Wednesday, December 31, 2008

A year in review...

January--political commercials had been going on for about 6 months in Iowa, we finally got to go vote in the caucus. It was pretty cool. There was a ton of snow, and the worst winter in Iowa for like, ever. I started doing Blog 365 (today as I write this is the last day, hallelujah!), blogging for cash on an occasional basis, and did a bunch of memes and fun mondays!
February--tracking presidential election results, the side of the road debacle, baby making, valentine, leap year birthday hubby.
March--we found out a new baby was on the way, and celebrated quietly! Found out that the Bears gave away a lot of their good players, which angered me somewhat, started exercising.
April--We thought we'd live in Iowa forever, so we started looking for places to buy, with no luck. We enjoyed the wildlife in our backyard coming around to new life in the springtime and dreamed of our baby to be, and wondered if we'd be as good as parents as the animals. Morning sickness began in earnest.
May--the big announcement was made! Maternity clothes became the staple, and I started a temp job again.
June--I got to visit with my friend/baby's godmother Tricia who was also pregnant, albeit beating me by about 10 weeks (due in September), had our sonogram and got to see our baby, and took a vacation to NC to see my aunt. Also, the Cedar River flooded like an insane amount and totally destroyed the downtown of Cedar Rapids.
July--gas prices hit an alltime high of $4 a gallon. We paid off my student loan and our truck. We rock!
August--Set up the nursery, watched the Olympics, Matthew went and interviewed for a new job, was offered and accepted it! I finished my temp job and vowed to be done for a while. I sang and read to the baby every day.
September--Had 2 baby showers, Matthew was officially cleared for hire for the job he accepted! We looked for houses and found 2 that we weren't totally in love with, but I was exhausted and told Matthew to choose. We packed up all of our clothes in preparation for a move.
October--We voted for the President of the United States. We moved and stayed with my parents for 2 weeks while we waited for a decision about the house we were trying to buy. It should have been a warning. The alarms were ringing but we didn't hear them. We rented the hell hole for 2 weeks and decided against buying a house at the current moment. Our very unexpected surprise of a sweetheart, our baby girl arrived 3 weeks early!
November--We moved into our current apartment, gas prices start dropping rapidly. I counted my blessings and blogged about moving with an infant. It was a lot of sleepless nights.
December--We got used to our new baby, got some cloth diapers to try out, settled into our apartment, and started to feel safe again. My parents had their anniversary, and I got to spend it with them, as well as Christmas. Two things I didnt' think I'd get to do, I got to do. I've completed 9 and 10 on my bucket list as of the end of the year, yeah!

Happy New Year everyone!

Tuesday, December 30, 2008

Fun with baby

We've been having a pretty good time now that Matthew has been able to be at home with Keeley and I for a week or so. We're getting into a good routine and I'll be REALLY upset when I have to deal with her alone again! It's so great that he can run and get her when she cries in the morning, and bring her to me, hungry, but with a clean diaper and ready to go. It's also nice that he can put her in bed and soothe her to sleep and I can either get some rest or work on other things that I don't normally get done until dark when he's been home for a while at night. Anyway, I think she and I will both be very very spoiled by the time this week is over!

Monday, December 29, 2008

So you had a bad day...

What happens when the baby blues whack you upside the head 2 months after the baby is born? I had an awful morning, after traveling several days this week, KJ ate like a champ (nursing) twice last night, I was just astounded and thrilled. It took no time at all and she was content. She got a bottle first thing this morning because my chest was hard as a brick but I was all set to feed her again 3 hours later, and she would. not. eat. she screamed and screamed and screamed. Matthew gave her some milk out of a bottle and then she had an extreme amount of gas and seemed to quiet down and feel a lot better, but she wouldnt lay down to eat. This has happened twice lately. I had to sit her back up and eventually give her a bottle, but once the gas went away she seemed to be okay. Apparently this morning, though, I couldn't take it. I'm not sure but my guess is that it took a good 3 hours to calm the hell down. My husband finally convinced me that yes, he and the baby still needed me, that I shouldn't just go away and that I should probably go ahead and pump out the 3 quarts of milk that was gathering in my chest. The next time she was hungry? All fine and dandy. Good god. I wish I knew what the heck was bothering me about her being upset. I guess I'm still paranoid that she won't nurse at all and I'll be glued to the damn pump for the rest of my natural life (okay a year)... I'm trying to get away from using it, but she still hates the one side and won't nurse on it unless she's really desperate. Which is about 3 times since she's been born. In the meantime, she is happy enough, is gaining weight and growing, which I should be thrilled about.

