Think Pink

Here is an excerpt from the journal Hubby and I are keeping about our pregnancy experience for our Bean-Bean:

WEEK 22

November 1, 2010

“Pinky Bean,” we received confirmation at our private (non-medical) ultrasound appointment that you are in fact a GIRL!  Mom drank some orange juice, as was recommended, to give you what she likes to call a sugar high.  It worked!  Not only were you not being “shy” this time, you were quite a sight to watch: holding and sucking on your umbilical cord, lots of mouth movements and gulping of amniotic fluids, and quite possibly the funniest thing to see was you “licking” the placenta.  You were really exploring your surroundings.  At times it seemed the umbilical cord was tickling your face and you reacted with movement when it touched you. 

We learned that your placenta is located anterior, meaning in the front of the womb (Mommy’s tummy).  Which explains why Mom has not felt you move much yet.  It will take a few more weeks before she feels you kick and punch her, which for sleep reasons is probably a good thing. 

Mom can’t sleep tonight; excited happy thoughts of the Pink Princess Bean are keeping her awake. 

Ultrasound: Gender Inconclusive & New Shoes

I teased that an upcoming post would indicate the gender of the Bean-Bean growing in my belly.  I must have jinxed it somehow because I kept telling people, "If the baby cooperates.  If the baby cooperates."  Well, the baby did NOT cooperate!  He/she was sitting Indian style (crossed legged) and was being "shy," as they say.  The Ultrasound Tech. guessed it was a girl.  Unsatisfied with our results we have scheduled an appointment for a non-medical ultrasound in a few weeks.  Hopefully some orange juice and acrobatics will help in uncovering the mystery for us.

 In other news: Hubby has been in desperate need of some Rainbow Sandal replacements.  We took a ride down to the outlet factory in San Clemente this after and discovered our new favor kicks!  We each got a pair.  Mine are the light tan (as shown) and Matt's are a light whitish cream color.  They look super smooth and are oh, so comfortable!  I am really hoping they will be available in grey soon [ladies, size 6].  The color I chose and pink were my only two options. 

Ugh, my blog has turned into an "I heart Baby Bear" bore-fest

It may appear that I have no life or that my life is centered around the care of Baby Bear.  I assure you that is not the case.  Just to prove my previous statement wrong I'm now posting yet another silly picture of, you guessed it, Baby Bear.  I'm so predictable.

This is the result of bringing the boys in when the sun started going down at 5:30.  I think we're all going to get cabin fever once the time changes. 

What I loved most about the empty plastic bucket on Baby Bear's head is that I clearly recall doing pretty much the exact same thing at his age, but in my case it was a beach bucket.  Picture a community pool and a purple bucket.

Coming soon: Bean-Bean ultrasound photos and a declaration of pink or blue in our near future. 

San Antonio (Catholic Church) FIESTA!

Our dear friends are co-chairing the Fiesta this year, and asked if we would help by dressing the stage up with decorations.  I was working Friday, so I brought Baby Bear with me to "help."

Here's a pic of my Hubby and Baby Bear blowing up balloons.  

My amazing Father-in-law not only helped up out by tying the ribbon on the balloons, but he also entertained Baby Bear with what pretty much made the little guys' day: a ride on the orange utility cart.

Toddler Mustachios - Oh, & I'm Pregnant!

Sorry for the delay in posting.  Summer has flown by, and nothing too exciting has happened... Oh, except that fact that my husband and I are expecting our first child!  Woo hoo!   We're due March 12, 2011. 

Since my mother and her sister, Mary, didn't have any morning sickness (they had daughters), and my Aunt Linda only had it with her sons, I am assuming we have conceived a boy.  If this is so, my husband expects our child to be born with his father's infamous handlebar mustache.  Below is a picture paying homage to amazing facial hair.  However, Baby Bear's is made of chocolate frosting from the cupcake he was enjoying the other day.  Sweet ~ in more ways than one.

I asked the boys I sit for what I should name the baby.  Little Bear suggested, "Poop-a-tee," which my husband loved.  Henceforth, he has referred to our baby as such. 

Popsicle Toss

Baby Bear was eating a "Big Stick" popsicle this week and ended up dropping it into the dirt while playing.  When I asked him to hand it to me so I could dispose of it, this is the way it landed when I missed his toss:

Try doing that twice!

Toddler Story Time

I was feeling a little sleepy when "Baby Bear" awoke from his nap today.  So, I grabbed a pillow and laid on his bedroom floor.  I asked if he would please read me a story and he was happy to oblige.  Here is a shot of him reading to me about bunnies. 

