Construction Upstairs

OK, quick back story on our living situation.


We sold our house and moved into my grandparents house last January. They were thinking of selling since they are in Florida for most of the year, but my grandfather moved into this house when he was 6 months old. So this house is a big part of our family and we didn't want to see it go. So Hubby and I offered to buy it off them.


Our plan was to gut the whole second floor since it hadn't been done since the 1950's. The windows, insulation, walls etc were so old and SO not efficient. This was all supposed to be done and us moved in upstairs by the time they came back from Florida. In the meantime we are living in the only bedroom on the 1st floor, their bedroom.


Well, they will be home on Sunday, yes, this Sunday. They weren't supposed to be home until the end of the month, but things came up. And upstairs is just studs. No insulation, no sheet rock, no bathroom, nothing. There has been a ton of work done already. A few unforeseen obstacles. But we aren't done.


In the back the garage has been long ago converted into my grandfather's bar. It's a full bar, plus kegorator. Lots of fun! But smelly, dusty and just plain old dirty. My mom took the day off and came over today and did a total once over so my grandparents could live out there.


They totally suggested it, and are actually looking forward to living out there until the upstairs is done. My mom did a wonderful job today. It really looks livable. On Saturday we are going to finish up bringing in the bed and having it all set up for when they get home on Sunday.


I am very excited for them to come home. Especially on nights like tonight. When the Hubby is working late and I am home alone with the Kid. It will be nice to eat dinner every night with a grown up and make real food. Hubby has been working a lot of nights lately to be able to take the morning working upstairs.


The Kid is even more excited. We went to visit them the 1st week of March in Fort Myers (awesome beach!) and ever since we got home he has been asking all the time when will they be coming home.

Here are a couple pictures of the upstairs when the windows went in last December. I haven't taken any recent ones...but I will update soon.
All the panelling is gone now, thank goodness.

Schweddy Balls

They had The Best of Alec Baldwin on SNL tonight.... You just HAVE to click and watch this skit. It has to be one of the the funniest skits on SNL.
I can't figure out how to put the video right in the post...but just click HERE. This one cuts off the very begining and the very end....but you can get the whole thing here and have just the audio from youtube.
Freaking cracks me up!

Cat Scratch Fever

Last week we got a knock on the door from a lady from the police department asking if we had any pets.
*Crap.*
I told her yes, we have 2 cats. Only because I knew at any minute Zoe (the attention whore) would come up and rub against my legs. She is the nosiest cat I have ever had. Of course, this time she didn't. Apparently in this town we just moved into last January all dogs and cats must be registered. I have never registered a cat before so I had no clue. Abby & Zoe are indoor cats and have been fixed. I don't get it.


So now I need to get them updated on their rabies shot. I looked up their paperwork and their 3 year shot they got (duh) 3 years ago just expired in March, so now they will have to get a 1 year shot. They do NOT do well in the car. Do I bring them to a local vet and pay an arm & a leg or bring them about 25 minutes away to the county shelter and only pay $25 each? Zoe will poop and pee in the carrier within 5 minutes. Guaranteed. Argh. Yes, they are adorable and the best behaved cats with kids. They never, ever hissed, scratched or bit the Kid and we had the cats first. But they are the biggest pains in the butt. They have to be in bed with us most nights, until we kick them off 15 times a night. We have all hard wood floors and the funniest sound is them running chasing after a toy and then sliding into the couch. Mean, but funny.


Oh and I swear I did NOT name them after the Sesame Street characters! HAHA! It is pure coincidence that there is an orange puppet named Zoe and a new fairy named Abby!! They are almost 5 years old, way before we had a kid and way before that magic Cadabby. My idea was they were A to Z. Cute, right? But now they are muppets.
So here are my 'other babies'...

This is Abby. The photographic one.

This is Zoe, the attention whore...I took about 10 pictures of her, but everyone she blinked.

Does Abby smell the fish I just ate?? Zoe looks pissed.

They are sisters that I adopted from a shelter, but almost look nothing alike, except for the orange they both have on their bellies and the orange strip on their noses.

Countdown to Friday!