But for some reason this morning was hell on earth for me. I haven't felt that bad since getting 'home' to that hell hole house from the hospital when I couldn't get her to nurse. For some reason that's all tied up in my head with being a 'good' mommy. I couldn't give birth to her properly and nursing was all I had left in my head as 'being good' --not that people who bottle feed are bad, it's just a personal insano thing inside my head--for me it is either I am able to nurse her or I fail. And this instance just seemed to make me snap. After a long nap for both of us (okay I didnt' have a long nap, I dozed off and on for a little while)--everything returned to semi-normal.

Therefore my new year's resolution will probably have something to do with being thankful for the love of god that my baby eats, poops, and sleeps (insert angel choir singing here) fairly well for a 2 month old.

Sunday, December 28, 2008

Over the river and through the woods...

We left around 545 this morning to go visit grandma, to church at 8 am and also to see Matthew's best friend P, who works in Boston. They went to junior high together and were definitely the beginnings of computer nerds. Geeks, whatever. They have kept in touch even though they went to different high schools and haven't lived in the same state for at least 10 years if not more. Of course they email occasionally and chat online. I happened to also go to school with P and went to prom with him. He's a nice guy and if I could take him in and fatten him up like I did my hubby, I would. He's one of those people (for my husband) that he can just catch up with even if it's been months since they talked or a year since they've seen each other. P has a birthday at this time of year and comes back to see his mom and celebrate Christmas.

For the past 5 years or so, we have gone out to dinner with his mom, sister and her husband. Last year I guess we weren't around for the dinner, but Matthew got to see him for a while one afternoon. This year we missed dinner because of KJ of course. Maybe next year. We saw him this summer for a bit for their 10 year class reunion. I don't think either of them graduated from the school, but they both were well liked and the class was small enough to invite back everyone that was ever in the class. Anyway, I really like him, I think he's a good friend for Matthew. It sucks that he's so far away. Maybe one of these days we'll convince him to come back to the midwest, but until then, it's a rare summer visit and a Christmas tradition we look forward to all year long. His mom also really loves Matthew and she met Keeley and was ga ga over her, apparently, even though she has her own grandbaby and another on the way (her daughter is pregnant for a second time)--which is really nice. Kind of like a surrogate parent, even though Matthew doesn't need one. An adopted mom of some sort I guess. Like I said, he and Matthew were close for a while when they were younger.

Well, anyway, we had a great time, we took 2 meatloaves and mom provided the rest of the food. It was all good and of course my parents were thrilled to see KJ again so soon.

KJ told us what she thought of the Bears all too quickly, she got her 'uniform' dirty before the game even started. Oh and we held her Bears 'hat' on with a white headband with a bow on it. Too cute. Too bad they lost. She would have been a good cheerleader. Or, starring quarterback. Take your pick...

Saturday, December 27, 2008

Another round of Christmas

My MIL and SIL came over today for Christmas with them. FIL was sick and didn't want to make KJ sick. We thank him heartily for that. One of the cool things we did was get a 'hunk' calendar for 15 yo SIL. Cowboys on it called 'studs and spurs' or something like that. They have it out at WalMart every year for Christmas time, before the new year (duh) and I have been wanting to get one for her for either her birthday in Nov. or Christmas since she was about 12. Finally went ahead and did it this year. She really seemed to appreciate it and not be embarrassed. I pointed out the one I liked. She didn't say anything. She'll have a whole year of beefcake to look at thanks to me. I hope she appreciates it!

KJ made out like a bandit, her first Camoflage stuff from grandpa, some hat and gloves from Aunt D, they will fit next year, maybe, but I'm sure that's the smallest you could get, pink and camoflage colored. And a giant (okay just bigger than baby, so probably 2 ft tall), pooh bear and tigger. They will have to go nearby for her to poke at when she is up to poking things. They came pre-hugged, which is a requirement for me. If they hadn't been prehugged I would have made them hug them before she got them.

