with us. He got comfy and fell asleep. J noticed that he was asleep and tried to carry him back to his crib. This time he lasted 10 minutes and J and I were back asleep. Then he started crying again.

We haven't experienced anything like this since Goob was a newborn. It was awful.

We gave him another bottle. He just played with it. And then he decided that he wanted to play with us. He was smiling and giggling and trying to be a ham. We tried not to laugh since we were beyond tired, but you know how it goes.

Finally, we just decided to leave him in bed with us. Around 6 oclock, he finally went fell asleep until 9 am.

I think today he's been recovering from his lack of sleep. He took a nap from 11 to 12:15 and now he's been sleeping since 2:15.

Wish us luck that tonight is a better night.

Weekly Pics: Weeks 32-35

2009-01-03T12:12:00.002-06:00

Week 35: December 30th

Week 34: December 23rd

Week 33: December 16th

Week 32: December 9th

New Year's Resolution

2009-01-03T07:17:00.001-06:00

I've made several resolutions. I'm really going to work towards sticking to them.

For my family:
I'd like us to go to church more often. We're going to try to go once a month, and if that works out, we'll increase it.

For my household:
I'm going to do 1 load of laundry per day. I hate having to do massive loads on the weekends. It ruins my whole day. So one per day. I think I can handle that. And I'm going to try to follow the Fly Lady more than I have been.

For our finances:
I'm going to try and work on paying down our debts. I'd like to be able to pay off several credit cards.

For my blog:
I'm very hot and cold. I'll blog a lot one week and then not at all for 3 weeks. I'm going to try to post at least 3 times a week.

For myself:
I'm going to try and be more health conscious. I'll think twice about what's going into my body and how much activity I'm getting. I'm going to start a food log and document everything.

Hello 2009!

2009-01-01T00:00:00.001-06:00

Happy New Year!

What an amazing year 2008 has been. Who knows what 2009 has in store for us?

(A resolution post coming soon.)

2008 Books I've Read

2008-12-31T21:55:00.002-06:00

I read fifty-three books this past year. My goal was to try and read 100. I didn't make it. I got just over halfway there. I won't try to make any excuse (like I did have a baby in April). I'll just try again this year.

American Wife: A Novel (12/31)
Because of Winn-Dixie (12/16)
The Boleyn Inheritance (11/27)
The Secret Life of Bees (11/14)
The Last Lecture (11/7)
Breaking Dawn (10/8)
Eclipse (10/3)
New Moon (9/24)
Twilight (9/17)
Audition (8/31)
The Good Earth (7/22)
The Remnant (7/11)
Stori Telling (7/1)
Desecration (6/28)
Jumper (6/18)
The Mark (6/14)
The Indwelling (6/11)
Runaway Jury (6/9)
Bungalow 2 (6/6)
A Most Uncommon Degree of Popularity (6/5)
The Appeal (6/3)
Princess of Park Avenue (5/24)
Assassins (5/18)
Apollyon (5/1)
Soul Harvest (4/20)
Princess: A True Story Of Life Behind The Veil In Saudi Arabia (4/14)
The Mayflower Madam (4/13)
Hypocrite in a Pouffy White Dress (4/12)
Tribulation Force (4/4)
Valley of the Dolls (3/30)
Elizabeth Edwards: Saving Grace (3/26)
Three Little Words (3/22)
In the Deep Heart's Core (3/20)
Singing Songs (3/17)
Drop Dead Beautiful (3/16)
My Sister's Keeper (3/13)
Ana's Story (3/11)
Looking for Alaska (3/11)
The Constant Princess Audiobook (3/9)
The Other Boleyn Girl (3/6)
The Giver (3/5)
Becoming Naomi Leon (3/5)
Middlesex (3/1)
An Abundance of Katherines (2/20)
Chloe Does Yale (2/17)
When the Heart Cries (2/15)
Prep (2/13)
Midwives (2/10)
Esperanza Rising (1/14)
How to Teach Filthy Rich Girls (1/12)
Trans-Sister Radio (1/8)
Posh (1/6)
The Devil in the Junior League (1/4)

Quick Updates

2008-12-18T20:13:00.002-06:00

Yesterday, Goob started army crawling and he even tried to get up on his hands and knees. I'm sure he'll be fully mobile by the New Year.