As you can see from my little countdown, this Friday, May 2nd is when we find out whether our new little bundle will be wearing all of the Kid's hand-me-downs or we will be going out and buying lots of pretty pink dresses.

I am so anxious to find out. That is why I could never wait until September and we actually see the real parts. I have no real desire to hear the doctor say "It's a ..." I just want to know what is coming and just pray that he/she is healthy.


We found out with the Kid as soon as we could. But the funny thing is, except for his tons of little blue clothes, we still did everything in the nursery pretty neutral (greens) so we could still use it if we had a girl 2nd time around. We had my mom and my MIL there to share in the news immediately. This time, it's just going to be us and the Kid. I am so filled with joy to see him get all excited about the baby. He asks my belly all the time "Baby. What time you come out?" And just recently he will talk to my belly and say "Baby, I love you." It is the sweetest thing. I think he is going to be a wonderful big brother. He does so much on his own already. He gets himself dressed, gets his shoes and coat on. Even tonight when we went to the diner he went up and paid (with my $20) and waited for his change all by himself ...and much more "I can do it myself" things...except clean up his own toys. So I am hoping this will be a smooth transition for him. He is a really flexible kid. He had no problem moving and adjusted really quick and really well.


They will be about 4 years and 2 months apart (as long as baby comes on time.) And the Kid will be going to 5 days a week (1/2 day) pre-K in September. So, by the time the baby is 1, the Kid will be going into full-day kindergarten. I am so happy about that. Since I was able to bring the Kid to all kinds of mommy and me classes and spend 4 years of 1 on 1 time with him, I am thrilled that I can spend the same 1 on 1 time with the baby too.


I have had a couple dreams that this one is a girl, but now I am feeling more boy. I really have no clue and I didn't with the Kid either.

So, Friday is the big day. I will keep you all posted....I just hope the baby cooperates and shows us his/her bits!


What do you think I am having? I know there is only the one picture on the blog of me, just go with it and guess. :)

Random Stuff Sunday

- I finally got new jeans at Target! You pregnant people, you know how hard it is to find freaking clothes that fit. Especially if you are in the XL range. I was down to 3 pairs of jeans. One pair is brand new from Motherhood with that amazing secret fit belly that magically smooths out your whole belly, but...I just bought a regular pair. I had no idea that I needed a petite! These could fit a 6 foot woman, seriously, I am no taller than 5'3". They drag on the floor or I have to cuff them and there is about a 4 inch cuff. They need a hem. But I couldn't loose them yet to get them done, no, because my other two pairs of jeans are from my 1st pregnancy, 4 YEARS ago. And since I have worn my maternity clothes 3 other friends have also worn them! One pair is still way too big for the belly yet and the others just wore through between my thighs and now I have a hole between my legs. Classy.

- Last night I went to Target to get a gift card for the Kid's friends Birthday party this morning. I snuck...yes, snuck, since I went after dinner ALONE and told Hubby all I had to do was run in and get a gift card and then feed my mom's cats. I waddled to the back of the store to the 4 racks of maternity clothes and grabbed a pair of jeans in 2 sizes, tried them on and got one! YEA! The little things that make us happy. :)


- And on my way from Target to my mom's I needed to get gas. Holy CRAP! Gas prices are seriously pissing me off. I remember when it cost me $10 to fill my little '86 Jetta in college....all 14 gallons of it. Now, I have a '98 Jetta, same size tank and it cost me $39!!!!!! And that was only 11 gallons!!!! I almost had a heart attack. Unfortunately, I made a decision 3 months ago to continue bringing the Kid to his nursery school near where we used to live that he LOVES 2 days a week a half an hour away. Thank goodness there are only 13 days left.


- This morning at 9:30 AM, yes quite early for a birthday party, we went to this awesome bounce place. They had a ton of bouncing things, slides and an obstacle course. I couldn't get many good shots of the Kid since he just didn't stop moving, but I got a top and a bottom of a slide. The rest are blurry as heck.



- On the way home from the birthday party today, we stopped at the March of Dimes walk to see a good friend of mine who walks every year for her babies and the Kid and his girlfriend (who also goes to school with him) had a blast with the Gymboree people and the parachute that they had there.