Anyway, I warmed up a spiral sliced ham, and we had cheeseball and chips and such, not too fancy. None of us cared. Which was great. I didn't get too stressed out about it (it was stressful enough trying to get the baby to eat, we finally had to turn the air conditioner on to get her to stay awake long enough to eat, poor thing!) as it was already in the 60s outside, which is odd for December.

Friday, December 26, 2008

Mall hell

Today we went to return some items that didn't fit or were duplicates. At a nearby mall. Finally, Matthew dropped me off NEAR a doorway, and I ran in and returned them. They went ahead and put money back on the credit cards, so no need to worry about anything else. Then I went back out and walked halfway across a huge parking lot. He had only made about a half a lap around the parking lot. It was that jammed. Bumper to bumper and no parking places ANYWHERE! We decided rather quickly that we'd wait until much after Christmas to go back and replace anything we got. Or just shop online like we did in the first place. Much easier that way. We found mall hell and have no desire to repeat it.

Thursday, December 25, 2008

Merry Christmas

I hope that whatever your religion, your season, your reason, that the holidays are bright and merry for you. Hold your children close, and your spouse closer. Because it's what I celebrate, Merry Christmas!

Wednesday, December 24, 2008

New traditions...

Tonight I read her the Christmas story from Luke out of the Bible and Twas the Night Before Christmas. We hope to get a picture of her in front of the Christmas tree (with her diapers) and call that that. No visit to Santa, who needs the hassle. Nothing fancy going on around here. We did use her gift cards from baby showers to get her a little bit of clearance clothing and her bouncy seat and high chair. We were going to wait, but with all the talk about gift cards expiring, we'd rather not let them sit around too long. Besides, we really need a place to put her where she can see what's going on without swinging herself to sleep.

Also while we are on vacation, I mean, while my husband is on vacation, we hope to get her room set up, FINALLY! Yeah! Woohoo!

Tuesday, December 23, 2008

Diaper shopping...

So far we like the new AIO bum genius 3.0s. Yes they are expensive, but they are a lot easier to put on than prefolds and covers. Just like a disposable, but not. If that makes any sense. And hey, at least her clothes still fit with those on...

Monday, December 22, 2008

These are a few of my favorite things...

Silly half smiles when she's taking a break from nursing.
Loud baby burps.
Good set of lungs. Especially that tired noise, kind of a sigh.
Squiggly butt.
New baby smell.
Soft baby hair that gets curly when wet.
Big eyes that start to follow you out of the room and back in.

Sunday, December 21, 2008

Goody goody goodies...

She made out like a bandit with the family today. Toys, clothes, and homemade goodies, all for the little one's Christmas joys. I'll try and get a picture posted later this week.

Oh and we got clothes and cooking stuff. I think Matthew was happy because I got stuff to do pie crust with. He'll think that I need to make pie every week now. Haruumpf!

Saturday, December 20, 2008

fluffy diaper butt part deux...

Well, we gave in and bought some of the easy to use cloth diapers. Sure they cost more, but we won't have to go to the store to have diapers in an emergency. Luckily we found out there was a store, and we saw the actual diapers up close, we bought 3 of the smaller size and 9 of the medium. Right now the smalls are in the wash and we will see how they go. If we hate them, then we'll take the mediums back. If not, then we'll be one step ahead.

Chunky butt weighs more than we thought she did. Okay, she's not that chunky, she's just long and lean. With her momma's thighs. and her dad's butt. Poor thing. Hopefully she's tall and will fill out her booty with time.

Friday, December 19, 2008

Did I mention?

I'm wearing my size 6 jeans. They are tight when I put them on, and by the end of the day you can see the crack of my butt. They loosen up that much. I don't know if its a good thing or a bad thing that it turns my husband on to see my butt hanging out. It's certainly not on purpose. Oh well. To each their own I guess.

Thursday, December 18, 2008

I can't believe I ate the whole thing..

I ate a whole pan of fudge in under a week. Yup, that's 3 pounds and god knows how many calories. I did have a touch of help, but not a whole lot. To be fair, my husband, who ISNT feeding a baby, only has a few pieces of chocolate fudge left, and I didnt eat ANY of his. Piggy. He he.