2nd Week of Summer Vacation as a Sitter

This is a little of what we did last week:

This is a space plan of the obstacle course we made (but never used) in the garage.  The creative process was the fun part.

Here's a pic of the sign directing neighbors to our obstacle course.  I love that the word "center" is spelled "centene." 

We made name tags for all the neighborhood kids too, but I failed to photograph those.  Basically, they were star shaped and colored with markers (much like the sign). 

I know it's not much, but this was a busy week for me.  We celebrated my dear friend, Theresa, in Palm Springs for her bachelorette party.  And we had a small birthday party for my father-in-law at Tacos Jaliscos - Mmmm! 

I need to learn how to put my foot down with the 6-year-old.  The 2-year-old & I want to go to the park, but older brother doesn't want to leave the house.  Time to toughen up, Em.  (personal pep-talk). 

My 1st Week of Summer as a Sitter

The 6-year-old, Little Bear, that I watch graduated from kindergarten on Tuesday.  Yay for him, boo for me.  Gone are the days when I chilled out in the backyard tanning while the 2-year-old, Baby Bear, napped.  My break-time is now at the beginning of the day when they are still sleeping.  What I will miss most, however, is the daily trip to the park.  Baby Bear  and I had a routine that we both enjoyed.  Time to create a new one...

The first photo was taken on day 1 of summer vacation.  I call it "Child Labor."  The neighbors down the street were having their sidewalk demolished, which became the greatest attraction for the boys.  Little Bear spent no less than four hours that day watching and helping move broken cement from the lawn to the driveway.  Which was about as interesting as watching paint dry, back when I was a kid.  But, to each their own, I guess.

Side note: the French Open was on this morning and it brought back painfully boring memories of my childhood summer vacations.  Tennis and the Noriega trial ruined my afternoons!


It is my mission to bring as much arts & crafts into these boys lives as Emily possible.  I would say humanly possible, but knowing what people are capable of (i.e. Guinness World Records) I can only provide enough creativity as I find on Google, various blogs, suggestions from friends or random thoughts.  Here some examples of what we did with "our own two hands" this week:

 

• egg-cartons masks
• We collected various leaves and flowers from the neighborhood.  Later that day we glued some flora down to make collages, that were not so photogenic.  
• toilet paper roll nose makers

My budget for arts & crafts is non-existent, so everything we use is reused scrap or things we happen to have around the house. 

By the way, I am open to any and all suggestions for things to do! 

 

Baking "Beer" Bread

Technically, I modified a Honey-Oatmeal Bread recipe from my Better Home & Gardens cookbook by adding in a few "beer" ingredients. 

The orange package is the German Wheat Beer Yeast Matt did not use to make his hefeweizen home-brew, so I used it to make this bread.  I also used the Stone Arrogant Bastard Ale extract that we created when baking beer biscuits for the Super Bowl.

The downside: the prep, rise time and baking took nearly 4 hours! 

Aside from being very dense, it tastes yummy.  I have a feeling I didn't give the yeast enough time to "waken."

Will the real Tracy Morgan please stand up?

I find  Tracy Morgan hilarious!  My friend, Jackie, suggested I listen to his book on tape, The New Black (because it's waaay better read by him than reading his words).  Since I have yet to search and find this gem, Jackie recently mentioned that Terry Gross of NPR's Fresh Air interviewed Tracy about his life and fore mentioned book.

I have always wondered what Tracy was like when he's not "on."  And now I think I have some sort of idea.  Please click the link Tracy Morgan and enjoy the comedy and reality that is The New Black. 

"That rabbit's going to ruin my credit!" -- Tracy Morgan

Food isn't the way to ONLY a man's heart.

We like to cook brunch, with that special ingredient love, to honor our parents.  This year we showed our appreciation to my dear MIL with eggs benedict, asparagus, berries & cinnamon rolls.

Not Your Grandmother's Gymnastics

When I did gymnastics as a child I had no idea what Damien Walters does was humanly possible.    Damien Walters 2010  I love the creativity of this athlete.

(Please click on the link, as I do not know how to have the clip play directly from my site yet.)

When Things Are Not What They Seem To Be

I pulled this out of Andrew's backpack today and had to look twice before I realized what it REALLY was.  The text below the hand-drawn image explains that it is not a part of the male anatomy.  "Andrew be nimble.  Andrew be quick.  Andrew jump over the candlestick."

Get your mind out of the gutter!

