So Grown Up

So my little one is getting bigger everyday. He's reached some milestones in the last couple of weeks that make me feel like he's growing up too fast.

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Two weeks ago we started him back on food. When we tried rice cereal, it stopped him up completely so I quit for a little bit. His rear end wasn't functioning normally even after he hadn't had rice cereal in 2 weeks. Thanks to a few doses of apple juice, that problem is solved and now I've got rice cereal, apple sauce and sweet potatoes constantly smeared on my shirt. On Tuesday, January 20th he finally figured out how to roll over. He had been rocking side to side ever since he found his feet and decided they were oh-so-tasty. Pretty soon he'll be all over the room like a tumble weed. This weekend Aaron said, "so when does he sleep in his own room?". My answer? NEVER!! (Just kidding) With a little pouty frown I agreed that it is time for him to start sleeping in his crib. I didn't mind having him right next to me in his co-sleeper. I figured he'd have his whole life to sleep in his own room so I didn't mind having him so close. Over all he's doing pretty well, I think I'm having a harder time adjusting than him. I still haven't moved his co-sleeper yet. Maybe this weekend...

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So little one, what will you learn and discover in the next few weeks? Only time will tell. Just take it slow, your mom needs more time enjoy you while you're little.

A Good Place To Start

My Aunt Cathy rocks! (hi Cathy!)

In response to the post below, she sent me the information to this fabulous site:

http://www.flylady.com/

This is exactly what I needed. A place to start. It shows you how to take baby steps on how to clean, declutter and get back on track in 5 minute blocks, which is all I get sometimes.

There is hope.

Falling Behind

Need some serious help here. Moms, please let me know what I’m doing wrong…

My sister-in-law has 3 boys. She watches at least 3 other kids (sometimes more) five days a week, does all the school and pre-school runs, football and baseball practice, grocery shopping, laundry, goes to all the family and friend get-togethers and still manages to have her house for the most part, clean and put together. Last month I asked her how she gets anything done. She told me I would eventually get into my own groove and find a way to get everything done.

Everett is 5 months old now, and I’ve still got no groove.

I still feel like the gawky white girl with no rhythm desperately trying to “look natural” on the dance floor, but failing miserably.

I watch other mothers who have perfect hair, makeup and nails, get to the gym everyday, have beautifully landscaped yards and no dishes in the sink. I can’t help but wonder where the heck they get the time to put their lives together like that?

I’ve come up with two possible conclusions:

1. Their husbands must have no life and watch the kids for hours on end
2. They ignore their children….a lot.

I’m feeling like a complete failure in almost every department of my life. I simply just can’t find the time to get everything done and I’m feeling insanely overwhelmed.

I’ve got to be up with the baby all night, iron Aaron’s clothes and get him out the door for work, get Everett fed, dressed and diaper bag ready, get myself showered and fed, get out the door to work, try to be productive having a baby at work with me, get home and feed the baby, pay attention to our neglected dog, feel guilty about avoiding that lady from church that wants to give me another calling, make dinner, do the dishes, work on the laundry and somehow figure out how the vacuuming, bathroom cleaning and dusting will get done all while the baby is whining to be picked up. My poor husband is begging for attention and wondering why our yard is overgrown and nicely ignores the fact that I haven’t put on makeup or done my hair all week, and if I could squeeze in a bit of exercise, that would be cool too. And did I mention my hair is falling out? Nice.

I’ve got a lot on my plate but I’m no different from any other mother. Sure, Aaron works insane hours so I’m on my own a lot of the time, but that is no excuse – is it?

The truth is, I look like garbage every day – I am the ugly unkempt lady at the grocery store. I’m tired every day. My house is filthy. My once beautiful yard looks like a jungle. Aaron has got to be so disappointed with me even though he would never express it vocally. Every single day I feel like I’m falling farther behind and will never catch up.

What I’m wondering is, is everyone just as screwed up as me and faking being put together or am I just not very good at homemaking and terrible at time management? Please be blunt, don't sugar coat anything-it's not helpful. I gotta know.

