We had just walked in after the open house for PreK kids at NHL's school tonight when the following happened (Side freak note --> My baby starts school in a week - ACK!).:
I am barely into the dining room and JL screams to me to get a tissue quickly. What the heck? So I look and see they are right near him. I am afraid to ask, but quickly realize just what he's trying to corner. Trapped by NHL's toys that are in the middle of the floor is a monster centipede that is trying to escape. Thank goodness JL managed to get this creature and dispose of it.
YUCK!
I am not exaggerating here. This sucker was at least as long as my pinky finger and much wider with legs factored into the equation. I mean when it moved I saw it's legs moving from across the room.
Seriously these things give me the heebie jeebies. Just the thought of them makes my skin crawl. I had never seen them prior to moving into this house and apparently they are rampant with all of our neighbors. I don't mind if they are here since they are harmless and eat spiders, but stay in the basement darn you! Clearly this bad boy had been feasting in a good location.
On that note I am off to read and sleep. I shall report on 4 year old physical fun tomorrow.
C'est Moi
- Mood:
distressed
NHL - "Which room are we going in?"
Nurse C - "Room 3"
The following is said with all seriousness and was a quick reply.
NHL - "But I'm not 3 anymore!"
Nurse C - "What NHL?"
NHL - "We can't go into room 3, I'm not 3 anymore. I'm 4 now"
At this point Nurse C, my grandmother and I are doing everything not to burst into hysterics. We were ready to die laughing.
Kids!
C'est Moi
- Mood:
amused
I was floored by what I was reading. Basically a mother in KY was told that she had to cover her baby's head when nursing at an Applebee's restaurant. When she went to talk with the manager and showed him this was against the KY law he told her the following:
"I know but somebody complained it was indecent exposure so you have to cover the baby with a blanket if you need to breastfeed here."
What a lame response from the manager. There is absolutely nothing indecent about nursing a child. As others in this thread that I linked to mention many people at the restaurant were probably exposing more with their regular garment than this mother was while breastfeeding. So the woman left the restaurant with her children and contacted a lawyer. After quite some time she received a response from corporate.
"we are also considering keeping blankets in the restaurants for use by breast-feeding mothers that may not have them readily available as a result of this incident."
This made me ILL. Applebee's is going to provide someone a blanket to feed their child? WTH! That is also against the law in KY. Others in the thread stated that the people that should be given the blanket are those that complain - rightly so. And if they were to require a mother to cover over because of exposing herself, then what about the women that come in with mini-skirts, bellies hanging out, or low cut shirts exposing their girls? Will they too have to cover over?
Although I personally choose not to do public nursing, I wouldn't want someone to tell me to stick a blanket over my child's head. Most woman that I have seen nursing in public places do it in such a way that you wouldn't really know what they were up to.
So keep this information in mind next time you decide to eat at an Applebee's. I know we are not likely to go there again thanks to this.
C'est Moi
- Mood:
annoyed
Last night JL went out to help my grandmother with her computer. JSL went to sleep early and NHL went to bed. I was checking on the boys quickly before I took my shower.
I am just about to leave the room when NHL sees me.
NHL - "Mommy why are you here?"
Me - "Just checking on you and JSL"
NHL - "I need to go potty, then will you sleep on my door?"
Me - "Sure NHL, let's go to the bathroom."
So we walk to the bathroom. NHL was stumbling there like a drunk sailor with his eyes barely open. Thanks to this I offered to help him, since I'm afraid he's half asleep and will pee on my wall.
Me - "NHL, let me help you and then you can go right to bed". I will touch so you won't need to wash your hands."
NHL - "No mommy, I want to touch my penis!"
Yes, ladies and gentleman he is a boy, that's for sure. *sigh*
C'est Moi
- Mood: giggly
tired
Next thing he knew Grandpa asked him if the following would fit in the case:
Here are some photos that JL took of NHL using his new Fisher Price camera:
Taking a picture of Daddy taking a photo:
Checking his camera:
Looking at the photos he took with Cousin A
He even held onto it while wrestling his cousin:
Why is he a camera addict? Almost from the moment he got it until he was half asleep he took 547photos. No you read that correctly. He was taking photos of anything and everything. Then he started composing shots. It was sick . . . he's just like his daddy. ACK!
Here are some of his first photos.
Photo of Daddy:
Daddy and JSL:
Even in the car he was taking photos:
Another car shot of JSL:
Photo down our street:
Where did Daddy's head go?
Note the theme of the next few shots (there were a ton more of these):
Relaxing on the couch:
Watching Over the Hedge (one of his gifts from L, IA and D):
Did you notice the theme of many of the shots? Strange child I have.