Random Thoughts

A thought popped in my head yesterday, (if you know me at all you'll know my thought process is quirky) while watching Leona kitty roam the bathroom floor desperate for any kind of attention, "She must think I am the most vain person in the world."  They say not to anthropomorphize your pets thoughts, and that most folks think cats and dogs know nothing of vanity, but I beg to differ.  Maybe they don't go to the lengths and degrees that we do to keep up with current tends and fashion, but they definitely know when they are looking might dapper, I must say.  I digress, back to my thought...  It takes me at least three times as long to get primped and ready for the day as it takes my handsome husband.  (Thought leap: man, it sucks to be a girl.)  A good chunk of my time with Leona is when I am getting ready in the morning and preparing for sleep at night.  In both cases, I'm doing a long drawn out routine in front of the bathroom mirror, hence the thought.

Moving on...

I saw this picture in a free magazine I receive due to some affiliation within the interior design realm, Riviera Interiors.  It's of a community room in Culver City, California, designed by Angeleno Interiors for Upward Bound House which provides emergency housing for 18 families.

What caught my eye was the children's table in the middle.  How cool would it be to have that as your coffee table in your living room when you have (a) limited space and (b) toddlers?!  I'm inspired.

My Conversion to Cowgirl

PART 1
In their quest to convert this suburban girl into an urban one, my husband and the Welch's have me listening to a lot more country music.  I suppose this transition was bound to happen at some point, living with the son of two "Americana" enthusiasts.   Like my switch from Jew to Jesus, this choice was mine to make.  It started slowly with the introductions of a few crossover hits.

The day that changed my life forever was when I told Matt, "I listened to the country music stations on my way to and from Escondido [80 minute drive each way] because I like the stories I heard in the songs."  I'm  going to sound grey-haired here, but today's music lacks a narrative, twists, a theme and lessons that make me want to listen 'til the end.

Since that day, Matt has programmed 105.1 Go Country & KFRG to my car radio pre-sets, rekindled my childhood interest in Randy Travis and fed my musical brain current and classic country songs that I now unconsciously start blurting out lyrics to.

PART 2
Over lunch, yesterday, my in-laws mentioned the Boot Barn was hosting a radio station event and that there would be door prizes and discounts - proverbial music to this former Jew's ears!  Matt and I had recently been dreaming about purchasing "real" boots, so we felt this was a good opportunity to check things out.  When we arrived at the Boot Barn there was no crowd in sight.  We inquired within and were told that the event must be at the Corona store.  Not wanting to be rude, we continued to peruse the merchandise.  Each of the four of us found a nice shirt on the sales rack.  The purchase of the shirt, I knew, was a line I would be crossing that meant no return.

Matt had mentioned our interest in boots, so the four-some headed to the Orange Mall where fellow San Antonio [Catholic Church] goers own a store, The Corral.  Like my friend's custom Bra Shoppe in Bake-o, CA and North Carolina, the owners help find the perfect fit for your body, or foot in this case.  It was here that I was paired with my transformational 1883 Luchese calf skin (sorry PETA) American made cowgirl boots.

*Note Leona kitty in the background inspecting the box they came in.

Yee Haw!

Nanny Schnannigans

What we do to entertain ourselves, I mean the kids.

I guess you're not so bad after all.

While babysitting today, Bella, the 8-year-old girl from down the street told me this:  "When I first met you I thought you'd be mean and strict, but it turns out you're not."

Sounds like a solid approval.  Sweet!

That's What She Said

Let me set the scene for you.  I was babysitting the boys.  Andrew, the elder of the two, was at the breakfast table while Tommy, who is chest deep in his terrible twos, was looking for something to do.  Tommy noticed Andrew's bowl of goodies from a recent plastic Easter egg hunt.  Eyeing a round blue object I told Tommy to ask Andrew for permission to play with his toys.  After permission was granted I chimed in with, "Thank you for letting him play with your balls."

I laughed internally, because all I wished for at that very moment was another adult to share the "That's what she said," moment with.

Meg Whitman is full of shit, man.

(Did you notice how I put her picture on the right?)

My fourth impression is that Meg Whitman is a hypocrite.  

Why don't these multi-millionaires do something more productive with their money rather than trying to gain more power?  Take a tip from Bill and Melinda Gates, and try helping out the needy instead of yourself.  Make a change that makes sense.

I'll be voting my party line for Governor this November.

Stepping down from my soap box now.

Diary of a Stuper-Nanny (yes, the "t" was on purpose)

This entry is in response to the several requests that I start blogging about my babysitting experiences. 

 Side Note: why does iMac tell me "babysitting" is spelled incorrectly?!  

I don't want to separate the words!

I'm learning a lot from my part-time gig.  