I also can't believe that it's Thursday already, I mean, where does the time go? We have our Christmas with my family on Sunday. That will mean an early Saturday night with everything packed up, us showered and ready to go and an early start for her in the morning, with daddy giving her a bottle while mom expresses a bottle for church and gets ready. The last time we did this, we managed to beat her to the punch, get coffee on and some stuff out to the truck and me basically ready, then we did the 1-2 milk thing and I finished getting ready while daddy got clothes on baby and checked off the checklist of things we had to do and/or take with us.

I think this time I'll send out the playpen and anything else I can think of on Saturday, and just leave a few things to take out on Sunday morning, you know like the baby, food, and presents.. not to mention the bottle, diaper bag, oh and anything else I can think of...

Wednesday, December 17, 2008

These are a few of my favorite things...

For the holidays...

Hot chocolate in the morning
Cheeseball and crackers any time of day
Candy canes for a mid morning lift
Chocolate in the afternoon

Family, friends, and laughter no matter when.

Tuesday, December 16, 2008

Living on baby time...

We got our new ornaments for this year a week or so ago. It was nice to be in a store other than Wal-mart and looking for something other than food or baby stuff for once. The ornament we got for KJ is a picture frame that we put her hospital picture in. We got a free one of Santa enjoying cocoa and cookies, and the one we bought for ourselves this year was 'Living on Baby Time' --it's an old fashioned alarm clock where the hands wind around when you push a button and all around where the numbers should be it says 'diaper time' 'feeding time' 'cuddle time' etc. That's kind of how I feel these days. I'm living on baby time. Real calendar dates don't mean a whole lot to me, which is another reason why I'm ready for December to be over with, out with the old, in with the new. Maybe by next year I'll be able to catch up...

Monday, December 15, 2008

If we make it through December...

I can't wait for December to be over with. I really enjoy blogging, but I committed to the Blog 365 thing and am having trouble getting through the last month here. I don't want to rush the holidays or any days really, I'd kind of like for the evenings to be longer so I have more time with the hubby before he is too tired to even talk to me, but I guess that won't happen for quite some time...

Sunday, December 14, 2008

Catching up...

Today was the day for catching up. Ornaments were hung on the tree this weekend. Presents were wrapped, worked on, shopped for, and purchased online. We dithered and dallied and finally coughed up several hundred dollars to get mp3 players for 5 of the nieces and nephews, the other 2 on my side will get amazon gift cards or in the case of the oldest one, probably gas cards, as he is the only one old enough to drive and work.

We also got groceries, a ton of them, to help us deal with the deluge of people who may very well stop by these next few weeks, and because it's supposed to be super icy out there. I umm, havent been brave enough to look out the window.

We toted Keeley around and she slept just as much as possible, and when she was awake she was bright eyed, looking around and just happy as could be. We also put her in the swing we borrowed from my friend Stacy and she swung dizzily looking at the lamp next to her until she started snoozing. We managed to actually eat dinner without getting up to check on her, hold her or feed her, amazing!

The aftermath means that there's wrapping paper and name tags on the floor and WalMart bags strewn hell, west, and crooked, but at least we are in, safe and sound and happy as can be! Ahh, things to do tomorrow.

Saturday, December 13, 2008

time for homemade gifts? tree trimming? eggnog?

Do I have time for homemade gifts this year? Not really. But I am working on dish towels for my mom. Embroidering them with little animals and days of the week. So far I have M-Th done and am working on Friday. We have about 80% of the rest of our gifts purchased, most of that done online. Nothing is wrapped, yet.

Today I put the ornaments on the tree while Matthew held the sleeping baby. I finally convinced him to put her in her crib so we could make dinner. It seems like a neverending cycle of feed her, eat, try and get something done while she sleeps. At least this time, she ate for about 20 minutes, of that 10-12 was actual eating and then she was zonked out. Yeah! Oh and our tree is now finished. No more will we do to it. Technically, it's only half a tree, pushed into the corner, and there's only about 15 ornaments on it, along with 2 sets of blinky multicolored lights. But for our purposes, that's good enough. We have the mistletoe hung up in the baby's doorway, for extra kisses, my NOEL sign my mom made for me tacked up over my desk, and the stuffed reindeer Matthew got me for our first Christmas is sitting under the tree. I think that's plenty. The less we have out, the less we have to put away. And considering how long it took just to get a handful of ornaments on the tree, that's probably a good idea.