Can I go take my nap now? It has been a long weekend.

Planting and Cleaning

Whew! I am beat. The Kid and I have done more for the Earth in the last 2 days than I have all year...at least it feels that way.

Yesterday we went and planted a tree at a school that needed some new shade trees. This school was about an half an hour away near where we used to live, and it started at 3:30. Bad timing for the Kid who never naps...unless we have a longer than 5 minute drive in the afternoon. Poor thing fell asleep and missed the first half an hour, but I made sure to secure a spot and a tree so he could plant when he woke up. The ground was SO hard, I had to have one of the men there get it started for us.

(Yes, that is me with the Kid. It's the 1st full body picture of me pregnant, and I don't think I look as huge as I feel!)

(And yes, he is kissing the tree.)

So proud of his little Red Oak.

Today we went to the beach by our house and spent an hour cleaning up about 15 wrappers, 8 cigarette filters, tons of little pieces of styrofoam, 5 cans, 1 glass bottle, 1 plastic bottle, and much more. I wasn't going to go at all since it had rained last night. And I mean it really rained. A huge thunder clap woke me around 5:30 this morning. But, by 9 it was drying up and the sun was trying to peak out. The other day, when the Kid was sand swimming, he kept bringing me all the garbage he was finding on the beach, so I said to him to save it for Saturday. He remembered this morning when I said it was Saturday and he was so excited to go clean up the beach. As much as I wanted to crawl back into bed since I was up for about about an hour of that storm, he jumped up and wanted to get dressed and started searching for his gloves. I am so proud of him!



Unfortunately, there is always an injury. In the 1st picture you see that little yellow rope behind the Kid. Well, I had stepped one foot on the other side to get a piece of garbage off the dune and when I stepped back he had moved to the other side of me and I literally kicked him in the head. The shiny stuff is 1st aide cream, because before I realized after that I actually scratched his head he was rubbing it with his dirty gloves. Nice. Right?

5 Years

Today is my 5 year anniversary. I can't believe it has been 5 years. It feels like my wedding was only like a minute ago....except for the kid and my extra 40 pounds.

We met on the boardwalk while we were both working as special Police Officers in the summer of '99. I went back to college for one more semester, and we started officially started dating around Easter of 2000. We moved in together into a rent controlled apartment in North Jersey closer to where he works and lived there 3 years. He popped the question on New Year's Eve of 2001 at our apartment before we went out for the night. It was one of those moments I knew was coming, I just didn't know when. I had picked out my ring the summer before and was just waiting. :)

I planned my wedding at the Barclay for the next year. It was huge, over 200 people. Everyone had the best time. We still get compliments that they never had a better time at a wedding then at ours. It was an entire beach theme. Surprised? My invitations had a seashore theme and had blue lettering. I gave away dried starfish as magnets (which now I kinda think was cruel, I should have handed out silver ones or something.) My 5 tier cake had white chocolate shells cascading down the side of it. My 5 bridesmaids were in a beautiful blue. We had our pictures taken on the beach before the reception. It was such a great day.

Of course it did have it's fair share of 'whoops!' I lost a contact lens and I had to ask a neighbor that was coming to the wedding from North Jersey to pick up more for me. Thank goodness she had a key to our apartment. I was able to put it in at the church, right before I walked down the aisle. My hair was just not as good as the trial run, but it was still nice. Myself and my girls were getting ready at my mom's house...and she has a black cat. I had black hair all over my dress between the layers! I have a picture of everyone lint rollering me before we left! We were late getting to the church because the guys took their sweet ass time doing their shots and getting their asses to the church first, since we only had one limo/bus. Of course, Hubby says I was the one who was late to the church. It rained throughout the reception, which was fine, since it held out for our pictures. All my underage cousins were drunk...but most of the guests were drunk anyway, so no one noticed. After the fact, I found out that Hubby was almost left at the reception hall. Luckily one of his cousins was still there and drove him to the hotel. We had a taxi/vans transporting everyone from the Barclay to The White Sands. Later we also found out that another one of Hubby's cousin's also puked on someones lawn on the way to the hotel.

