Crazy Busy

Things have been crazy busy around here lately. It's a good thing I'm not still working - how would I get it all done? Actually, I don't get it all done now! This post is my effort to document all the balls I'm trying to keep up in the air...oh, and I need to throw a few more up there, too. =)

It's consignment sale season around here now - one of my favorite ways to shop. I LOVE consignment sales. Oh, the deals to be found. This time I decided to consign a few things myself. I had 28 items, and I sold 24. Not bad for my first shot. I sold some baby clothes that I didn't really care for, Lil Major's swing and bouncer. No, that doesn't mean there won't be any more kids - I just would rather have a different bouncer and a different swing next time. We NEVER used the bouncy seat w/ the boy. I also bought some great things - clothes, toys, birthday gifts, shoes, swim suits. Woo hoo! Here's a sampling...



I ended up spending about $10 more than I made, so I'm only out the $10 and we're set for a while....at least til the next consignment sale. Ha!

I took a test last week to be a 2010 Census worker. It's a part time temp job to help with the national census that officially takes place next year. But, there is a lot of work to do to get ready for it - verify addresses, send out flyers and questionnaires. It won't make me rich, but it will give us a little extra if I get the job.

I'm also still working on my certification to be an aerobics instructor. 3 more weeks of class, a weekend of tests and certifications, and then 4 weeks of team teaching. Seems like a lot, but there's a lot more involved than I realized when I decided to do it. I have a much deeper respect for all those instructors now!!

Lil Major and I also go to our Mom's group at church twice a month. I get to eat some yummy food, hang out with the girls, do a devotion and have fun. And Lil Major gets to have fun in the nursery. And as if I needed any more to keep me busy, I'm considering a Monday night women's Bible Study. I've been meaning to get into one for a while, but I feel overwhelmed. Of course, when will I NOT feel that way?? So, I may need to just go for it.

We've had some good weather lately, so we've been heading to the park to swing. Lil Major loves the swing. We even went on Valentine's Day as a family, even though it was a little chilly.

When we can't get to the park for the good swing, we hang the swing we have in the tree in the backyard and go crazy. And recently, the boy has discovered the rocks in the flowerbed. Good thing he still doesn't put food or other small things into his mouth.



I've also introduced the boy to ice cream, custard, to be exact. He LOVES it. I think it will be a regular treat for us to hang out at Freddy's over the summer.



Mema is trying to teach him to stick out his tongue when she does.


As if all this isn't enough, I'm working on a slideshow for the boy's first birthday (it's only a few weeks away!!)...well, I 'm working on STARTING to work on the slideshow. I have a ton of pictures to organize and I still have to decide what program to use.


AND THIS IS WHERE I NEED YOUR HELP! I need some music suggestions. I'm so bad with that. I need some fun music to add in - songs about babies or families or just songs that have a fun beat or melody. Help me out!!

And on a final note, I've decided, for the first time, to give somethign up for Lent. We're not Catholic, so for the longest time I thought it didn't apply to me. But, the more I think about it, it doesn't matter that I'm not Catholic. Giving something up for Lent just means that I will spend the time between now and Easter focusing on the sacrifice that Christ and His Father made for me. It's such a small thing for me to sacrifice something for 40 days after the sacrifice that was made for me. Not that it will be easy though. I've decided to give up sweets, all sweets, for the next 40 days! And it will be tough for me. I love my sweets - cookies, chocolate, cake, ice cream. But, every time I'm tempted to indulge, I'll think about what Jesus did for ME - that his sacrifice allows me to live, and to live eternally.

If only I had this talent...

Thanks for more great photos, Lor!


And here's a video clip of my giggling cutie.

FINALLY - the rest of our trip

It wasn't my intention to keep you all in suspense about the end of our trip to CA - which was now over a month ago, but time has gotten away from me. Facebook has taken over all of my online time, and blogging has taken a back seat.

But, on to the rest of our trip - before I forget what we did. =) After our weekend in the mountains, we spent just over 40 hours in Bakersfield. It was such a short time that I didn't tell very many people I was coming. I knew there was NO way I could see everyone I wanted to, and I didn't want to stress out over trying to fit it all in (especially with a 9 month old who wasn't sleeping well away from home).