Eggnog? I don't think so. Does anyone drink that stuff? It's kind of like carrotcake, I know some people like it, but I can't even consider it. Just doesn't sound good to me.

Friday, December 12, 2008

Friday follies...

Yesterday I got a smile, at least a half of one out of the little one. I was bouncing her a little bit on my knee, kind of like 'ride the horsey' or something.

The diapers showed up UPS, the day after I ordered them. Nice service. Also got a free bottle like the ones we already use.

I finally got all the receipts in for November and December, and cross checked and balanced the checkbook on the computer. Yeah, also, had to pay bills, boo.

I have a few more thank you notes to write, things keep showing up at my door. Which is great but I have little time for thank you notes. I am SO GLAD that I sat and wrote out all the ones from my shower when I did. Whew.

We have the tree up with lights on it but not decorated. I have an idea it will stay that way for a while.

Thursday, December 11, 2008

Diapers dot com

In my hospital packet, I got a coupon code for 10 bucks off of mail order diapers from www.diapers.com. If you order a certain amount, you also get free shipping. 2 day shipping from UPS. Not bad, really, considering. I got a case of disposables and ordered one of the fancy cloth diapers that are supposed to fit baby from birth to potty training. Everyone says how great they are. I basically got it for half price, so we can rotate it in with our other diapers and see how it goes. YEAH! That also means one less trip to the store for disposables. Well more than one as there's like 200 in the box.

Wednesday, December 10, 2008

Count your blessings

Please go visit Lotus. I think she could use your support today. In the meantime, count your blessings, my little sweetheart sleeping in the other room, even if she was screaming her head off, is still a big blessing.

Tuesday, December 9, 2008

Giggle...

I don't want to get any weird hits on here, so let's just say there's a condition you can get where you have an itchy posterior, and apparently they have a clinic for that in this area, and there is a commercial that is on the television, and they have a JINGLE for the clinic. It's not just bare facts, they wrote and have someone singing a jingle for midwest h.......d treament center, where the end line is 'don't suffer in silence' --sorry, to me, that's just a giggle..singing about that sort of thing is about like singing about your period or any other medical condition, just odd.

Monday, December 8, 2008

Who knew Brian Williams was funny?

If the Ellen Show airs later in the day for any of you TUNE IN!
She interviews Brian Williams ( you know the news guy!)
and he is REALLY REALLY funny.

Sunday, December 7, 2008

Happy 40th Anniversary.. to my parents...


This is a picture of my parents, enjoying their gift. Because we were not sure we would be able to see them for their anniversary, this June we paid for gas and food during our trip to North Carolina. We also paid for a rental place for the weekend, they are sitting on a log by the pond with the rental in the background. They had a good time.

Saturday, December 6, 2008

jeez...

Should I say, as normal as normal can be with a newborn in the house?
Is that better? Because I know nothing will ever be the same, and that's okay.

That's kind of the point, because of the way my husband looks at me when
I'm feeding the baby and he's actually awake, you know, rather than snoring
and coming awake every 10 minutes and asking how she's doing. Hey, at least
he is asking. But you know, all sweet like and smiling. And I pretend I can't see him.

It's also how it feels when I realize my baby is off in dreamland, because all the sudden
her face breaks into a huge smile, her lips quiver, her eyes roam back and forth under
closed lids, and I swear she's a puppy dog hunting rabbits in her sleep (ever seen a dog do that?)

And it's how I look at everything differently now that she's here. I saw things through rose
colored glasses while pregnant of course, but now I see them through Keeley colored glasses.

Friday, December 5, 2008

6 weeks postpartum

Monday is my doctor's appointment. Everything should be back to normal. My husband can't wait. I'm not sure whether to be thrilled or scared to death. Needless to say it's been a very long time since I had just me in my body alone and I don't really know quite how to feel about that. My life changed last February, forever.