Everett Scissorhands

Since the day he was born, you couldn't stop Everett from scratching his face up. I would put scratch mittens on his hands and 2 minutes later they would be off, so I gave up. I've got several photos just like this one. It seems no matter how often I trim his nails, he manages to gouge out and carve up his face. Luckily they heal quickly, but until he outgrows this phase I'll just have to look like a bad mom.

Where Did The Last 2 Weeks Go?

It's a long-winded post, I know but c'mon! It's 2 weeks worth.
Here's where my 2 weeks went:

A few days before Christmas we celebrated Aaron's 32nd birthday at his parents' house. Aaron needed help putting his marketing portfolios together so he rallied his family together at his birthday party and put everyone to work. We set up an assembly line affixing the different sticker labels Aaron had printed to the inside of presentation folders so when he goes to companies to sell his product, he can show them some of what he can do.

We had a good time. We had yummy tacos and ended with apple pie. Christmas Eve was lots of fun. Late in the morning me and Ev headed to The Avocado House restaurant in Chino. My friend, Krista's parents run a catering business and are opening their restaurant this month. Every year they invite everyone they know (which is EVERYONE) over for Christmas Eve breakfast. It's great to see a bunch of people I grew up with and especially to visit with Krista.

In the afternoon Aaron, Ev and I headed to Aaron's parent's house to hang out with his family and cousins. We had a used DVD gift exchange and munched on finger foods. What kind of mom would I be if I didn't dress Everett in some tragic Christmas outfit that he'll be embarrassed of in about 13 years? I think the "Mom, you suck" look he gave me says it all: The hat was too small and made an indent around his head that was still visible 2 hours after the hat was removed. Sorry buddy, I didn't realize your brain was being starved of blood supply. I'll pay better attention next time I dress you in a lame holiday-themed outfit.

Then it was off to my mom's house for dinner. We had a good time and got to visit with my cousins that came down from Idaho. We finally got home around 11pm. Aaron and I stayed up until about 2am getting everything ready and the house picked up a bit for Christmas. Aaron was right, Christmas is going to happen whether your house is decorated or not (or in our case, even if your tree is leaning against the wall propped up with a step ladder and your angel is holding on for dear life and is hoping not to crash the other way out the window). We hardly noticed. In the morning we opened gifts as a little family for the first time. We got each other a couple of little gifts and Everett got a couple of little things too. Yes, I know he can't open a present on his own, I mainly did it for the photo op. The rest of our Christmas day is insane. Every year we threaten to stay home, but decide to make all the stops anyway.

At 10am we went to Aaron's parents to open gifts with them. At 12 pm we went to my dad's. At 3pm we went to Aaron's grandparents' for dinner and at 7pm we had to go back to my mom's house to open our gifts from her because she didn't have time to wrap them before we got there Christmas Eve. We finally got home by about 9pm. Whew! It's a good thing everyone lives close so it's a 15 min. or less drive between houses. Maybe that's the problem, if everyone lived farther away we'd have to do less.

One common theme with every household was that Christmas was toned waaaaaay down from years past. One or two simple gifts replaced the usual hoards of gifts and hours of unwrapping. The main focus of the day was spent just being with each other. I have to be completely honest - I did not miss the extravagant Christmas that I've been used to. Although we were running all day long to see everyone some how, we finally weren't stressed and just focused on family.

Ev got a jumper from his grandparents. He loved it! Imagine the fun he'll have when his feet actually touch the ground!Two days after Christmas Aaron's side of the family headed out to Desert Hot Springs to visit and have Christmas with Grandma Nell. As soon as we walked in the door we piled the babies on her lap so she could get as much time with them as possible. We don't get to see her very often, so time spent with her is extra special. She crocheted all of us girls super soft scarves-totally cool. Monday and Tuesday me and Ev went to work. Wednesday was New Year's Eve. My sister, Kelle came out to visit. We went to Victoria Gardens and walked around for a bit. Later on, we picked up Aaron and headed over to my mom's house to eat pizza and play games. We made it to 10:30pm when Everett started to lose it so we headed home. Ev and I were both in bed by 11pm. Aaron headed down to the neighbor's house to hang out by the fire pit and shoot illegal fire works. I vaguely remember hearing them, but was so tired I couldn't care less.