Tomorrow, the Goobie and I are flying to Houston to spend a few days with my parents. I'm terrified of the hour long flight. Wish us luck.

I think I found Goob's calling.

2008-12-08T22:07:00.001-06:00

He's going to be a race car driver!

"Okay, maybe if I let Mom take one picture of me, she'll put the camera down and push me."

"Fine, take a close up. Then put the darn camera down and push me. I want to feel the wind in my curls!"

"Jeez. What is my mother doing? Push me. QUIT TAKING PICTURES!"

"HAHA! My grandpa came to my rescue. Push me higher!!"

"I'm too fast for you, Mommy. No pictures, please. I've got to concentrate!"

A Trip to the SA Zoo Last Month

2008-12-07T21:58:00.001-06:00

At the beginning of last month, we went to visit my inlaws in San Antonio. We decided to visit the zoo. Here's a few pics.

Weekly Pics: Weeks 30-31

2008-12-07T09:47:00.005-06:00

Week 31 December 2nd

Week 30 November 25th

Be Thankful!

2008-11-27T07:00:00.001-06:00

This year we are so thankful to have a happy, healthy, handsome baby boy who brings us so much joy each day!

We will be spending the day with my parents and my mother's family. Have a wonderful day!

I'm Giving Myself a Pat on the Back

2008-11-24T19:25:00.004-06:00

This shirt is my worst enemy. My husband has had it since at least our senior year of college (03-04). Everytime he wears it, I cringe. It's awful and embarassing. And look how worn out it is. It's even got paint splattets. Ugh. And it's definitely not something a father should wear.

So a few weeks ago, I hatched a plan. (cue evil laugh.) I was going to dispose of the shirt. But I had to be very sneaky. If I just threw it away, I knew my husband would have a fit.

Last Sunday, I put it in the wash. I washed and dryed it. And then I put it on the top shelf above the machines.

My husband asked for it twice, and I just told him it was in the laundry room/garage. He never went and actually looked for it so it stayed up on that top shelf.

Last Friday, I took it from the top and "accidentally" dropped it in a dark corner beside the machine. The hubby never asked for it.

It really is a dark corner. The flash just brightened it up. It was in the dark corner until yesterday.

Yesterday as I was doing another load of laundry, I picked it up and put it in my laundry trash. And when I say I put it in the trash, I mean I rolled it up as small as possible, and put it at the very bottom of the trash.

(Yes, that's my laundry trash bag. Yes, it's a wedding gift bag. When I got married 17 months ago, we were blessed with many many presents. So now I use the old wedding gift bags as laundry room trash bags. I'm going green.)

So, now it sits there. Trash day is tomorrow. J usually collects all the trash in the mornings. Cross your fingers that he doesn't start looking for it between now and then. And cross your fingers that he doesn't go peeking through the trash.

I'm giving myself a big pat on the back for getting this far. In 24 hours, that shirt should be history.

Not Me Monday

2008-11-24T07:00:00.006-06:00

For some reason the above picture isn't linking back to MckMama's site, so here's the link. Sorry about that.

Let's see....

I did not call in sick to work on Thursday because I didn't trust J to take Goob to the doctor's office and report back to me EVERYTHING that was said. I am not a weirdo who likes my husband to repeat verbatim entire conversations that I've missed. I did not consider going to work and making him video tape his conversation.

I did not go to Goob's day care on Thursday and throw a minor hissy fit. I did not demand/request that I not have to pay for day care next week since they failed to notify all parents when a child was diagnosed with RSV and then give it to my son. I then did not feel bad after I left for being so crazy. My husband and I did not do a small happy dance for saving $105.