On that note it's time to get the little monkey up to eat. He hasn't eaten in a LONG time and needs something before real bed time.
C'est Moi
- Mood:
chipper
The boys and I left the house this morning on an adventure. We left at 9:30 for the local arena box offiice.
If you have to ask why after my opening line . . . then you must not have a toddler
Yes, the Wiggles are coming, the Wiggles are coming!!!!
This morning at 10:00 tickets went on sale to the public. Monday to Thursday was pre-sale and they were awful seats.
So in order to hand select my seats and save $28 in Ticket.com handling fees we went to see what we could get.
Our adventure took us to a not too nice section of town, but in the day I was ok. People thought I was nuts attempting this with a just 4 year old and 3 month old, but I'm wacky like that.
So we got to the arena and parked in the lot by the box office (right in front no less). With about 10 minutes before the sale I was #8 in line. Just before 10:00 they opened up 6 windows.
By 10:03 we were heading back to the car with FRONT ROW seats!!!!!
Holy cow, I was in shock. Now I know it was worth going down. In addition to saving $28 we got what seem like amazing seats. It should certainly be a special night that NHL will not forget in October.
C'est Moi
P.S. Sorry to Sam, but all of the blinky things still have Greg.
- Mood:
bouncy
While I was on the phone with M the call waiting kept going off. Two of the numbers were formers colleagues of mine. NOT a good sign.So I called one of them up and got news that quickly made the above seem like nothing.
The librarian at our school was on vacation with her family. Her daughter went with her, but her husband stayed at home to work. She kept trying to call him, but he wasn't answering. She was alarmed and had her brother-in-law go to check. He found him in bed. He had passed away from a heart attack at 46 years old.
I can't even imagine. Once again this is something to make me remember to savor the moments with my loved ones because you just never know. Please keep my friend and past student in your thoughts and prayers during this difficult time.
C'est Moi
- Mood: sad
Just the boys hanging out in their PJ's together.
C'est Moi
- Mood: happy
*sigh*
C'est Moi
- Mood:
confused
Now I'm going to admit something. I am guilty of watching America's Got Talent. There really isn't much on the boob tube in the summer and it was clean programing to watch while nursing JSL. JL and I were immediately drawn into 3-4 of the acts. We loved the Glamazons for what they stood for. They had a great act and they showed viewers that they were proud of their curvy bodies and willing to show it. I also loved Cas Haley. His voice was soothing, and his background story to make a better life for his wife and son were wonderful. You also had to admire him for being a stay at home dad.
Still another act immediately wowed both of us. We were blown away by the talent of Terry Fator. He not only is a ventriloquist, but his characters do famous impersonations. It's hard enough for most people to do this with their lips moving, but Fator can do it without and most times you think that person is there. Amazing talent.
Last night they had the final episode of America's Got Talent and the two final acts were Cas Haley and Terry Fator. In our opinion the best entertainer won - that being Terry Fator. They also announced that Fator is in the works for a Vegas show of his own at Bally's Jubilee hall. The best part is Fator is going to give a chunk of the money to his sister to have a costly procedure done to help her rheumatoid arthritis that insurance will not cover.
Even before the win we thought Fator had an amazing act for Vegas. I said to JL last night "I wanna go back to Vegas and see him!" We loved all of the shows we saw in Vegas, but were disappointed at the time not to be able to see one that we REALLY wanted to see. This looks even better than that. So someday maybe we'll be able to take a trip.
Here's a promotional video for Terry Fator so you can see his talent.
C'est Moi
- Mood:
ecstatic
So I quickly told NHL what I was doing. I explained to my just 4 year old child that I needed him to be very quiet while I went on the phone. He of course asked me why. I told him I was calling someone to tell them about what happened the other day when he had blood drawn. He said to me "The lady was bad Mommy!" I told him he was right and because of that I had to make the call so no other person gets hurt by her.
I called the 800 number that I found on the website. The woman gave me the name of the supervisor locally, along with her number and then connected me to the woman. I told the woman that I felt it was my duty to contact her about the horrible experience I had there this weekend.I also mentioned that I had gone there numerous times through the years and never had a problem.
The woman listened and you could hear her jaw hit the floor from time to time. I have her THING's name and she said it was odd that she didn't do well with children since the location she normally works at has a large number of pediatric patients. While listening she would break in a few times to ask me questions about the other employees. She was mortified to hear that NONE of the other people stepped in to assist until after NHL had been screaming for well over 20 minutes. Over and over I told the woman that I know my child was horrible with the screaming, but it doesn't excuse the unprofessional behavior of THING or many other workers there. She also was upset that it took THING likely overhearing from me or one of the other people that I was ticked and complaining (getting her name) to change her attitude. She said too little too later. Her words not mine. The woman was nice and told me it was normal behavior that NHL had and they know how to work with kids and she also agreed she should have backed away if she wasn't comfortable with it.