I ended up having enough time to visit with a few friends over wine and super yummy homemade tuxedo cheesecake after I got the boy to sleep in a pack and play for a bit. We also had time for breakfast with a good friend of mine and her daughter. Brooke LOVES Lil Major, and I'm so sad they don't live near us so she can be my babysitter. And of course we made time for a few photos with Lorie (I'll post the highlights in a separate post).

Brooke and Lil Major...

After too brief a time in Bako, we headed back up north on the train. It was a VERY LOONNNGG train ride. We were stopped for almost an hour in the middle of nowhere while they worked on a train that was blocking the track. Finally we got back up to my Aunt's house where we collapsed into bed. We spent our last day in CA (a day that was clear and gorgeous, I might add!) wandering around my Aunt and Uncle's cute little bayside town.




On our last night, we met up with my Grandma, my aunt and 2 of my cousins for dinner. I hadn't seen my cousins in a year since we'd been out for my Grandpa's funeral. We had fun catching up and telling stories.
You'd think all the fun part of our trip was over, since we just had to head right to the airport the next morning. And getting up at 4 am to catch the 5am train into the city to get to the airport on time was NOT the fun part (that's why I will ask you to ignore how I look in the photo below)...but FINALLY getting to meet our good friend's son WAS the fun part. They live in SF, and believe it or not, the airport is on their way to work (how lucky is she that her son's daycare is just a minute away from her work?!!). Little C is just a few weeks younger than Lil Major, and it was so fun to introduce the boys. It would have been more fun (for the boys) if we could have met in a park where they could crawl all around, but we enjoyed our time in the food court anyway. Thanks A for coming to see us!!



Our flights home went exactly as planned, and we were able to get our own row on the plane so we could spread out.


The Colonel and Papa met us when we got home, and we were SO glad to sleep in our own beds again. =)

Talking to Mommy

Lil Major loves to "talk" to Mommy. And Mommy can't get enough of it. Check it out. (Please ignore the annoying stirring sounds at the beginning - The Colonel was making his yucky protein drink)

Trauma

Although the trauma physically occurred to Lil Major, I think his Mama was just as affected...

This morning, at the EXACT time naptime should have begun, we trekked over to our friendly pediatrician's office for the 10 month check up. The lobby was empty when we got there, so I let the boy play with some of the germ laden toys setting around before we were called back to the way too hot exam rooms.

The 10 month check is supposed to be a breeze. No shots, and no blood, or so I thought. Our doctor is finishing up maternity leave, so we saw the doctor we met when Lil Major was brand new. She looked him over and announced him healthy! He's in the 12% for weight and 24% for height (perfect size, I think!), and he looks great (except for the orange nose that is from eating so many orange veggies...I'm serious!).

Whew! I thought we were done.

But Lil Major had to get his big toe poked for an anemia test. No biggie. Nurse comes in, pokes his foot, squeezes blood out - the boy just wriggles a bit on my lap. And while the nurse leaves to run the 30 second test on the blood, I get the kiddo dressed again.

NOW is when the trauma occurs.

SOMEHOW, while putting on his SOCK, I managed to lose my grip and jab my thumb nail right into the boy's face. I have no idea how it happened or how I missed poking him in the eye. He immediately starts screaming and blood starts to pool on his face. Great!

Right then, the nurse comes back in. I'm about to cry, the boy is hurting, the nurse has no freakin' clue what the idiot mother in room 2 has done, and all she wants to do is tell me he doesn't have anemia and then escape me.

I felt so bad. It took a good 5 minutes and an impromptu nursing session to calm the boy down. It took a lot longer for me to feel better, though. At least if I'd really done some damage we were already in the doctor's office.

Poke in the foot?? No problem...



Mom putting on socks??? Watch out!!!

Keeping a Secret - Part 2

After 40 hours in NorCal, Lil Major and I boarded a train heading south. Agnes and I were about to set our plan in motion. The time had come for our annual Buddy trip, and I was going to be there!

Our last trip was a year and a half ago. I flew out for that one, too...just not as a surprise. But, I did have a surprise when I got there...I announced my pregnancy! And this year, I was going to surprise everyone by just being there! (Hmm...what should I do next year?? hee hee)

Agnes and I plotted and decided that she would pick me up from the train and we would head up to the mountains a day before the other girls would arrive. That would give us time to get settled with our 2 boys before the chaos and craziness and fun of the Buddies arrived. We made it up the hill fine (well, with a little pit stop for a sour tummy), got settled, took a walk (in the rain), ate a yummy dinner and woke up the next morning bursting with excitement. We just had to wait for them to get there!