I did not dread going to work on Friday because we had a stupid school carnival. I did not complain the whole time. Me complain? Never. I did not eat a bag of too salty popcorn. I did not bolt out the door as soon as we had cleaned up. I did not forget to say goodbye to anyone.

I did not slip and slide on a muddy patch on the way to my car. And I most certainly did not cuss as I was falling. And I did not drive home covered in mud. And my husband did not take one look at me and laugh when I got home.

Weekly Pics: Weeks 27-29

2008-11-23T20:55:00.004-06:00

Week 29: November 18th

Week 28: November 11th

Week 27: November 4th

My Fire-breathing Dinosaur

2008-11-22T11:44:00.005-06:00

As part of his treatment plan, Goob has to have a nebulizer treatment every 4 to 6 hours. The first few treatments were awful. He cried, he screamed, he was so sad. But he's gotten used to it. Now, he wears his dinosaur mask like a big boy. He even has learned to ROAR at us (we spent many treatments teaching him).

Here's our dino:

He's doing much better. The wheezing and coughing are almost gone. He'll only start coughing just before his treatment.

He's still got a runny nose and a little diarrhea. But doc said that's great since that's what's getting all the mucus and such out of his body.

And look he's still his crazy self.

It's RSV.

2008-11-20T11:07:00.002-06:00

We just left the ped. It's official. He's got RSV. We are on our way to the pharmacy to get a nebulizer. That's really the only treatment for him. Doc said that nebulizer will help as he fights off the virus. It's just a waiting game now.

RSV

2008-11-19T14:38:00.002-06:00

I just called the day care to see how Goob was doing because his teacher called me earlier and said that he wasn't eating well. He'll eat just a few ounces instead of the usual 5 or 6. So I was calling to see how he's doing and if he's eaten any better.

Well, I'm talking to the teacher and she said that he's still not eating well. He ate some and then fell asleep. But he's not fussy and he doesn't have a fever. He's just not eating. Strange.

As we're talking she just casually mentions that another of the kids got diagnosed with RSV last week. So now I'm kind of panicked. I've looked at the list of symptoms and he's experienced some of them. So I put a call into the peds office to see what they say.

And I'm kind of pissed that they haven't mentioned this sooner to me. If she got diagnosed last week, shouldn't they have let all the parents know????

My Car

2008-11-19T09:46:00.001-06:00

This morning as I was leaving for work, I had a realization. It came to me when I was snapping Goob's (empty) car seat into the base. (Empty, because his dad to him to daycare.)

My realization is that I am a mom and I drive a mom's car.

When I was in high school, I drove a teenager's car. The car was ancient. The windows didn't work. And the AC was iffy. But it was glorious! My own set of wheels. I had my dance team clothes in piles in the back. I had no less than 2 pairs of pom-poms. I had tons of magazines, CDs, several empty cups. And I'll admit a ton of trash from eating fast food. I also had at least 2 or 3 other girls who I was carpooling with.

When I was in college, I drove a college student's car. It was a new car, a hs grad gift from my parents. It was silver and it could go FAST! (Believe me, I got at least 4 speeding tickets during my sophomore year) In the car, I had sorority binders and folders. A KDX jacket. I had huge textbooks that weighed more than small children. I had paper and pencils. I had my student ID with Aggie bucks! I had football tickets. I had my boyfriend who relied on me to take his booty everywhere since he was carless. I had my two roommates who decided they liked my car better than theirs.

When I graduated and became a teacher, I had a teacher's car. I had retired my Fast Silver Car and inherited my mom's impala. It was okay. It was bigger and more roomy. I now had papers to grade littering the back seat. I had red pens and stickers in the cup holders. I had a new expensive purse in the seat next to me since I was now making good money and had no one to support. I had take out food in the backseat since there was no way on earth I was ever cooking.

