And Today is One of THOSE Days

I love that I have had the opportunity to stay at home with Davis, don't get me wrong, I cherish every single moment.

But days like today, I'd love to go back to my old job and sit at my desk, even on the most stressful of days that I ever had there, it would be like a mini vacation.

Today everything we own is apparently a toy, the 100 cards that Davis just dumped all over my kitchen floor, the entire roll of garbage bags he managed to get and unroll in less than 10 seconds, the roll of toilet paper he unraveled after his bath, all of my jewelry that he got out of my jewelry box while I was getting dressed and tossed all over the room.

My husband cannot wait to get back to work come Sunday night.

I don't think he realizes that being a stay at home mom is a job.

It is a hard job, harder than any "real" job I've ever had.

I know that being a working mom is just as hard, but in other ways.

I couldn't wait to be a stay at home mom, I thought EASY STREET.  It has to be the easiest thing to do, ever.  I'm in I thought to myself!!!!  Just think of all the great day time TV I'll get to watch.

Hell, I don't even watch as much as a commercial these days.  I actually watched more day time TV when I worked.

Tomorrow I am going to do a special blog post and log my entire day.

Davis has been up since 10 a.m., it is now 1 p.m. and my back feels like it could break in two, I am out of breath as I type this and I've got a good 8 hours to go before he hits the sack.

Did I mention Davis hasn't napped in months?

That means not a break for mommy all day long.

And my husband wonders why some days I have a short fuse and am super grouchy when he gets home.

Other days are easier than others, today is just one of THOSE days.

I need a beer!

Cheers!

It's a Brand New Week

I feel like I fell of the wagon in so many ways since Davis and I were sick for the entire month of January and part of February.

I set out the new year with some goals and actually started them the first week of January.

Then we both got sick and you know what happens then.

We started eating a lot of take out because mama was just too run down to cook a decent meal and my husband's idea of a decent meal is bologna.

I stopped going to the gym because who can workout when you can't breathe, plus I couldn't take Davis to the kids care sick.

This week though, it is a new week.

We have both been well for 2 weeks now.

But you know how you get into a habit and it is hard to stop, like not working out and eating take out.

My #1 goal is no take out this week.  Not only is it bad for you, it doesn't help us with our other goal of saving more money.

My #2 goal is to workout at least 3 times this week, if I do more, great, if not I think 3 times is a reasonable amount of times to workout to get back into the swing of things.

We are also getting a free 3 month membership to the YMCA through the Help Me Grow program we are in with Davis.  I'm not sure when I am going to activate it, maybe soon though. 

Date Night

I had a busy day yesterday, met some moms from my mom's group at the mall for a playdate.

I was there at 10 a.m. sharp.  I was shocked.

I used to be always on time, actually always early.

Then I had a baby.

Now I'm usually late.

But we were not late, yippee!!!

Davis played for about an hour, then we packed up so I could hit the clearance rack at my favorite (overpriced) section at Dillards.  I saw the racks, 70% off!!!  Jackpot!!!!

I found one shirt for $20, but some crazy lady was in line ahead of me buying a pile of clothing and we were on a time crunch because we had to get to therapy on the other side of town.  I didn't have time to wait.

I hung the shirt up and left.  Oh well, I saved my husband $20.

We went to therapy.

Davis did so well and the therapist said he has made such improvements since he started last month.

Then I dropped Davis off at my parents, I'm not even sure why actually.

I think they missed him.

Davis stayed the night at my parents house and my husband and I went on a date.

Mancy's Italian.

Yummy!!!

I had a Mojito, which was just eh.  I think the waitress was trying to get me drunk because that thing was nothing but Rum.  I could only drink half of it.  I should have just had my old stand by, beer.

We had dinner and dessert.  Jeff had fish and I had scallops and shrimp.

I tried to convince him we needed a vacation, he isn't buying it.  If I bug enough I usually get what I want, I'll just keep at it.

Then we came home and caught up on all the shows we had DVR'd in the past week.

And we waited for the snow.

It came.

My husband had the day off today, I'm sure many of you know he is a sports freak.

He plays competitive softball every summer.

Not for fun softball.

Serious softball.

World Series of Softball serious.  When I was pregnant we traveled to Disney Wide World of Sports for the World Series of Softball that he played in that year.  The past two years it has been in Sterling Heights though.

It makes me giggle. 

But whatever, it makes him happy.

Although for the last 3 years he always says, this is my last season, my knees, hips and ankles can't take it, I'm old. 

He is 36 and still playing.  