Here's a list of few epiphanies (because I too like lists):

1. More than two is too much!  If/ when we are blessed with kidlets, I cannot see myself with more than two children.  God gave you two hands...  Marriages are comprised of two parents (if divorce is a non-issue)...  See my pattern?
2. Boys are fun, but a lot of work!  I'm used to watching my little sister and being a Girl Scout counselor.  Sing a few songs, do some arts & crafts, plop 'em in front of a TV and voila!  I've discovered this is not the case with boys.  Due to their age differences of 4 years, I have found the most common and favored activity is rough-housing.  Which is fine and dandy until someone gets hurt.  How does that German phrase go, mom?  Nach lachen kommt das weinen ~ after laughing comes crying.
3. I know nothing!  That's not true, but my DMIL (Dear Mother-in-Law) is very wise and knowledgeable.  (see suggested chart below)

How do you like my arts & crafts? 


The boy's mother asked me when I did this.  "The other day, when I wasn't working and avoiding housework (sorry Matt)."  All but three stickers fell off when I left the chart in my trunk this weekend with the 90 degree heat we had.  I switched from stars to crosses.  Good thing Andrew goes to a Lutheran school, otherwise I would have had to purchase random stickers. 


There are actually 2 charts on 1 board.

• The top chart is to assure Andrew gets to school on time, because I'm having issues with getting him out of bed and lighting a fire under his bummy to get out the door.  The reward:  5 solid days of stickets = a trip to the nature center.  So far, the chart is working like a freakin' charm!!  THANKS DMIL! 

Side Note: We went to the nature center last Friday.  

I thought it would be a good way for them to get their wiggles out.  

Chasing after them and barking, "Look with your eyes!," makes me hope 
that we don't keep having perfect rows of stickers (but not really).

• The bottom chart is to reward good manners (a.k.a. I am not a freakin' maid!).  The reward: 15 stickers = a trip to Gold Spoon for frozen yogurt.  Which they don't realize is a huge treat for me!  I love G.S. (No, mom.  That doesn't stand for Girl Scouts.)

I'll end this entry with a...

Short Story

Last Thursday afternoon, the boys were playing with the neighbor kid from across the street, Garret, who is twice the size of a normal 7-year-old boy and doesn't know his own strength.  The "fun" started when Andrew (the 6-year-old that I watch) climbed down from the short branch-y tree.  "I have a splinter!"  I tried to remove it myself with tweezers and a needle, but soon found the little guy shaking with fear, so I tried texting my EMT husband for some different ideas.  He suggested I use ice to numb the pain & tell Andrew to "be a super hero" while I tried again to remove the splinter.  I had already administered a sink bath of warm soapy water, so the skin and splinter were softening.  No hope of plucking out the imbedded tree bark now!  

While trying to clam down the worried little patient, the door bell rang.  It was Garret, who wanted to know if I could watch him while his mom and sister went to her school and would be "right back, before 6 o'clock."  I told him I leave at 6 and would find out if the boy's mom could watch him when she got home.  Before I could get a response for their mom that she had an appointment at 6, Garret's mom had driven down the street!   So, was I asked to remain until 6:50.  "Sure, no problem."  

The kids were all playing nicely in the garage (the splinter a distant memory), when one of them suggested they close the garage door and use it as a backstop.  On my way through the house to watch from the front, I spent a few minutes picking up a little (i.e. shoes, toys).  By the time I was able to see what they were doing, CRASH went one of the garage door windows!  The thought going through my mind at the time, "Damn it!  Their mom will be home in 5 minutes!  I wasn't suppose to be here this late! Damn splinter!  GARRET!"  However the words that came out of my mouth were, "Oh, well.  Accidents happen."  

I sent Garret, the glass breaker home and had the boys come back inside the house.  I tried to vacuum glass shards before their mom returned, but I didn't get far before the garage door opened.  Luckily, the parents I nanny for are wonderful and understanding.  However,  I still feel bad and realized a few things:

1. Look for items that can be broken before saying, "yes."
2. Provide less time for the boys to hangout with Garret.
3. Don't ever say you'll watch someone else's kids for even a minute when working for other parents.

Too Late for Gauchos???

Welcome to my blog.   I'm not one for jumping on the band-wagon, so I'm often left wondering, "Did what I just purchase already go out of style?!" Or, "Gosh, everyone has a Facebook and/or blog, so why not me?!"

JUMP:

I finally broke down and decided to blog about the mundane for my friends (a.k.a. Dugg-a-Roons) to keep up on the random things that go on in my life.

JUMP:

I bought gaucho pants at Target yesterday. Yes, I've tried on other pairs in the past (just as inexpensive -- because I'm notoriously cheap) and resisted the urge to purchase such a comfy article of clothing. Why then did I take me this long to finally buy a pair?! Should I return them?!

(I'm constantly returning things due to buyers remorse.)