But all in all, we had a wonderful night. And I was married to a wonderful guy and a wonderful father. I don't think I'll trade him in just yet. ;)

I seriously wish I had some pictures saved on the computer to show you, but I don't. They are packed away right now. If I can get some scanned one day after I unpack them, I will share!

We went out to dinner tonight to one of our new favorite places since we moved and I am so full you could roll me out. My mom was at our house watching the Kid. As good as the Kid is at restaurants (which he is very good), it was so nice to have a dinner without telling him to eat or he won't get his ice cream or to sit down or don't break the crayons 11 billion times.

And I had a beautiful vase of flowers delivered to me while Hubby was at work.

Hubby is reading the Kid his bed time stories now, and as soon as I am done with this. I am passing out.

*Hubby, I love you and I am so happy you got stuck with me.*

Boardwalk Rides

Today was the most beautiful day here in Jersey. Finally!

I met a couple friends at the boardwalk and the kids all went on rides. I wish I could post more, but they all have my friend's kids in them, and I don't know if I should post them for all to see, even though they are all adorable. There is even one of my Kid holding both girl's hands! My little swinger.

Here is the Kid on the Nemo fish:

Here he is on the swings:

And here he is swimming in the sand:

Notice he had a hat on most of the day. I am so afraid his poor little scalp is going to get burned now that he has no hair!

It better not get cold again, because I have summer fever now and I am dying to go back to the beach.

New Hair Do

I am sitting at home, alone, in a quiet house. I'm not used to it.


The Kid's nursery school is a co-op. That means that they have one teacher and then 2 of the parents are the 'aides' each day. We only have to do 9 days a year. He goes 2 days a week for 2 1/2 hours a day and it's only $1000. That is practically nothing compared to all the other schools around here.


Today, for the first time ever, Hubby has taken the kid to school AND is doing the co-op! He never wanted to take the Kid in the begining because he would cry when I'd drop him off, Hubby would never want to leave him. he is such a pushover.


Yesterday we did the summer hair cut for the Kid. I love it! My baby looks so much older! Note the picture from the concert 2 weeks ago. It's not the best recent picture of his hair I can find...but look at all that hair!

Here is the after... He wouldn't take his eyes off the firetruck movie that was playing just for him and check out the look I am getting with the spikes!

He finally woke up this morning without the worst bed head, that he gets every day. And I sent him off to school with his new spikey do.

Happy Earth Day!

Today in 1970 was the first Earth Day. My mom participated in it by cleaning up garbage in her town, she was only 16 years old. It was such a new idea and there wasn't much interest. She has been recycling ever since, way before it was a law. She has instilled in me a strong consciousness about the Earth and how we should all do our small parts to keep it clean for our kids and grand kids and so on...

It is now "Green Week" on many stations, specifically the "Today Show" that I have on this morning. One item that they have highlighted and is a huge danger to the Earth is plastic bags. I despise plastic bags. They go no where, forever. There is a bag stuck high in a tree in my back yard, and it has been there at least a year, and unless it shakes loose, I will have to look at it for the rest of my life. (I know, a little dramatic.)

I always have a compact reusable bag in my pocket book. And will not take a plastic bag from a store for only a few items. I also have these wonderful reusable bags for my food shopping. I can fit in my 4 bags as much stuff that I would have used at least 10 plastic bags...and that's IF the bagger didn't double bag them.

I know, I could use paper only, but paper bags don't have the handles that my reusable bags have, and how many trees had to be destroyed to make those bags? Many bags on the reusablebags.com are made of recycled materials or bamboo or hemp or organic cotton. This site is also a fountain of information with statistics of how bad plasic bags really are. I hope you use this site and buy a few bags for yourself. If I can get only one of you to use reusable bags, and NEVER a plastic bag, I will be happy! :)

Other countries have started to place bans on plastic bags, or will charge you extra for using a plastic bag. What is America so far behind this trend?

I am far from 100% 'green.' I try to do little things to contribute. I recycle everything I can (paper, cardboard, glass, plastic, cans and even metal and electronics.) We grow some of our own food in the summer. I grow tomatoes and cucumbers and this year I am going to try a few new ones. I don't usually buy organic, but I try to buy as local as I can. I am even thinking of trying cloth diapers. A couple friends of mine do it, one full time, and she loves it. The other does it only at home and she likes it too. But, I hate laundry, so I am hoping my laziness doesn't outweigh the good.