Anyways, his team is having a fundraiser tonight so that is why he took the day off, to do fundraiser preperations.

Blast From The Past

I promised past posts leading up to Davis' 2nd birthday.

I plan on delivering!!!

Here is a post from February 27, 2009.

And this one from February 21, 2010.

Both pretty boring to be honest.

But I said I'd post this stuff.

I only had 3 blog posts in February 2010.

Why?

Davis had been going on nearly a year of only sleeping 8-10 hours total per day.

Not 8-10 hours at night people.

TOTAL!!  That is night and naps.

He napped twice a day then, usually 2 hours each nap.

His night sleeping was spotty.

2 hours.

Wake up.

Struggle for 2-3 hours to get him back to sleep.

2 more hours.

Up for the day.

I am not exaggerating.

I think a lot of people back then thought I was.

I wasn't.

My child NEVER slept.

This went on until he was 15 months old.

And people wonder why we are so hesitant for a 2nd.

I'm ready for a 2nd.

My husband on the other hand, is not.

He might warm up to the idea sometime though. 

He just needs more time to get over that period in our lives.

It wasn't pretty.

I'm not going to sugarcoat it.

It was bad.

Bad in a lot of ways.

Bad on me, bad on my husband, bad on our marriage.

Lack of sleep does really interesting things to people.

We feel like we just got back to being and feeling normal again.

So why ruin a good thing.

Not that a 2nd child would ruin us.

But we are scared.

Scared of the unknown.

Scared that another baby would be the same way.

Of course Davis had an issue that went undiagnosed by our first group of pediatricians.

I was ignored.

I am pretty sure they thought I was an overbearing first time mom.

My husband got fed up, so we switched pediatricians, he picked them.

Good job Jeff!!!!!

Our issue was addressed when Davis was 10 months old.

Surgery at 12 months old.

But we were told by the surgeon we would not see improvements in our son until he was at least 6 weeks out from surgery.

He was right.

At 6 weeks to the day (no joke), Davis' sleep habits improved greatly.

I could cry writing this, the problem Davis had was sleep apnea caused by very enlarged adenoids and something called Laryngomalacia.

The surgery Davis had to correct this is peformed on babies as young as 4 weeks.

Funny because that is when I started mentioning it to the first group of pediatricians we went to.

Every appointment I'd say something about it.

Oh, all kids do that they'd say.

Really??  All kids sound like freight trains when they sleep?  Snoring so loud you can hear them all the way in the back of the house?  They all gasp for air? 

I'm bitter towards them, I would never recommend them to anyone.

Sad because they are a really large group of peds, I'm sure half the city goes there.

When we saw the new doctor she was amazing.

She listened to me.

She said, mimic the sounds he makes for me.

So I did.

She also did something our other doctor never did, she tested his oxygen levels.

They were low.

Lower than they should be.

Not low enough to hospitalize him though, but right on the border.

All because of the adenoids and laryngomalacia.

She told me what she suspected, asked me to get the camcorder out when he was sleeping, bring it back in a week, let her listen and we'd go from there.

She listed to my tape of him and sent us to an ENT.

I'm telling you, I love that woman.  If it wasn't for her, I'm not sure where would be.

And how did this post turn into that rant?

At Least He Doesn't Leave the Seat Up

The toilet seat that is.

My husband always puts the toilet seat down.

The lid too.

This becomes an issue at 3 a.m. when you get up to pee, sit down and realize that you sat on the toilet lid.

It drives me insane.

But I'd rather sit on the lid than fall in.

Let's just hope I don't pee on the lid some night.

He also has a bad habit of shutting the bathroom door all the time.

Also not good when you are nearly legally blind without glasses or contacts and it is pitch black at 3 a.m. when you are going to the bathroom.

I don't even want to admit how many times I've ran straight into the door.

Boom.

Blast From The Past

Each week leading up to Davis' 2nd birthday I am going to link a few old posts from years past, just because it is funny to go back and read my blog.  This blog is nearly 3 years old now.

Here is a post from February 2009 - Davis was still in my belly.

Here are two posts from February 2010 - Davis was 11 months old, you can view them here and here.

What is Davis doing now?

He is 23 months old, he weighs approximately 27 lbs and I am guessing is around 35 - 35.5 inches tall.

He still loves the bathroom and flushing the toilet and will get in either bathroom any chance he can.  He has also figured out that moving mommy's stepstool over to the sink in the kitchen will allow him to play in the water.  Mommy doesn't like this one bit, Davis is very smart and figures everything out, including turning the water on.  Well, hot water and toddlers don't mix.  This is exactly why the baby gate stays up and the only time he enters the kitchen is with one of us.