One other thing that I mentioned to the woman was that LabCorp is definitely not the only outpatient laboratory facility. That we have a lot of options in this area and almost all of the insurance companies allow patients to choose. She concurred and told me that she is well aware of the importance of customer service.
So we shall see if she follows up with me. She was extremely nice and told me that THING will definitely be hearing about this and have consequences.
One other piece of information that my mother told me later. Many of the people that work at LabCorp on the weekend are NOT full time LabCorp employees. Many of them work at other hospitals in the area and pick up extra money by working there on weekend. My parents found this out when they met someone they knew from where mom works working at LapCorp when Dad has his blood drawn there a few weekends ago.
C'est Moi
- Mood: annoyed
UGH!
So we piled into the car and went to order at the drive thru. We were lucky and it didn't take us much to order our bargain dinner. We spent $6.31 including tax for 3 of us to eat. The food went with us to my parents house and we ate.
After dinner while waiting for H & J to come over we opened the presents from Nana and Papa. Here are some photos from that time:
The birthday "crown" from Nana & Papa
Lots of things to open
Balloons from Nana and Papa
All smiles thanks to a Spiderman Card
Shake N' Go Airplane
USA Puzzle
Check out this reaction!
Yum! Chocolate sport balls
Meanwhile JSL is busy doing his favorite hobby - fist sucking!
Cars sheets
And last but not least was a coloring book and here's the activity book. Perfect for Mommy and NHL to work on these few weeks while home before starting PreK.
At about this time H & J arrived. NHL was so happy to see them. He immediately dug into his present from them (being nice and not blogging the photo of H wearing NHL's B-day crown).
A gorgeous Cars backpack that had a lunch bag that attached to it. The colors were amazing. I really hope H & J know it was a great gift and understood the 4 year olds reaction to jump on to cake and toys.
Next it was time to dig into the cookie cake. Here are some photos of NHL digging into it. We all had too much fun showing each other our beautiful blue tongues. Yes, the adults were more into it than the 4 year old - sad isn't it?
Waiting to blow out the candle
Blowing out the candle
Eating the YUMMY cake!
So much for the dentist cleaning the other day.
Charming view n'est pas?
And one more of the blue tongue
We stayed around for a little while to talk with everyone and let NHL play. JSL took a mini-nap on H's shoulder. Then when he woke up and NHL was SO tired we packed it up and went home.
It was a busy day and certainly not the last of the birthday celebrations. We did more today with Aunt S and have his family party this coming Sunday.
C'est Moi
- Mood: content
Friday morning NHL woke up and came into our bed. He opened his gifts. Just as he was finishing JSL woke up. So the boys were together in our bed lounging. Here they are:
After this NHL got dressed for "green" day at nursery school. This also happened to be his last day there. Yes, after three years there our time at daycare was officially over for NHL.
Since we wanted to have a cake of some kind for that night I went out with JSL early to find a chocolate chip cookie cake. Who knew it would be that hard to locate? After two stores and almost crying, the second store baker heard that it was for my 4 year old's B-day. He offered to make a batch for me if I didn't need it until later. Perfect!
So JSL and I went to see Papa at work and then went home to rest before heading to NHL's party at nursery school. Mimi came over and went with us to the little party. When we got there the daycare director took us into the faculty room so I could frost the cupcake cones. Lucky me, JL had the camera and decided to take photos. Luckily I was boring after a while and everyone left me to frost and sprinkle while they focused on JSL and his smiles.
See he's much more interesting than me:
All serious suddenly. Clearly he was sick of the flashes from the camera.
Now the yummy cupcake cones all done:
So we all went up in the elevator with the goodies for the kids. NHL was so surprised to see Mimi there. After he noticed Mimi he announced to his friends that the cupcake cones and JSL were there. I guess the parents don't matter ;)
Here are some photos of NHL greeting us, going to see JSL and eating his cupcake cone.
Next NHL and I went to give cupcake cones to all of his past teachers and to say goodbye. Then it was time to head out for the last time. So we packed everything up and went home.
JL came home later and stopped on the way home to pick up the cookie cake to bring to my parents house to enjoy later. I will post about that in the morning. Now I must head to sleep.