This Friday is Arbor Day. - Go plant a tree - There is an event that a friend of mine has organized and we will be planting trees at a school that need some new shade trees. The Kid is very excited about it. He loves Bob the Builder and chants "Reduce, Reuse, Recycle" all the time. My son gets very excited when I recycle things and very he's funny when someone tries to give us plastic bags. He tells them we don't use plastic bags. I get some very odd looks sometimes, but I don't care.

In the new construction we are doing on the 2nd floor of my grandparents house we are going to be putting in that foam insulation to cut down on A/C energy and oil energy for our heat. We also put new windows in to save energy.

What do you do to help Save the Earth? Every little bit helps. :)

Love me some Tivo

Yesterday was a pretty uneventful day. I made the Hubby go to our storage place and get my bike and the Kid's bike seat, our helmets, my lock, etc... and we went for a bike ride. I took the Kid down to the playground on the beach *brrrr* and he had a blast, of course. At least we had jackets and jeans on this time.
I figure I have a few more weeks of bike riding. The danger of riding while pregnant (especially with a kid on the back of the bike) is the loss of balance. I actually have very good balance. I had no problem riding. It was my legs hitting my little belly that I have that was obnoxious. So, I am going to have Hubby raise the seat a little so my legs don't go too high.
I can't wait to ride with the new baby next spring. I am hoping by then the Kid can ride his own bike and doesn't get too jealous that the baby is in his bike seat with mommy.

I couldn't sit and type this last night because it was Sunday...it was Desperate Housewives and Brothers & Sisters night! Love them both. I normally Tivo them every week, but since we have moved Hubby hasn't hooked it up yet. We picked out that iO package where cable, phone and internet all come through the cable company...yes that OBNOXIOUS commerical with the 1/2 nekkid people on the beach singing the phone number (I HATE that commercial- if you don't know what I am talking about, consider yourself lucky). So anyway, Tivo needs to be hooked up through a phone line...a phone line we don't have. Hubby has to take time to figure out how to hook up the phone cable to the Tivo. Time he does not have since my grandparents are coming home from Florida in 2 weeks! WAY EARLY! We still have so much work to do upstairs, by 'we' I mean Hubby, of course. I will take some pics of the progress and post at a later date.
But lord I love my Tivo. I don't know how I lived without it before, and I hate not having it now.

I think this post is pretty much boring bable this morning. Sorry for that. :)

A Few Random Things

Oh oh, I almost went 2 whole days with out posting. It's just been too darn nice to be sitting inside and typing on the computer. I foresee posts every other day in the summer, because seriously, how many times do you guys want to read that I went to the beach...again.

Oh yea, by the way, I went to the beach yesterday. (heehee) It was so hot at my house that the Kid and I put on some shorts and traveled the long mile down to the ocean and we froze our asses off! The wind coming off the water was SO cold. Of course, my kid and the 20 other kids that were playing in the sand could have cared less. There was even one little girl with a tiny little spaghetti strap sundress on. I was really wishing I had a sweatshirt and jeans on.

My dad and step-mom came and stopped by yesterday afternoon after they got off work and we had some dinner with them. After we had some ice cream, the Kid was sitting on our tall stools that we have at the counter with his 'play' goggles on he leaned to one side and the whole thing fell over and hit him in the face. The goggles cut his face a little. I thought it would be so much worse. I tried to get a picture of it, but it just didn't come out that well. It really is just a little red scrape under his left eye that we totally thought was going to be a huge shiner today.

But I do have good pictures of his new toy. I went back to the consignment shop and bought him a Kettler scooter (with the 2 wheels in the back) for only $25. Brand new on Amazon is $119, on sale from $147! Another score! He rode up and down our driveway about 6 times, and we have a loooooong driveway. Hubby was working upstairs and decided to come out onto the roof to see the Kid riding his scooter, and the Kid had a fit that he couldn't go on the roof too. Seriously, a down right fit...like I took his best friend away. So the scooter time was over. And I had just gotten settled in my beach chair on the lawn with my new Parent's magazine and a bottle of water. Damn hubby.