Now I am a mom and I have a mom's car. It's a crossover with a lot of room. It's new and has all the safety features a new mom could ever need. I have a car seat in the back seat. In the very back, I have 2 strollers, one an umbrella stroller, one a full-size stroller. I have a pack of old size two diapers that we never used. I have wipes. I have a stocked and ready to go diaper bag just in case. I have a pacifier in the cup holders. I have a sippy cup in the back seat and several toys. I have 2 Winnie the Pooh towels. I have a 6 CD changer. At least 3 of the CDs currently in rotation are nursery rhymes that I can sing at the top of my lungs to calm a crying baby.

I drive a mom's car. And I love it.

A Huge Thank You!

2008-11-18T21:42:00.002-06:00

Thank you a million times over to Christa for the new amazing header! Isn't it fabulous?

Have You Ever?

2008-11-14T20:47:00.002-06:00

Stolen from Maria's blog

1. Started your own blog
2. Slept under the stars
3. Played in a band
4. Visited Hawaii
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than you can afford to charity
9. Held a praying mantis
10. Sang a solo
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown your own vegetables
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept on an overnight train
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitch hiked
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Run a Marathon
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Hit a home run
32. Been on a cruise
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
35. Seen an Amish community
36. Taught yourself a new language
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Seen Michelangelo’s David
41. Sung karaoke
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance
47. Had your portrait painted
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Been in a movie
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies
62. Gone whale watching
63. Gotten flowers for no reason
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma
65. Gone sky diving
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
67. Bounced a check
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten Caviar
72. Pieced a quilt
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had your picture in the newspaper
85. Read the entire Bible
86. Visited the White House
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
88. Had chickenpox
89. Saved someone’s life
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous
92. Joined a book club
93. Lost a loved one
94. Had a baby
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a law suit
98. Owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee

On the way to the dr.

2008-11-14T16:36:00.006-06:00

I picked up Goob about half an hour ago. His teacher said that he was a little fussy today and that he keeps pulling on his ear. I noticed the ear pulling yesterday. I'm almost positive he has an ear infection. Plus, he's had a cough for a few weeks. Some days it gets better, others it gets worse. I want to get him looked at so we have an appointment in 20 minutes at the doc down the street.

But I'm pissed. J and I had a fight on the way home. Not a fight fight, but an arguement. Well, I yelled at him and hung up on him and he got pissed and is now ignoring my calls. That was okay before I picked up Goob, it's not okay now that I have a sick baby.

Answer the damn phonE!

We'll see

2008-11-10T20:24:00.003-06:00

So J and I did some talking.

I think we're going to start trying for #2 next August. The only condition is that we need Jose to get some sort of pay raise between now and then. He's due for one so that shouldn't be a problem.

Goob will be 16 months old when we start trying and 2 years old when new baby is hopefully born.

I hope it all works out. We'll see. Only time will tell.

I'm not Super-Teacher...Thank goodness.

2008-11-10T20:17:00.002-06:00

So this is my 5th year of teacher. For the past 4 years, I've been busting my booty trying to do everything.

One of my many projects was taking over my school's UIL program. It's a competition between schools in different academic events. I've been the coordinator for 3 years. I had to pick out coaches, recruit students, arrange for transportation and meals, manage the students and collaborate with other schools. It's a pain in the butt. And the only perk is the paycheck. It's an extra $900.

I even did this last year. Our big meet last year was in February. I was 7 months pregnant and miserable, but I got through it. (You should've seen my legs after that. I was so swollen.)

Anyway, this year I am already stressed about it. Last night I went to bed thinking of everything I had to do. I even got up extra early to get to school early to get some things done. I had to leave my baby and husband in bed to go. Well, on my way to work I decided that it's not worth it. Yes, $900 would be great, but it's not necessary. I'd rather not have to stress myself out about it. I got to work and asked my great friend, Ada, to take it on and she said yes.