C'est Moi
- Mood:
accomplished
Ever have one of those moments where you feel like the worst parent in the world? Today JL and I had that. NHL needed to have blood drawn to check for lead exposure. We have an older house that may be an issue, no less the toy scares of late.
So we decided to head to LabCorp at 11:00 this morning to get it over with. We figure this would give us time for results before his physical in a few weeks. We arrived and the waiting room was filled, but seemed to be moving. After about 15 minutes they called NHL's name. I went up and they took the papers and things. She then came and called us back. JL was feeding JSL and asked if he should come. At the same time the THING (as I will now call her) rudely said "Only one person back with the patient!" So, I followed the bitch THING back to the torture chamber room.
This is where I should have packed up my child and left. Mentally slapping myself for being so DUMB!
We went into the room and NHL was clearly scared about this. He's only had blood drawn two other times that I can recall and none recently. Anyway, NHL starts to fidget, cry and yell as she comes near him. I am trying to hold him on my lap and well it wasn't working. So THING starts to yell at my 4 year old son. Yes, you read that correctly. THING who was clearly over 30 yelled at a scared little 4 year old child. I saw that I was not able to hold him and told her I was switching with my husband. I stomped out with NHL.
I took JSL from JL and told him to beware THING was yelling at him (mind you I used other choice words in front of the entire waiting room). They clearly had heard the screams from my child and they should know why. So he went in. I sat there listening to my poor baby scream bloody murder. Several of us were talking about how rude and unprofessional the people were on the weekend there. They were complaining about working. One person went as far as to make a suggestion of another place to take NHL next time. So I saw the Patient Survey sitting on the counter. I went and grabbed one - still hearing the mortifying screams from NHL. I nicely asked the man sitting inside for the name of THING who was with my screaming child. He claimed not to know and another man came, so I asked him. I wanted to know so I could tell them. I finally got THING's name.
At that point I had screw it and went back to my husband and screaming child. Let them kick me out. At this point he has blood all over a gauze pad and is hyperventilating. I assume they were done.
WRONG!!!!
She messed up and didn't get his vein. No, I am not kidding. So she's setting up for take two. JSL seemed to make her get a little more pleasant. Anyway, I was now holding his arm, JL his body/head/feet, and she was going for the vein. THING misses the vein again. So she's fishing around his arm with the needle (a butterfly one) to try to get it. I am mortified. NHL is screaming in agony. By this point he's been in the room at least 20 minutes. Another phlebotomist came in and could see she was butchering my child.
JL and I discussed what to do in front of everyone. We could jet, but how are we going to get him back into another place to get the blood we need for this very important test? Or we let another person try one last time.
We opted for the second choice.
So now JL is holding NHL's body/legs/head, I have his arm that is being attacked and THING is pretending to assist. This new person got it on the first stab. . . no lame fishing needed.
By this point NHL is drenched. His head is soaked in sweat from screaming and crying for 30+ minutes. JL and I have nerves that are shot. We immediately leave and take NHL to get the Cold Stone ice cream for his Birthday that he had a certificate for.
So tonight I sat down and filled out the patient survey. I was honest and explained exactly what happened. I think they need to know. I would have preferred if THING had just said she didn't do kids and would have waited for the other woman to do it. What a mess and now we wait for the nightmares tonight. I will also be calling Monday to lodge a complaint locally. GRRRRRR!
C'est Moi
- Mood:
angry
Last night JL was changing JSL's diaper, so I took NHL to the bathroom before bed. We were chatting along the way. Here's our conversation:
Me: "Wow, NHL you are going to be 4 tomorrow, you are SO old!"
NHL: "No, Mommy I'm not old, I'll be old when I'm 20." (He was very matter of fact)
Me: "So 20 is old is it?"
NHL: "Yes, 20 is old and 21 older."
Me: "You're right NHL. Wow, if 20 is old then how old is daddy?"
NHL: "He's VERY old. He's thirty!"
(Me trying not to laugh hysterically at the way he said it)
Me: "NHL he's actually 32 now, what do you think of that?"
NHL: "Very old!"
At about this time JL comes with JSL and sees us laughing in the bathroom - kind of a strange sight .. . -er well in other households maybe.
It goes to show once again that kids say the darndest things!
C'est Moi
- Mood: giggly
How fitting this question is on the day that I became a mommy 4 years ago. All you have to do is look at my blog entries about my family to know my choice. Clearly I prefer to spend quality time with them and could use the JOYS system to assist me in more of this important time.
Prior to being married and having children I would have said that material items, travel and hockey games brought joy to my life. Since then I know that all of that means nothing without your family. Whether it is my nuclear family or the wonderful extended family that I am blessed with, being with them and spending quality time together is what brings me joy.