And then we waited...and we waited...and we waited. See, mobilizing 6 girls is hard work. They were to arrive in 2 groups -- one mid afternoon, one late afternoon. But, the shops were calling one car load, and a baby slowed down another. And in the end, everyone was late, and Agnes and I were about to explode!

FINALLY, the first car arrived. Agnes met them in the garage holding a baby...but it wasn't HER baby. It was Lil Major! How long do you think it took them to realize what was up?

One girl said, "Oh, he got a haircut."

Agnes said, "No, he didn't."

One girl said, "Hmm...oh, he must look different with a pacifier?"

Agnes said, "He doesn't use a pacifier." (but this baby had one in his mouth!)

Agnes said, "And this isn't my baby!"

AND THEN, everyone was talking at once, they figured it out, and we were hugging and crying, and it was so fun! No one had a clue. We'd pulled it off! And 2 hours later...we repeated the SAME scene again. Same questions, same confusion, same screaming and hugging. Ahh. This was home. My Buddies.

We had a fabulous weekend. We ate too much food (we always do). We brought WAY more food than we would have needed for 20 girls (there were 8). We played games (games that got quite heated and competitive...I remember one SCREAMING match across the table over a round of Nertz...we all love each other still). We talked LATE into the night. We took pictures. We opened gifts. And the time went way too quickly.

Our friendships have withstood many many years, and there are many many more years to come!



part 3 still to come...

10 months!

Part 2 of our trip is coming...sometime. In the meantime, my boy is going to be 10 months old tomorrow!! Crazy crazy!

He hasn't started walking yet, but it's close, I think. He's a speed crawler and pulls up on everything. He loves to push his walker toy thing around, and he's really interested in the dogs now. He talks to me (video coming soon, if I can figure it out) or babbles, I should say, and he growls more than ever. It's so cute! He still isn't interested in putting food in his mouth, which doesn't bother me b/c it means he doesn't pick stuff up off the floor and put it in his mouth either. We've started to have some whiny afternoons which grates on poor Mommy, but I think he's just growing and teething. And he gets more tired as the day goes on.

Regardless, I love him more and more every day. He's so precious and beautiful and fun and I don't know what I did before him.

And to give you a treat since you're being so patient about the rest of our trip...here are a couple shots the amazing Lorie took while we were in CA...

Keeping a Secret - Part 1

I'm not very good at keeping secrets. It's not that I want to gossip and spill the beans, I just don't keep things to myself very well. Especially good things. I just HAVE to tell someone.

So, when The Colonel encouraged me to go on my annual Buddy Weekend this year (which I was thinking of skipping to save some money), my buddy Agnes and I cooked up a plan to surprise the rest of the girls. But before we get to that...

I ended up spending 9 days in California with my mom and Lil Major. And in those 9 days, we traveled A LOT of miles. I've been to CA many times since we moved here, but only one of those trips took me to northern California, and I've missed seeing some family and friends by staying down south. This time we flew into San Francisco so that Mom could spend the week with her mom and sister and I could visit with a couple friends from college before heading down south.

BUT before we could get to my aunt's to enjoy time with everyone, we had to GET to my aunt's. That involved flying into SFO, juggling all of our stuff (2 huge suitcases, the car seat, stroller, 2 backpacks, the diaper bag, and the three of us) to the shuttle, then the BART train, and riding to the East Bay with all of that junk at 5 o'clock rush hour on a very crowded train. We made it, somehow. I should have taken a picture of our entourage, but I was too busy balancing the car seat on top of my suitcase. Public transportation is pretty cool in some parts of our country.

I spent about 40 hours in northern California. It was just enough time for Lil Major to play with his Uncle D and the new trains...


enough time for Mom to make homemade chicken and noodles...


enough time for me to visit with two special friends from college, and their little ones. It was the first time I met the baby girls and I hadn't seen the cute boy since he was an infant! We spent several hours oohing and aahing over the kiddos, snapping an obscene amount of pictures, and trying frantically to catch up on the last several years. The last time all three of us were together was probably almost 3 years ago, and it was a quick visit then, too.


(Looks like it was even enough time for the girls to fight over Lil Major...hee hee)


and enough time for Lil Major to spend some time with his great grandma (his ONLY living great grandparent)...


That's a lot for 40 hours!

The next leg of our journey is still to come...