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New Year's day I worked on taking down Christmas. Since our tree fell over and half of the ornaments fell off, it took a lot less time to undecorate the tree (another positive!) I got it taken down, but not put away. Who knows how long it will take me to get everything put away. You can't see the floor in my living room. It looks like Christmas threw up all over it.

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Today we had 2 of our nephews over. We spent the day shooting Aaron's BB gun in our make-shift backyard shooting range and launching rockets at the park.Everett slept in the stroller for the most part.Someday he'll be big enough to play with the older boys...

What rocket launch would be complete without losing one in someone's backyard?We ate hot dogs and decorated brownies with frosting and sprinkles. We finished the day by watching E.T. and getting Carl's Jr. for dinner. It couldn't have been a more perfect day.

Odd Jobs And The Rules of Decorating

Having tight finances causes you to take on all kinds of odd jobs to make ends meet. Around Christmas time there is always someone who needs help doing something. The week after Thanksgiving I signed(yes, I've signed his cards for him for 3 years now), stuffed, sealed, labeled and packaged up 1,100 Christmas cards to clients for my boss. You can also always count on my mom needing help decorating her trees. I know you must be thinking, "She makes her mom pay her to help decorate for Christmas? What a jerk!". What you gotta understand is the way my mom decorates. It IS a job. The word "simple" is not in her vocabulary. Everything she decorates is far beyond what any normal person would ever do. The entire house is fully decorated to rival that of Disneyland. Everywhere you look there is something interesting and beautiful to look at.On the first day I came to decorate, I pulled up and couldn't stop laughing at my Uncle's truck. I guess there is no limit to what can be decorated for Christmas. For my mom, detail is everything. She has 4 trees, I help decorate the two larger trees. One of them is 12 feet tall. Let's just say, she likes a little tree with her ornaments. I had to navigate a huge ladder around the tree and climb up and down that huge ladder hanging hundreds of ornaments.

Since I was young, I was always the one to help my mom decorate the tree so I have been properly schooled in the art of tree decorating. Here are the rules:

1. No two like ornaments can be next to each other

2. Hanging an ornament on the cording from the tree lights is unacceptable

3. The back of the tree must be decorated just as much as the front of the tree

4. If you can't find an empty branch to hang an ornament on, you're not trying hard enough

5. Just when you think you're finished, mom will find another bin full of ornaments

6. Quit your whining and get to work

Everett came with me and he was a good boy for the most part so I could get some work done. I would strap him in the Baby Bjorn and we'd decorate up and down the ladder. I don't think I'll tell Aaron about that part. Three days later I got the job done. It's such a pain doing the decorating, but once it's done it's nothing short of spectacular. It is indeed a celebration of Christ's birth and my mom goes all out to make it special.

So, Merry Christmas, everyone! It's going to be a wonderful celebration!

TIMBER!!!!

I finally finished decorating the tree last night. I was quite pleased with myself. At 3am this morning Aaron and I woke up to a jingling crash! The tree had fallen over and the ornaments went scattering all over the floor. I had noticed that the tree was leaning a little, but it looked that way from the time I put it up so I thought nothing about it. Well, that leg of the stand broke off and down the tree came! Maybe it was a cursing from my mother because I was lazy and didn't decorate the back of the tree(a decorating sin) and the front of the tree just couldn't carry all of the weight?
So, my poor angel is hanging upside-down with her skirt around her head, a very unangel-like compromising position, and there are shattered ornament bits and scratch marks on the piano. Perhaps not the best way to keep the re-sale value if I need sell it in the future.
Since I am looking at the positives this year I came up with a few...having our tree fall over gave me the opportunity to practice with my rarely-used wide angle camera lens, my piano is now dusted, and at least I have a good sturdy step ladder to help prop up our Christmas tree in the corner. So there.

Broke Christmas

Whoever did that survey that found that poor people are happier than rich people didn't bother to ask my opinion. I guess there is a difference between poor and broke. Poor means you never had anything to begin with, broke means you had it but lost it. I guess that's why I'm sulking a bit...I'm missing what "used to be".