As soon as the words came out of her mouth, I felt this huge weight lifted off my shoulders. Ahhh.

I'm not going to feel guilty about it. I have a 6 month old. I have a husband. I have my students to worry about. I'll focus on them, not extracurriculars.

Not Me Monday!

2008-11-10T20:07:00.002-06:00

I did not make my husband wake up and drive me to work on Friday morning just so he'd have to pick me up and bring my son. I did not want to show off my beautiful baby.

I did not purposely drive badly on the way to the inlaws so J would insist that I not be allowed to drive.

I did not hand off my baby every chance I got this weekend so I could have a break.

I did not use the baby as an excuse to go to bed super early.

I did not call in sick for work on Friday so we could take an extra long vacation.

I did not insist that we go to the zoo and then complain that it was too hot. It was.

I did not watch The Happening right before bed and freak out and have nightmares.

I did not tell J the wrong directions to the portrait studio and we weren't 20 minutes late.

You know you are living in 2008 when...

2008-11-05T10:36:00.001-06:00

You know you are living in 2008 when...

1. You accidentally enter your PIN on the microwave.

2. You haven't played solitaire with real cards in years.

3. You have a list of 15 phone numbers to reach your family of three.

4. You e-mail the person who works at the desk next to you.

5. Your reason for not staying in touch with friends and family is that they don't have e-mail addresses.

6. You pull up in your own driveway and use your cell phone to see if anyone is home to help you carry in the groceries.

7. Every commercial on television has a web site at the bottom of the screen.

8. Leaving the house without your cell phone, which you didn't even have the first 20 or 30 (or 60) years of your life, is now a cause for panic and you turn around to go and get it.

10. You get up in the morning and go on line before getting your coffee.

11. You start tilting your head sideways to smile. : )

12. You're reading this and nodding and laughing.

13. Even worse, you know exactly to whom you are going to forward this message.

14. You are too busy to notice there was no #9 on this list.

15. You actually scrolled back up to check that there wasn't a #9 on this list.

Wow.

2008-11-04T22:08:00.002-06:00

A historic day.

It's certainly not the outcome I would have liked, but even I can't deny that it's history in the making.

(It just hurts a little.)

Success!

2008-11-04T19:35:00.001-06:00

The Segura family has cast our votes! And now we wait!

Voting, Part 1

2008-11-04T16:41:00.003-06:00

This morning Goob and I left the house at 7 drove a quarter mile to our polling place. As I pulled in, I saw a line of about 50 people already. I needed to be on my way to work at 7:30 to not be late. So we got in line, Goob was just content to people watch. The line moved slowly. At around 7:20, Goob decided he was tired of standing in line and spit up all over my shirt. Seriously. So we left. I was able to salvage my shirt with baby wipes and a jacket. I dropped Goob off at 7:30 and made it to work just in time.

We'll try again when J gets home. We decided we'll walk to our polling place. It'll be fun.

Wish us luck.

I just want to go to sleep and wake up on Wednesday.

2008-11-03T21:35:00.004-06:00

I just want to skip Election Day. I don't want to be bombarded with McCain and Obama talk. I'm just so sick of it. This is crazy coming from me cause I have a degree in political science, but I'm just done. At this point, I don't even care who wins...nevermind, I still care.

Goob and I are going to get an early start tomorrow. I want to be at my polling place at 7 am tomorrow when they open so I don't have to wait in line.

Then I'm going to home from work and I'm not even going to turn it on to live tv. I'm just gonna watch DVR shows. I'll wait and find out who wins Wednesday morning.

Not Me Monday

2008-11-03T17:29:00.005-06:00

I did not only buy one bag of candy so I wouldn't have to answer the door all night.

I did not get lost on a walk with Goob on Saturday morning. And I did not call my husband to try to figure out how to get home.