My husband of 6 years and our two sons bring me the most joy. Spending time with "my boys" is something I love to do. Just the simple times together like curling up in bed on a Sunday morning to watch Mickey Mouse Clubhouse or read a book together is a special moment. The simple smile from my three month old's face melts my heart and makes me know that all of the sacrifices to be at home with him to watch him grow is worth it. There is also nothing like a big hug and wet kiss from a 4 year old before he heads out of the house to school to let you know you are loved.
Being able to reminisce about the milestones of your children, flipping through old photos of my childhood, talking with old friends, and imagining growing old with my husband (the love of my life) and seeing our boys as fathers brings me extreme joy. *sigh* The sad thing is I will blink and before I know it my little boys will be grown men. So the real gift of joy in my life is taking time to enjoy the little moments while they are here. As I see today, with my now 4 year old, they grow up too quickly and you can not get those precious, joyful moments back.
Here are my boys together:
C'est Moi
- Mood:
loved
Yup, you guessed it...my water broke. JL said he's never seen a pregnant woman run so fast.
I flew into the bathroom and he followed me there to see what was going on. He called the doctor's number and they instructed us to head to the hospital. Once I got there I was only about 1 cm dilated and my water had indeed broken. My parents met us there and were so excited since it was the birth of their first grandchild. At about this time (11:00) everyone left and JL and I were told to walk around to see if it would help my contractions to come more regularly.
Unfortunately this did nothing so I was told to rest and see how things were in the morning before they did more. I opted for no medicine at that point.
In the morning they checked and I had made no progress. I was told I had to have pitocin since my water broke and the risk of infection increased with time. So silly me opted not to have an epiduralright away. BIG mistake that I didn't make with JSL.
The pitocin was started at about 6:30 and by 10:00 I wanted the epidural. The contraction were horrid thanks to the medication making them worse. They finally found someone to come (another woman couldn't have it anymore). Thanks to the epidural they were able to crank up the pitocin. Within 40 minutes to an hour I was finally progressing. 10 minutes after they checked me I felt pressure and the urge to push. They didn't believe me, but looked. Sure enough I was 10 centimeters (from 3) dilated and ready to roll.
Little did I know, but the doctor didn't think I would be able to push the baby out. I sure showed him. In less than an hour at 1:17 in the afternoon on August 17th NHL was born.
A look down memory lane:
Minutes after NHL was born.
Popeye NHL.
My favorite photo of the little guy with his tongue out.
Peacefull baby NHL.
NHL visits with Papa and Poppy Sol.
Uncle I meets NHL (My baby brother is going to be a daddy soon - Whoa!)
Nana gives NHL his first "bath."
NHL is so TINY in his big crib.
Ah, the memories. Now my little NHL is a big boy and going to be 4 tomorrow. Here's a photo of him now (please excuse the cookie face):
C'est Moi
JL told NHL that he had presents waiting for him at home from a special thing mommy was doing. NHL all but flew out of the car into the house to check it out.
He started with the M&M note card thanking him for helping me pick out the things for C. He felt so special. He also heard me read the beautifully hand written note from C to me (nice teacher writing BTW *wink*). In this it stated there were two things for NHL & JSL. So I found one and gave it to him to open. Play Doh!!!! He was thrilled and can't wait to use it with me next week when he's home with JSL and I. After that he helped us to open JSL's first gift . . . a ever so sweet Clifford Puppy book.
Next we saw the yummy homemade chocolate chip cookies. We all had some of those while waiting for dinner to cook. NHL then helped me open few other thing. After a minute he looks at me and asks where his other was since the note said two. I had to laugh that he really was listening.
So we found the next one for NHL. It was a blue Crayola crayon thermos. A perfect thing for a little guy who is starting school in September. Then he helped to open JSL's second gift. It was an adorable Blues Clues outfit. How C knew he was a favorite I will never know.
Then I opened my things. An aromatherapy bath fizz, Rolos (my favorite), an organizer with lots of goodies in (great note cards, stickers, post-it notes, and post cards of places where C is from), a gorgeous painting that C made with Acrylic paints, great wooden spoon for baking, fun pens, and a photo magnet frame.
JL was thrilled with his chocolate treats. And we can't wait to try Kosher tea biscuits . . . and we all chuckled at the cute animal plates.
Here are some photos of everything.
This is everything all together:
Things on the left:
Things in the middle:
Things on the right:
C you did an amazing job picking things out to spoil my family and me. Thank you so much. Stay in touch and e-mail me when your baby girl makes her debut.
C'est Moi
- Mood: giddy
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