Did I grab your attention with the title of this post?

So I have been blogging now for a little over a week and I gotta tell ya, this is becoming addicting! I find myself constantly thinking of what I can post about. It’s become a running joke with my friends and family that everytime something happens they say, “Are you going to blog about this?”

I find myself looking forward to checking for comments and going on to different blogs and reading. Even this weekend I was stalking waiting for my neighbor, Jo-Lynne, to come out so I could pick her brain with about a thousand questions since she has been blogging for a couple of years. She was very patient and answered all my inquiries even though she was probably wanting to run for the hills. Lucky for her, her daughter peed in the sandbox and so she could make a break for it!

Is this normal to get hooked on this blogging thing or should I have my husband sign me up for one my favorite shows: Intervention on A&E?

I just dropped my children off at daycare.  My daughter has been excited about going because for her it’s actually summer camp since she is of school age.  She gets to spend every afternoon at a pool so she is having the time of her life!

My son is 2-and-a-half and so for him it’s still the normal day care setting.  Now he just switched rooms so I’m sure he is still adjusting to that; but as soon as I get him in his car seat he starts in with, “Where are we going?”  So I tell him daycare and his response is, ” I no go to daycare.”  So that breaks my heart right then and there.

To add to it, as we are pulling into the parking lot he says, “I no get out.”  Meaning he is not getting out of the car.  I get him out of the car and we go in.  Now Kiki runs down to her room with a “See ya, mommy!”  I look at A.J. and his little lip is quivering and the tears are welling up in his eyes.  By the time I’m signing the sign-in sheet he is in a full-out wail.  The teacher takes him from me and the screams continue and I can hear the “I want Mommy” as I’m walking out the door.

So I drive home with a heavy heart AGAIN!!  I know that he is fine within 10 minutes of me leaving but I still can’t shake the guilt.  And the worst part is I have been experiencing this mother’s guilt for almost 7 years now and I know I will have it forever more.  You think I would be used to it by now!!

It’s 10:00 on this lovely Sunday morning and my husband is still snoring away.  Meanwhile, I have been up with A.J. since 7, have fed both kids breakfast, watched Shrek 2 and now Cinderella, and diffused two temper tantrums. 

I’m tempted to take a picture of him and post it but I kind of like being married to him so I’ll pass on that.

I do have to say that yesterday he did get up with the kids for me so I could catch a few more minutes of shut eye.  But it was a few more minutes, not a few more hours!!

I think I’ll send the kids up there now to go jump on the bed.  Have a great day!!

Before I start this post, I wanted to say that from this point on I am going to refer to my daughter as Kiki and my son as A.J.

A few weeks ago, I got a call from the kids’ daycare that Kiki had eaten a nectarine that I had packed in her lunch and that her lips had started to swell and bumps appeared around her lips shortly after eating it.  Since this was a first time occurrence, they were unable to give her anything so I had to go there to give her a Benadryl pill. 

I called the doctor and they recommended an allergist.  The doctor’s office told me when I call to make the appointment to tell them that she had a “significant reaction” in hopes that they would see her sooner.  Well, that didn’t really work because we got in today which is about 3 weeks later.  Although that’s really not that bad.  Some places I called couldn’t see us until the end of July.

They took her history and did the testing.  Back when we were younger they used to use knifes needles.  They have become more humane and don’t actually break the skin anymore - thank goodness!  I did feel bad for her though because once they applied the stuff on her back, it had to sit for 15 minutes and she wasn’t allowed to scratch.  And boy, did she want to scratch!

It turns out she has Oral Allergy Syndrome.  From what I understand, she is not allergic to the fruit, but the trees from which they grow.  The upper portion of her back that is all red with bumps is the tree pollen section.  She had a positive reaction to all the types of tree pollen and to some of the weeds.  So basically the months of March through May are not fun for her.

As far as the fruit, any fruit which gives her the reaction to her mouth, she can’t eat raw.  If we heat it up, it breaks down the proteins and her body wouldn’t react to it.  So basically, not a raw peach but peach pie is OK.

So this is nothing life threatening and it doesn’t require an Epi-Pen, just some Benadryl Fast Tabs.  It’s just going to take some time to figure out what fruit makes her feel that way.  So a manageable allergy to say the least.   

We live in a quiet neighborhood, with the exception of all the little rugrats around here.  But at one end of our ‘hood, which backs up to our backyard, is a farm with lots of cows.  At the other end of the ‘hood, is another farm with even more cows and sheep.  It’s actually very nice.  In the late evening and early morning, you can actually hear them mooing.

So lately our quaint little place is being hit upon by thieves.  The past few mornings there have been emails from some our neighbors about burglaries that have happened to them throughout the night.  This seems to go in spurts.  A few months ago it was our cars being broken into and CD’s and GPS units were being stolen.

Now they are back.  A car window was smashed the other night and the latest was this am.  Apparently the burglar scaled their deck because it does not have steps coming off of it and came in their sliding door.  The alarm went off and the guy dropped her purse and ran.  The police said that they know who they think is responsible and that he just got out of lock up like yesterday!!  Unbelievable!!