I did not go and spend $30 on a gift for a party on Saturday night and then not go to party.

I did not drag my husband shopping and out to dinner on Saturday night. I did not have a wonderful drink at Joe's Crab Shack and leave my hubby to take care of the boy.

I did not wake up early on Sunday morning to go shopping at Target. It was pure bliss, no one was there.

I did not make my husband go on a walk last night and I did not make up take the long way.

I did not get McDonald's for breakfast this morning.

I did not make my husband pick up Goob from day care early since he was getting off work early.

I did not come home from work and make my husband help me clean.

6 Month Milestones

2008-10-30T21:57:00.003-05:00

By six months, your baby should be able to:

keep head level with body when pulled to sitting. YES
say "ah-goo" or similar vowel-consonant sounds. YES

By six months, your baby will probably be able to:

bear some weight on legs when held upright. YES
sit without support. YES
turn in the direction of a voice. YES
razz. YES

By six months, your baby will possible be able to:

stand holding on to someone or something. YES
object if you try to take a toy away. YES
work to get a toy that's out of reach. YES
pass a cube or other objct from one hand to another.
look for a dropped object.
rake with fingers a tiny object and pick it up in fist.
babble. YES
feed self cracker or other finger food.

By six months, your baby may even be able to:

creep or crawl.
pull up to a standing position from sitting.
get into a sitting position from stomach.
pick up tiny object with any part of thumb and finger.
say "mama" or "dada".

Weekly Pics: Weeks 21-25

2008-10-30T21:21:00.004-05:00

Week 26: October 28th

Week 25: October 21st

Week 24: October 14th

Week 23: October 7th

Week 22: September 30th
No pictures. I suck.

Week 21: September 23rd

Goob's solids

2008-10-15T06:53:00.003-05:00

So far we're mastered:

bananas
carrots
pears
sweet potatoes
peaches
applesauce
squash

We still need to get through:

peas
prunes
green beans (Goob didn't like this when we first tried them, so we're trying again in a few days!

After we get through these, we're moving on to stage 2! My baby's growing up WAY TOO FAST!

In other news, we're traveling to Houston this weekend to visit my family. We are leaving super early Friday morning (~4am) because I have an eye doctor appt that I can't miss. And Jose's working Thursday night, so it's going to be up to me to get everything packed and ready to go for Friday morning. I'm betting that I'm going to have to drive too. Ugh. I'm going to start making my packing lists at school this morning. I always do better when I have a list. We'll see how it goes.

I have some awesome pics to post later today. Goob went on a bear hunt!

Off to work!

Not Me Monday!

2008-10-13T21:35:00.006-05:00

I'm finally jumping on the "Not Me Mondays" bandwagon.

I did not order a strawberry margarita on Friday night and just throw it away.

I did not drag my boys 20 miles to visit a pumpking patch just to take pictures.

I did not embarass my husband by harassing another family to take our picture at said pumpkin patch.

I did not beg my husband to get up with Goob two nights in a row because I was "sick."

I did not have a hissy fit when my husband came home 30 minutes late for work.

I did not tell my coworker that she couldn't borrow my Twilight book because I had promised it to someone else when really I just wanted to read it again.

And I most certainly did not do a little dance this evening when I realized that it's my husband's turn to wake up with the boy.

We have a tooth!

2008-10-09T20:38:00.002-05:00

So Goob pulled my finger into his mouth and OUCH! There was something sharp in there. My first thought was "Oh crap! What did he pick up and put in his mouth?" Then I looked and I can see some white coming through. It's gonna end up being the left bottom front tooth! Exciting!

Weekly Pics: Week 18, 19, 20

2008-09-23T17:33:00.003-05:00

Week 20: September 16th

Week 19: September 9th

Week 18: September 2nd

Bananas

2008-09-17T07:17:00.002-05:00

Just a quick update. We started bananas last night. Goob loved them. He kept opening his mouth for more and more. Yay!