I didn't anticipate having to wear a bra 24/7 or having sore breasts 24/7. So far turning around and having my husband hug me around my stomach has worked out better than anything else. It was awkward enough to kiss him or hug him before I was pregnant, then it was a struggle to do so around a huge belly, and now it will be quite some time before everything is. REALLY back to normal.

Thursday, December 4, 2008

Turkey Fromme Soup

Okay I was looking for a way to use up our turkey and saw 'Turkey Frame Soup' and read it as Turkey Fromme Soup. In really it's FRAME like turkey bones. Basically it tells you how to make broth or stock from the bones and meat and then add vegggies and noodles and such. It was pretty good, it did 2 things. Well, 3. I learned how to make stock by boiling bones, which I hadn't done before, second it provided dinner for us last night and third it will provide lunch this week for us.

Wednesday, December 3, 2008

My little sweetheart...

My baby went to sleep at midnight, she made some noise at 3:30 so I went in and checked on her and put her laundry away while I waited to see if she would wake up. She didn't so back to bed I went at 4. I went in at 7:30 and woke her up. She slept 7.5 hours.

I got her up and she didn't cry.
I changed her diaper and she didn't cry.
I nursed her and tried to burp her and nursed her some more, she got hiccups and nursed some more, she sat and looked at me, and I finally went in and got her dressed and put her down in her crib. She stared at all the stuff in there, and she didn't cry.

And now she's asleep.
Ahhh.... what a wonderful life!

Tuesday, December 2, 2008

Tell me what you think...

Of all the awful things that have happened to young(er) men in the place where I used to live, car accidents, suicides, and etc, perhaps the most tragic is the most recent. A kid from a neighboring town played football (consolidated sports) with my brother. I don't really remember the guy per se because there were a lot of kids and I was a freshman when he was a senior. Not exactly on the radar so to speak, but anyway, here's the story:

He has having issues with getting access to visit one of his kids, to the point where he was having to get a police escort part of the time to force the mom and whoever to hand the kid over, as they have shared custody, or what have you. Until last week when someone (no one knows who) apparently got sick of it and shot him, in the head. The mom, one of the grandparents, someone. To my knowledge this is the total truth, now if there were mitigating circumstances I dont know about it. He goes to pick up his kid and they don't want to give the kid up so they kill him. Umm, extreme anyone? Seriously?

It appears from the obituary that he had 2 kids, from different moms, of course they have the same last name but they live in different towns so that's how I surmised that. Anyway, the point is that they set up a memorial fund for college for one kid but not the other (whose family shot him)... I can't figure out if that's right or wrong. On one hand he would have taken care of both kids equally would he have lived, on the other, he's dead because they couldn't get with the courts decision and just let him have visitation. What do you think? Should there have been a fund set up for both kids no matter how bad the family was, or were they right in only asking for money for the one kid? Let me know.

Christmas blog post..I'm it!

Okay, to be fair, I was tagged by Ami Mental, and I did NOT read her answers first, so I guess you could say I don't even have any cheats (as usual with memes)... oh and if you want to play, go visit Ami and drop to the bottom of her post, she has the questions all broken out for you so you don't have to delete my answers to get the questions, bonus! She gets visitors then!