I am seriously looking forward to a new food site a few of my bloggy friends have started. I even sent in a few recipes myself...so be on the lookout for Mozzarella Chicken (a dish with WINE! yum!) and Milano Chicken (a kind of cross between chicken parm with a pink sauce).

http://chopstirmix.blogspot.com/ Eat and enjoy!! It is also on the side of my page on my reader. Matriarch and Cass are the great minds behind it.

And can SOMEONE, please, tell me how I can just put Chop.Stir.Mix (and other sites) and let the words alone be the link without the whole http: // crap.com?? Thanks!!!

Goals...

I am so proud of myself.
I have been feeling so good.
I have finally kicked this head cold thing and/or allergies that I have had since February.
The weather is finally beautiful. AND I walked two days in a row!

Yesterday I went and walked for 20 whole minutes while the Kid was in school. And then today I met a friend at a nice park that has a path and walked with her for about 30 minutes. Then the kids got to go crazy in the park. It was a blast.

I am going to try really really hard to keep up this momentum and keep walking at least 30 minutes a day at least 5 days a week. I'll spill, I was about 180 when I started my 1st pregnancy and I started out this pregnancy 20 pounds heavier than I did the first time at a whopping 200. And I can't kid myself, that isn't baby weight at all. When the Kid was around 7 months old I started going to the gym and running almost everyday. I lost 30 pounds in 3 months, I got to about 170. And I wasn't even watching what I was eating. But then the warm weather rolled around, I got bored with the monotony of the gym. I kept telling myself I'd go run outside. Then it got hotter and I got lazier. That 30 pounds came creeping back up on me in the last 3 years. Now you know why there have been no belly shots. Maybe when the belly is more tight and looks like I am pregnant and don't just have a huge beer gut, I may take a couple pics...maybe.

I even joined a great running class a couple years ago and started running again, doing a few 5K's and lost a little, not much because I didn't run enough between classes, and I didn't watch what I ate. I did join sparkpeople.com and for about a month around my 30th birthday (Jan. '07) I tracked everything I put into my mouth, and lost 10 lbs in that month. And I wasn't even doing any exercise. Can you imagine what I could look like if I had a little more self-discipline by eating well and exercising? ...well, I know you can't see me, but you know what I mean. Then the tracking of food online got very time consuming. And I stopped. And those 10 lbs came back too. ugh.

After this baby is born, I am going to try weight watchers. I've never done it before. I have never heard of a failure, unless the person let it be a failure. Anyone I know that has actually followed the program and stuck with it has lost weight. I am going to get back into running and I just pray I can stick with it. I know I would do so much better with a partner. I know my friend the Modern Matriarch wants to try out a 5K and I am hoping we can do one together next spring. :) It really is so much better to get out there when you have support.

One of my long term goals...maybe in 2012 or 2013...I would love to do the 1/2 marathon in Disney. There, I said it, it's in writing. Someone needs to email me 5 years from now and ask if I did it. And I hope I can say YES!

Let me know some of your long term goals? Do you have any? Short term? Think about it.

My Big Kid

It's time to reminisce about my baby. I was going through a bunch of my old pictures last night and feeling so sad about the baby I don't have anymore. I now have a little boy, a preschooler, a big kid.

First Day of School

He will be 4 this summer and then become a big brother in Sept. For the first 2 years of his life I seriously thought he would be an only child. He didn't have colic, he didn't cry all the time but ... it was the mere fact that he was still getting up every 2-3 hours for 18 months to breastfeed! I decided I had to have my body back and stop. It took another month and a half to wean, but I got it done. I know it was all our fault. I moved out of our house for 2 weeks while we did some renovations on our house when the Kid was about 6 months old. I ended up co-sleeping with him and it was SO much easier to bf in the middle of the night if I didn't even have to get up!

I look back now and realize I could have had it so much worse. He was such a good baby, we just didn't know it at the time.

Now I get to start all over again. Gaining weight, labor, child birth, sore nipples, little/no sleep, diapers, first smile, first laugh, first steps, first teeth, first haircut, potty training, first day of school.