Pictures to follow.

Goob's first ER visit

2008-09-15T16:28:00.002-05:00

First of all, I feel like a horrible mommy. I broke one of those rules I swore I would never do.

So yesterday afternoon, I was getting ready to go meet a friend and her daughter for lunch. J was ironing his clothes for work in the living room. I put Goob's car seat on our arm chair and put Goob in it. I didn't buckle him in because I knew that as soon as I buckled him in, he would start crying. So I just sat him in there and told DH to keep an eye on him. I ran to the kitchen and grabbed a bottle to throw in the diaper bag.

Well, the unthinkable happened. Goob was fidgeting around and he leaned forward in the car seat. When he leaned forward, he fell out on to our hardwood floors. J was across the room and couldn't get to him in time before he hit the ground. As soon as I heard what happened I ran back. J was picking him up.

My poor baby was crying so hard. I was screaming and shaking and crying. I honestly felt like my life flashed in front of my eyes. J was the calm one. As soon as I could stop shaking, I got Goob in my arms. I was still really crying. But, as soon as Goob saw that I was crying, he started laughing! He thought it was the funniest thing ever to see his mommy with mascara and tears all over her face. At that point, I calmed down alot.

We couldn't tell where he landed, we just knew he landed face down. We didn't see any bumps or red marks or anything like that. But we decided to go the ER just in case. We live 2 minutes from the hospital and they let us right back to triage. Within 30 minutes, we had seen a doctor.

The doc examined him. Nothing. He couldn't find anything wrong with him. He even asked us if we were sure he fell. He told us he'd probably wake up with a bruise or a bump today. He gave us a list of things to look for. The main thing was vomiting which he hasn't done. During the examination, Goob kept laughing and smiling so much so that the doc had to call in another doc to come see how cute he was.

So we were back home within an hour of his falling. (I love my hospital!) Goob took a nap. Woke up later as happy as a clam. He was normal the rest of the day.

In fact, he woke up this morning with still no bruise or bump or any signs that he had fallen.

So, I've learned my lesson. I'm strapping him down no matter what he's doing or where he's at.

Look what happens when Mommy and Daddy have too much time on their hands...

2008-09-10T22:03:00.005-05:00

J and I were both off this weekend, so we got around to do those chores we've been putting off. At the top of the list was going through Goob's closet and putting away anything that doesn't fit our Goob. We're not getting rid of anything. They're just being put away from #2 (who is not on his way anytime soon!) Anyways we had fun.

Goob wanted to know what the heck we were doing to all his clothes!

Once we told him, he pretended to be asleep so he wouldn't have to help. Sneaky, little Goob!

A few minutes later he decided to join in on the fun. He likes to try on hats!

His daddy thought he looked cool his this. Ha!

We had more pics, but I felt/looked like crap that day so I'm definitely not putting those up here.

We started solids on Saturday!

2008-09-10T21:53:00.005-05:00

We're working on rice cereal now. It was fun....

....and messy.

He's just getting rice cereal for the next two weeks. Then we'll start adding a new fruit or vegetable every 5 days. Yum!

Hurricane Ike

2008-09-10T07:36:00.001-05:00

This is getting ridiculous. This will be our 2nd hurricane this year. The county will be deciding whether or not to have a mandatory evacuation later today. Yuck.

Goob says "Look what I can do!"

2008-09-04T19:25:00.003-05:00

Hola!

"I'm bored. What should I do?"

"Let me try this"

"Hey, this is neat!"

"Ta-da! Look what I can do! Haha. Mommy and Daddy are in trouble now!"

A Fun, New Toy!

2008-08-31T21:07:00.004-05:00

Goob is loving his exersaucer. He's figured out how make all the noises and songs play. Once you put him in there, he has no time for you anymore. He's too busy.

Goob's day at the beach!