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags? I would love to use gifts to wrap gifts (towels, etc) but usually paper
2. Real tree or Artificial? at this point artificial although if we have our own house and a pond, we will get a real one and then 'drown' the tree to make a habitat for fish and tadpoles, recycling and eco friendly all at once
3. When do you put up the tree? my husband usually does the day after thanksgiving but this year we arent quite there yet-- a newborn does that to you
4. When do you take the tree down? whenever we get around to it, but since we have it up so long, usually I'm ready for it to go the week after Christmas
5. Do you like eggnog? I've never had it, but I seriously, seriously doubt it
6. Favorite gift received as a child? Wow that's hard, we never had anything super awesome so I'll say a bike, that year it was in the 50s on Christmas with no snow so I could ride my bike all day.
7. Hardest person to buy for? my husband because he never says what he wants, and/or we buy him everything he wants ahead of time
8. Easiest person to buy for? my mom--she never complains and she always has a list and tells you a ton in advance what she would like.
9. Do you have a nativity scene? no but I kind of wish I had one--another one of those things, like an advent calendar, that we'll probably do when KJ is a little older
10. Mail or email Christmas cards? mail, if I can get to it this year
11. Worst Christmas gift you ever received? probably something from my grandmother, in the early stages of alzheimers, although I have found that some things she gave me that I didnt appreciate at the time, that I cherish now...
12. Favorite Christmas Movie? The Santa Clause movies with Tim Allen in them. Make me happy every single time I watch them.
13. When do you start shopping for Christmas? I wish I could say early, but not this year, I did some online shopping late November and will have to finish with grabbing some things at a store or by rushing to order stuff online...
14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present? No.
15. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas? Food, although if you are looking for GOOD candy canes, Bob's is the way to go. Spangler candy canes suck. Seriously. Suck.
16. What decorations are on your tree? Ornaments from my childhood, my husband's childhood, and one for each year we have been together as a couple. This year we add only for Keeley's first year, and a new one for us called 'baby time' which is a clock which basically says feed baby diaper baby over and over again in place of the numbers.
17. Favorite Christmas song? all of them.
18. Travel at Christmas or stay at home? Travel before or after, stay home on the day.
19. Can you name all of Santa's reindeer? well I could, but that would take forever, the ones we usually know about though are Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donner and Blitzen (of course, don't forget Rudolph)... and Chet (reference to the Santa Clause movies)...
20. Angel on top of tree or star? Angel.
21. Open the presents Christmas Eve or Christmas morning? Morning, although maybe just a small one of Christmas eve.. maybe
22. Most annoying thing about this time of the year? People are in bad moods instead of good moods
23 What theme or color are you using when you decorate? Red and green?
24. Favorite for Christmas dinner? Food, all kinds of food
25. What do you want for Christmas this year? Sleep, nursing bras, and less sore breasts, oh yeah, also i want my baby to breastfeed and go to sleep instead of taking 2 hours.

Monday, December 1, 2008

Fun Monday -- Neighbors from the Fiery Depths

Ari from Beyond my Slab is the hostess for Fun Monday, she wants to know: Tell us about your all-time worst Neighbors from Hell. You know, the family of Irish clog dancers who once lived in the flat/apartment above you? Mrs. Nextdoor and her banshee-like multiple orgasms? Mr. and Mrs. Hard-of-Hearing with their television on full blast? The guys across the street who set off 4th of July fireworks starting in March and didn't stop until the first real snowfall?

We had 2 bad neighbors, one on each side when we lived in Iowa. One of them was a single mom with a little boy who was too annoying for his age. Not sure how old he was, but my guess is that he acted a lot younger than he was. When we moved in, the lady told us to go ahead and use her parking spot to unload our stuff. She had a sister (see where this is going?) who told us in no uncertain terms that she didn't think her sister would appreciate us blocking her car in and that we should move. That was nice. Thanks for bitching at us instead of offering to help us. We were in fact about 10 minutes from moving the damn thing anyway. Then the little boy? Liked to peep in our window. Also? Instead of going out their sliding glass door to their own little slab of concrete, they'd walk out their front door and cut across our slab to go play in 'their' backyard, which ended up being playing right in front of our door intstead of in their own area. Lovely. I finally put up a little fence so that they not only HAD to walk around us instead of cutting across, but also the boy had a harder time pressing his nose against the glass to peep in (yes, it actually happened)...

Then after they moved some people who kept to themselves moved in. Awesome. Then the neighbors on the other side moved and a couple with a little girl moved in on the other side. She actually was old enough to know NOT to come up onto our patio, and I didnt know this at the time, but she did sit and stare at my husband while he was sitting on the computer. She didn't stare at me. I was pissed because she kept chasing off the squirrels, rabbits, and birds that we had worked so hard to get friendly so we could watch them play every day. I finally stepped out and said something and apparently her mom was outside, she at least was staying in her own yard to watch her kid play in ours. The running after the animals slowed down after that. Also? She'd come into our yard and stand in full view and lean over and pull grass up. Like she was rabid for pulling up grass. She also would sing 'If you want my body and you think I'm sexy', and she was like 8. I'm sure it was from the stupid cookie commercial, but still, very disturbing.

Listen, I know kids are weird, but seriously? Stay in your own yard and pull up your own grass, stare at your own family members, and don't cut across other people's private property when you have a perfectly good door out to your own backyard that you could be using.