Now I just started this blog last week and I have like 6 readers.  And I love every single one of you (hugs and kisses!)  But I’m going to address this next part to the low lives themselves who are stalking us in the night.  Obviously they won’t read it because they probably have to steal a computer to use one and if they had a computer they wouldn’t be on this blog, but it makes me feel better.

Y’know what would be cool, burglars?  If you got a job to support your drug habits or whatever it is you need money for and leave us the hell alone.  In these trying times, I think we are all feeling the crunch and we definitely don’t need you jerks taking our money, or electronics, and especially our sense of security. 

This concludes my rant.

Well, my marathon week is finally over!  There isn’t a better way to end this week than like this:

I myself look horrible in this picture.  Just focus on the kids! 

Now off for some peaceful slumber before a fun-filled day of allergy testing for my daughter!  I’ll keep you posted.

Well I have successfully completed day 1 of my 3 day stretch of 10 hour days.  The paycheck is nice but as I am in the midst of it, I could kick myself.  I know, I know, I should stop my complaining and just be happy I have a job. 

Anyway, I am very excited because there is a small flicker of hope that my son may actually start to entertain the whole potty training thing!  When the hubs picked him up today at daycare there was a note that he attempted to use the potty at 10:15am.  Why I feel compelled to tell you the time of his meeting with the toilet is beyond me really; but humor me!

You don’t understand how excited I am!  This is the same little boy who practically went running away from the potty until today.  If we asked him if he wanted to sit on the little potty he would pretty much scream in our face, ”NO!!”  Even the teachers at daycare told us they weren’t going to push the issue with him because he seems to be afraid.  Is it possible that we may have had a breakthrough?

When our daughter was at potty training age, we waited for her to come to us.  And actually, she came to us at the worst possible time because we were in the midst of moving.  Of course, all the potty training “experts” will tell you never to do that at times such as moving.  But she came to us and she was fairly easy to train.  But with our son, I guess we feel like there could possibly be an end in sight to buying diapers so we have been a little more aggressive.  Obviously we backed off when we realized how adamant he has been about not going.  But today, folks, could be a changing of the tide! 

Or this could just all be about the little stamp he got on his hand for sitting on the potty.  But at this point, I’ll take whatever I can get!!

To add to the chaos of the house, we have a dog and a cat. The vet was here this morning to give them both their annual physicals. Yes, I did say here;  she is a house call vet. I find this service wonderful. Personally, I do not the see fun in schlepping these two animals to the veterinarian’s office.  They cry the whole way there, we’re covered in fur by the time we get there, and we have to wrestle our dog into the office.  By the time we’re done, we look and smell horrible.  This vet is also a lot cheaper which is nice on our wallets!  They both received a clean bill of health although a comment was made that both of them could stand to lose a few pounds.  I will take that into consideration!

Lexi

Lexi is our five-year-old Rottweiler.  Weighing in at about 105 pounds, she definitely doesn’t go unnoticed.  She really is a giant teddy bear, though.  She even smiles when people stop by for a visit!

When I was in labor with my son, my contractions began around 10:00 at night.  I went down on the couch, so as not to disturb my sleeping hubby, and waited out my time.  Lexi stayed with me throughout the entire process.  Every time I had a contraction, I would sit up nice and straight and she would sit up with me.  When it subsided, I would lay back down and she would do the same.  It was amazing that she knew that I was going through something.

When Lexi was not even a year, my husband came into our house pretty late at night.  She was unaware of who was in our house and apparently felt the need to protect me.  She jumped up on our bed, covered me with her body, and growled this low, from-the-gut growl.  The hubs said he was pretty scared coming up the steps.  But when he came into our room and she saw who it was, her little stub was a-wagging! 

She is very loyal, lovable, and without a doubt, the best dog ever!!

Muzby

We’ve had Muzby for 2 years now.  He is very much a cuddler, which is a welcome change from our last cat.  But that’s another story for a different day.  Anyway, he is very friendly and laid-back.

One of his quirks is his fetish for wooden spoons.  As some of my neighbors can account for, he likes to pull the wooden spoons out of my utensil holder, and show them some lovin’.  When he is finished he likes to cool off by curling up in the sink.  So clearly, he has some issues but we’ll keep him!

I hope I haven’t bored everyone to tears.  I just wanted to give a little shout-out to the animals of this household!

As I have mentioned in my “About” page, our son likes to create art on anything that is not paper. His canvas has included our front door, walls, toys, window sills, and now his latest:

That’s right, people! You are looking at his dresser.

A few weeks ago he colored his arms in their entirety with marker. When I asked him what was on his arms, his response was simply: “Art.” I’m seeing images of him at age 20 covered in tattoos as a means to express himself.

But with a face like this, I can never stay angry for long.

My little muffin is finally home this morning after being away for 4 nights.  She spent 3 nights with my parents having the time of her life.  Thank you Mom and Dad!!  She came home yesterday afternoon and was whisked away to a sleepover at a friend’s house.  How I missed her little face!  It will be nice to see her sleeping in her bed tonight!