I seriously can't wait!

Sucky Waiter (W. UPDATE)

Let me start off by saying that I have been a bus-girl and waitress for years before and during college. I was a damn good waitress. We frequent restaurants much more often than we should or can afford. (We go out or get take out around 3-4 times a week.) And I never complain or send food back and I always tip 18-20%. I know it's a tough job and that tips are all you really get.
That being said, we had the suckiest waiter ever at TGIF last night. And it really wasn't that busy, it was a Monday night for Pete's sake!

Here's what we ordered:
kids chocolate milk
Coke
substitute boneless buffalo chicken instead of wings
no onions on my salad

Here's what we got:
kids chocolate shake (which he charged us for and I didn't realize my kid was drinking a shake with dinner until we saw the bill - and the choc. milk was included in the kids eat free on Mondays)
diet Coke (this was for hubby and just ick)
the wings (and it took about 15 more min to get the boneless, and he charged us an extra $1 but didn't tell us that part when we ordered)
and my tomato, mozzarella salad was covered with onions (I decided to just leave it and pick through, although he did notice and asked if I wanted a new one)

Our bill came and it was $41...I gave him a $25 gift card and my debit card, which I made SURE the gift card was on top of the debit. He ran the total amount with my debit. wtf?
Some girl came over and said she would only run through the total I write on the receipt which was $16 something plus tip. We only tipped $5. He was THAT bad. And I always start at 20% and if service is not the best I never give less than 15%. This guy was BAD!

I just checked my pending transactions on my online banking...and it's $41! I am pissed! They will be getting a visit from me today if it doesn't fix itself by the time it's posted. I'll keep you updated.


UPDATE: My pending transaction went through this morning. It is at $21. I don't have to open up a can of pregnant whoop ass on them. Lucky them.

DSFB

Yesterday we went to see Dirty Sock Funtime Band. The ones that are on Jack's Big Music Show on Noggin. It was so fun...after the $4 popcorn and 2, $2 bottle of water - the SMALL bottles! Of course, my Kid wouldn't dance. I told him he could dance in the aisle with the other kids, but he tells me "I'm watching." And when he says watching, he means it. He wouldn't take his eyes off the stage. There were 7 guys in the band, 2 guitars, 1 bass, 2 singers - 1 of them wearing a pink crazy wig - 1 drummer and 1 guy that would either play the bari-sax or clarinet. He was rivited. Now he wants to make his own band.

But, at one point Mr Clown went out into the audience and came and stood on the empty chairs right in front of us. The Kid didn't like that at all, but would you??

He was a little scary close up.

Today was my OB appointment. The doctor tried to see if he could see boy parts or girl parts, but he just couldn't be sure. I'll just have to wait another 2 weeks.

My Champion

As I am sitting here eating a late dinner of cheese steak w.mozz cheese and sauce (YUM!) I will give a run down of my day.

It was a really really nice morning. We went to another 5K that hubby was helping and they had kid races this time. The Kid ran in the 2-3 yr old group (about a 25 yard dash) and kicked some ass. OK, I know they all get a ribbon that says 1st place, but my kid really was in 1st place! I have proof...

The kid in the middle in the blue shirt is running like the dickens...that's the Kid. Blew all the others away! I can't wait until next year. He is going to do some 1 mile races. He loved it. And loved his little ribbon. It is proudly displayed on the coffee table hanging from Lofty's hook (from Bob the Builder). He is too funny.

Then it rained and then it rained and then it rained. Seriously, it rained 3 times today. In between each time the sun came out and I thought it was over and a little while later it'd start up again. And since it was so nice out this morning, I had left my drivers side window wide open..... oops.

Crazy Other Moms

So, I didn't tell you about the bitch mom that was in the park yesterday. She was sitting right next to me on the bench and not paying attention to her 3 children AT ALL. She was just reading her US magazine and catching up on the latest from Britney. Now, to be fair my ass was on the bench the whole time too, but my eyes were glued to my kid. I had to yell at him a couple times to put down the huge stick he decided to swing around and almost hit other kids. ugh. boys.