2008-08-31T19:59:00.004-05:00

Last weekend, Goob's grandparents were in town (J's parents). On Saturday evening, we went down to the island to meet some of their friends. It's a real shame that we live 30 minutes from the beach and we haven't been in forever. Anyways, it was Goob's first trip to the beach. Too bad we didn't go a bit earlier to enjoy more daylight.

Here are some pictures:

Goob getting his toes wet.

Goob with Mommy and Daddy.

Goob with his grandparents.

Weekly Pics: Week 16 & 17

2008-08-31T19:45:00.004-05:00

Week 16: August 19th

Look at that smile!

Week 17: August 26th

Audition by Barbara Walters

2008-08-31T18:17:00.003-05:00

I've spent the last six weeks reading Audition. It's Barbara Walter's biography. It was amazing. She has led such a fascinating life. It's even a little juicy. I highly recommend it. It's one of the best books I've read all year.

I'm now reading Twilight by Stephanie Meyer. I've gotta see if the hype is true.

Sick Baby

2008-08-28T20:48:00.004-05:00

I have a sick baby!

It all started yesterday afternoon. I came home and noticed that Goob was kind of sniffly. Then by the evening his nose started running a lot and he had a little cough.

But this morning he seemed a little better. He was his happy giggley usual self. So I dropped him off at daycare and went to work. After work when I got back to daycare, I immediately run into the director who had a phone in her hand. She told me she was calling me. My boy had a 99.9 fever and had started to get really fussy.

I called our ped and they told us to come in. We waited and waited and waited to see the doc. When we finally got seen, the doc immediately saw that he had an ear infection.

So now we're home and we've started 10 days of antibiotics and some Tylenol to get rid of the fever. The little guy can't go to daycare tomorrow so I'm taking the day off.

J is blaming the little kids who touched Goob at Wal-Mart a few days ago. I'm blaming starting daycare on Monday.

Short update

2008-08-25T21:05:00.003-05:00

I started back to work last week. And today was Goob's first day at day care. So sad. He was only there from 1 to 4 and he was fine when I got to pick him up. Tomorrow will be his first full day at the day care from 7 to 4. Hopefully, he'll only have 2 or 3 long days a week. One of the other days will be a short day (1-4) and the other 3 will be spent with mom or dad.

He's going to be 4 months on Friday. Where has the time gone???? He has his 4 month appt next Monday for a well baby visit and more shots. Boo hoo. This time though Daddy will be coming along.

Goob got a visit from his grandparents last week. And he had his first visit to the beach. I'll post the pictures soon. Plus the weekly pics from the past couple weeks.

Blast from the Past

2008-08-15T10:10:00.003-05:00

A year ago today I got the best news of my life.

Weekly Pics: Week 15

2008-08-14T22:37:00.002-05:00

Week 15: August 12th

How to make your husband mad...

2008-08-07T22:02:00.004-05:00

Stop him from watching his favorite show and relaxing on his day off and make him put together a high chair.

But look how cute this little guy is! It makes it worth it. Right, J?

Weekly Pictures: Week 14

2008-08-07T21:57:00.003-05:00

Week 14: August 5th

I love this last picture. He's looking at me like "Mom, not another picture!"

1 year ago

2008-08-05T18:50:00.002-05:00

According to my doctor, Goob was conceived a year ago today.

I cannot believe how fast time has gone by.

2 weeks left

2008-08-03T14:26:00.003-05:00

I have two weeks left of my summer. I start back at work on Aug 18th. This is so hard for me. I didn't imagine that it would be this difficult to leave my baby. He's starting daycare on Aug 25. (J's taking a week of vacation when I start back at work so Goob doesn't have to start at daycare yet.)

I cry everytime I think of someone else holding him, feeding him, changing him, seeing his smiles and just being with him.

(I want to stay home so bad but right now it's just not financially possible. J and I've done some major talking and we've worked out that I'll be able to be a SAHM in 2 years if we stick to our budget.)

Any advice for me?