The boat industry took a dump last year and Aaron's been out of work for almost 2 months. He's started a printing company, but like any new business it's going to take a while to get off the ground. He's working long hours and trying his best for our family. I will always love that characteristic about him. There is not one person I know that can out-work him. Until things get going, we just have to hold on as tight as we can. With many tears and feelings of failing my son, I started back to work part-time at my old job. My boss has been kind enough to let me bring Everett. (we'll see how long that lasts...) It's insane to think about how much has changed for us in the last year.

Everything is scaled back to practically zero and it's almost time to kick into survival mode. I'm surveying my home and making a list of what I can sell. I suppose if you go by Gerald Celente's prediction of the state of America by 2012, Aaron and I are just ahead of the pack. Lucky us.

Christmas also has been turned back to the bare bones. In our families we drew names instead of buying for everyone. We're also doing a gift exchange of used DVD's. Aaron and I agreed to not get gifts for each other (although, I won't be able to stand it and I'll have to at least make him something). Lucky for us, Everett has no idea what Christmas is and if things are still not up to par next year at least he'll be at the age to be perfectly happy playing with a cardboard box. (hopefully not the one we'll be living in...)

This is strange to me. It's almost Christmas and my tree is only half decorated. There is no holiday hustling and bustling. I haven't stepped foot in a store to buy anything. It almost seems like that's where my getting into the "Christmas Spirit" comes from. I know I'm supposed to focus on Christ at Christmas, and I do...but the presents sure are fun!! This year it had to be different. So, instead of moping about like I have been for the last few days, I gave myself a hearty smack across the face and woke myself up out of my pity party. Off to work I went getting myself interested in Christmas.

On went the painfully cheesy Christmas music I love so much, I baked a loaf of yummy bread and made a batch of wassail, the house smelled terrific. I went to work decorating the house.

We can't afford our usual real tree this year, my brother and sis-in-law were nice enough to let us borrow an extra tree they had. At night Moe, Everett and I went for a walk around the neighborhood and counted all the houses with lights and enjoyed the awesome scent of people having fires in their fireplaces. When we got home I turned off all the lights, lit a bunch of candles and Everett and I watched "The Grinch". I definitely felt better.

Last week I took some photos of Everett for Christmas. Thanks to digital, taking photos doesn't cost me a thing. I had a great time with my little angel. He's so dang cute and has such a sweet presence about him. I'm so happy to be his mom.

Being a grump about our financial situation doesn't help and isn't useful. I know we're not the only ones in this sinking financial boat. Everyone gets their turn in the dumps and right now, it's just ours. Things will get better (hopefully soon) and I will just have to put on a smile and look for the positive until then. Prayers are being answered along the way and my testimony is getting stronger. When I come out on the other side of this mess I will know I needed the experience, no life story is interesting without struggle or opposition.

We are going to have a great story.

Rice Cereal: The Lie

Everett has typically been a good sleeper. Recently he has been getting up more during the middle of the night. Everyone keeps telling me how much better and longer he will sleep once he starts eating rice cereal. Last night I thought I'd give it a try. I have a house full of people coming over and I needed to get some work done around the house. In order to do that, I needed a sleeping baby.

I spoon-fed him some rice cereal along with his regular dose of milk. He usually goes to bed between 9-10pm. Last night he didn't go to sleep until 11pm, it seems the cereal gave him a boost of energy. I stayed up getting the house put together, Aaron got home at midnight so we stayed up and chatted and headed to bed at 1:30 am. Just as my head hit the pillow, Everett started stirring and was ready to eat again. D'oh!

I fed him and it was back to bed at 2 am. At 5:30 am he woke up again. I fed him and it was back to bed by 6 am. At 7:30 he was up AGAIN. So, here we are...Everett is wide awake, I am a zombie, Aaron has been fast asleep all night. My house is still a wreck and I've still got to manage to get myself presentable for church and make the food for dinner tonight.

How did he manage to sleep worse with the rice cereal before bed? Just my luck, I guess.
Everett buddy, it's a good thing you're cute. This sucks.

Made it Another Year

Today is our 5th anniversary.

Time is just flying by so fast I can't believe it. We are still madly in love, still having a good time and still looking forward to the future. I love being married to Aaron, he's the perfect one for me! So happy anniversary darlin'! Let's go do something fun!