Cleaning

I feel like talking about cleaning today.

Only because I cleaned the utility room off the garage today.

During the winter we like to enter the house through the garage so we can take our dirty shoes off in the utility room to save from tracking muck through the house.

With the insane amount of snow we had the room became trashed in just a few weeks.

I didn't bother to clean it up well because I was sick for the entire month of January, there is no heat out there so it is freezing cold and it would have became just as dirty within 5 minutes of my cleaning it.

It is warm today.

Like summer.

Okay, 46 degrees.

But summer for us, considering it was 5 degrees last week.

I swept up all the little salt pellets that got tracked in.

Took the steam mop to the floor.

Re-organized the entire room.

Aaaaaahhhhh.

Love it.

I love clean.

I love organization.

I hate lots of stuff.

Which brings me to why I don't have a lot of decor around my house.

I am a minamalist

So is my husband.

One less thing to dust and clean is my thinking.

No reason to have my kitchen countertops cluttered with crap.

They look prettier bare.

My mom is super clean, I'd eat off her toilets, seriously.

But she likes decor.

Depression glass, pictures, little hurricane lamps, roosters.

She has 38 roosters in her kitchen.

I'd hate to dust all that crap.

I think it would annoy me as a kid sometimes that she had all these little decorations to clean around.

Which is why I decorate with the fewest items I can get away with.

Decisions

A few weeks ago Zulily had a deal where you could get 16x20 wrapped canvas prints for $29, then an additional $11 shipping paid at the time of your order from Image Canvas.

Total of $40 each.

Yes please.

They are normally $89 for the 16x20 wrapped canvas from Image Canvas, plus shipping. 

So less than half price is what I paid.

I ordered 3!

Now, we have been married almost 4 years.

I have like 1 wedding photo in our house.

Sad.

That is what happens when the photographer offers the disc with copyrights.

I almost wish they didn't offer that sometimes.

When you don't have that option you are forced to buy prints.

Then because you spent so much money you are forced to hang them.

Back to my dilema.

Do I order all 3 of the canvas prints in 3 of my favorite wedding photos?

Is that overkill?

Or do I order 2 of my favorite wedding photos on the canvas and 1 of my favorite photos of Davis on the other??

Or do I do all 3 of Davis??

Or 1 of our wedding and 2 of Davis??

What would you do?

Valentine's Day

My first date with Jeff was on Valentines Day 2004.

NOT a good day for a first date.

I don't think either of us really thought that out well.

Every single restaurant in town was packed.

We waited FOR-EVER to eat dinner.

We ended up having a 2nd date the following week.

It went much better.

Then I decided I was more interested in someone else.

I'll bet you didn't know that.

So I really didn't officially date Jeff until sometime in the Fall of 2004, maybe even the Winter of 2005.

At any rate we got engaged on my birthday in September 2006.

We went to Hocking Hills.

I thought he was getting me a Yorkie.

WTF, a yorkie???

Like really, a yorkie??

What did he do pack it in a bag and drive it all the way down to Hocking Hills with me in the car.

It was really an engagement ring.

I was shocked to say the least.

My husband was NEVER getting married.

And then we got married on the hottest day October 6 had ever seen since like 1800 and something. 

It was like 90 degrees.

I chose the Wolcott Museum Chapel.

Quaint, cute, historical, no a/c.

But who needs a/c in October.

Well, apparently we did.

It was memorable.

I remember after our wedding my friend Jen told me she thought I was wearing a bra with clear straps with my dress.

Then she realized it was just sweat.

So there you have it.

First date: February 14, 2004

Really dating somewhere around Fall 2004 or Winter 2005

Engaged: September 3, 2006

Married: October 6, 2007

Proof of the sweat, see my neck and forehead

Let's Talk Maternity Photos

I have a love/hate relationship with maternity photos.

Some I see are like really, really amazing and make me wish I had done them.  Like these.

Tastefully done.

Simple.  Cool.  Classy.

Then you see some that are just not cool.

Terribly set up.

Tacky.

Dorky.

Just ick.

Borderline porn.

I will not post a link to icky ones as I don't want to upset anyone.

But I'm sure if you are reading this you know exactly what I'm talking about.

I know a lot of it has to do with the photographer.

Most really good photographers are not going to take untasteful, tacky, dorky, cheesy, pornish photos.

But a lot of people who think they are photographers do and these are the ones that bug the living crap out of me.

If you are going to do a maternity session you should hire a true professional to do them if you want to look back years from now and still be wowed by them.

If It Isn't Me It Is Him

I am pretty sure Davis has another ear infection.

He has pulled and poked at both ears since yesterday.

Has a runny nose.

Was up 4 or 5 times last night crying.

Oy Vey!

When is it going to end?

I kid you not when I say that we have been sick since the very first week of January.  I've been sick for a solid 4 weeks now.  He was well for one week but sick for 3 weeks.

Last night I went on a rampage.

Throwing boiling water over all his toys in the sink.

Spraying the Lysol all over the place.

I am desperate for us to get better.

Project Organization - Day 1

After being holed up in my house the last month due to sickness I realized how many unfinished projects we have around here.  I am going to use the winter months to get caught up on everything I didn't finish because I was constantly going all summer and fall.

Today I felt better so I did a project.

It only took me one hour and Davis had a blast emptying rocks out of candle holders in our room. 

It made a world of difference.

I went through both of my closets.

I have two bags of clothes to donate to a local high school as they are having a garage sale this weekend and the proceeds go to support after prom. 

I have one large box to take to a local resale shop in hopes to get some money for my nearly brand new clothes and clothes that still have tags on them.

This was a wake up call for me.

It made me realize how much we waste as Americans.

I'm guilty, your guilty, we are all guilty.

So in my effort to spend less this year, this project for sure reminded me to keep that goal going.

I'm sure I am giving away a good $1,000 worth of clothing, purses and shoes.

Disgusting.

On the upside, my closets are neat, organized and I can now find that favorite sweater I'm always searching for.

My goal is to at least do 3 of these projects each week.  Some I can do by myself, some will require my husband's help.

This weekend I want to sit down with him and make a list of things we need to complete together.

Here are a few exciting ones that I can think of off hand for you to look forward to reading about:

1. Update 2nd bathroom

2. Convert Davis' "baby" room into a "toddler" room

3. Paint the front room for the 5th time since we have lived here and change it from a never used sitting room into a dining area

4. Hang photos

5. Paint, decorate, the whole shabang to the spare bedroom

Some of the less interesting things on my list are:

1. Keep the pantry/utility room off the garage organized at all times

2. Keep Davis' baby book updated

3. Stay on top of printing pictures and making photo albums

4. Stay more organized in general

5. Make sure both bathrooms get a good scrub down every 2 weeks

6. Cook dinner every night of the week

Do Americans Not Know How to Take a Break and Enjoy a Day Off??

We had a level 3 snow emergency here in Lucas County until about 2 p.m. today from the snow.

A level 3 snow emergency pretty much means unless your a police officer, fireman, doctor, nurse or the like you are to stay off the roads or you can be arrested, fined or ticketed.

I honestly cannot tell you how many statuses I saw on FB of people complaining about it being a level 3.

They just had to get out.

Can't stand being at home with their kids.

Need to go shopping.

Itching to get into the office the moment the level 3 is lifted to a level 2.

Seriously people, embrace a day off, enjoy your family, enjoy snuggling with your kids, watch some TV, read a book, take it easy for once.

I guess I just don't understand some people.

I never will.

I don't want to.

It makes me sad that so many people just can't stop and smell the roses sometimes.  Take a breather.  Life is short. It doesn't have to be about work, work, work, go, go, go every second of the day.

Blizzards and Sickies

We are expected to get up to 16" here in T-Town by Wednesday.  I will believe it when I see it Blizzard Bill!!! 

The entire city has literally gone mad.

Gas stations running out of gas.

Store shelves wiped clean of milk, eggs and bread.

Which brings me to my question of the day.

Why do people stock up on milk, eggs and bread??

I mean, really, of all things to stockpile.

I guess they like french toast??

Also, do these people like never go grocery shopping??

Honestly, if we hadn't gone grocery shopping Sunday, we would be able to manage a few weeks on what we have in our house.

My dad went to Kroger for a few items and he had to wait for a cart!

My friend went to Kroger last night and she said there were no hot dog buns, hamburger buns or bread!!

At least the stores are going to show a huge profit this month.

If we do get this supposed "blizzard" I will for sure take pictures and blog about it.

In other news, I'm still sick.

Really??

Yep, still sick.

Same damn sinus infection, going on 3 weeks now.

I actually felt good last week, Monday-Friday.

Saturday, not so much.

I went back to my doctor yesterday.

14 days of more antibiotics.

Another bottle of cough syrup with codeine, yum!!

And an order for a CT scan of my sinuses, she thinks they could be blocked which is why I am not getting better.

Hmph!

I'm going to get my skis ready now.