Anyway, the bitch mom's older kid was about 8-9 yrs old, and the younger 2 (I heard her say twins) were around 5 or 6. They were so big! There were so many little kids at the park, of course because it was a beautiful day. She may have said to them 20 times to be careful of the little kids, did they listen? NO. Did she ever really instill the fear that they really need to watch the little kids? NO. She just went back to her magazine. Then the icing on the cake. One of the twins decided to ride his bike through the playground, almost hitting MY KID! I had to actually pull him out of the way of the moving bike (luckily he was within arms reach of the bench-heehee) But still! The bitch mom never said a word to me. Not even a little 'I'm sorry.' The incident was right next to us so I KNOW she saw the whole thing. Plus I yelled "watch it!!" All she said was to her kid "You need to ride on the grass, stay out of the playground" Did he listen? NO. As we were leaving (about 5 min later) he was still riding all over the playground trying to avoid hitting other kids.

Oh and the kicker of it all is there wasn't a helmet on that kid! Sorry, but that is a huge pet peeve of mine. Not only b/c it's the law, but I saw that kid fall off that bike at least 3 times. One day he is really going to get hurt....
although, now that I think about it, she could have been a nanny. Who knows.


That's when we headed to the beach. There was a mom there who was wearing pink sweatpants with something written across her ass. And when she bent over to pick up the kite I could see MOST of the top of her rainbow thong. Thanks for the show lady.


But all in all it was a nice day. The Kid was so happy he got to play in the sand and he found 2 'treasures' a shell and a seagull feather.

Where are you Spring?

Spring finally gave us a little tease today. The parks were packed, downtown was bustling and the ocean was full of surfers. Although, the surfers around here are hard core, they surf in the winter anyway, but I am never there to see them.

We went to the consignment shop today first. I went in not really expecting to buy anything. I ended up getting a Lands End spring coat that doesn't even look like it was ever worn, a Billabong polo shirt, a Quicksilver Hawaii looking button down and a rescue hero for the Kid, and 3 maternity shirts (Motherhood) for me for only $45. Score! I can't wait to know what this baby is going to be. They had SO many great things there and in great shape.

I am seriously dying for summer. After shopping I brought the kid down to the beach. We kicked off our shoes and dug in the sand. Of course, I left my camera in the car. I won't make that mistake again.
It was a beautiful day. Hope you all enjoyed it too! What did you do today?

All the while Hubby was at Home Depot and got our new tub for our bathroom upstairs. He spent much more then me. ;) It has jets to make it jacuzzi-like, can't wait!!

My Hero

Update: Well, the plumber has come and gone and it took him all of 15 min to fix the problem. I don't think the price will be too bad either. He said we'll figure it out later, and he is super cool and gave us a great price for all the other work that he is going to be doing in the next 2 months.

He is my hero.

Of course, I thought it was going to be much worse, b/c when hubby was 'pretending' to be a plumber before he got here it sprung a leak and was dripping even faster. Why do men think they can really do everything? At least he has NO aspirations to be an electrician! haha

Baseboard Problems

Little background: My husband and I sold our house last Jan and moved into my grandparents house. The house is probably about 80 years old. My grandparents are in Florida from Oct-May. We are living in their room downstairs for now while we are doing total renovation upstairs since it hasn't been done since the 1950's. We have come across so much stuff upstairs that I do not have time to tell you right now, I am just hoping we are done in time before they come home.
What happened tonight: Hubby was going to let the Kid play his Bob the Builder web site after we had dinner and noticed that the area rug under the desk in the dining room was all wet. Did the cats pee? Did you guys spill something? No.

The radiator baseboard is leaking! Really really bad. We just called our plumber that we have doing work upstairs and he is on the way over.
Thank goodness we were living here or no one would have know about it. The pipe is all corroded and would have happened anyway, since they heat would have been on real low. It likely would have ruined the floor and done more damage than I really want to think about.
I will write later and update on construction upstairs, b/c it will be so fun when I get to pick out paint and floors and all that stuff. I will also include before and after pictures.

Cross your fingers that it won't be too expensive and the plumber can fix this without turning off the heat, since it is still so chilly at night...where is spring??

Fun House Mirrors

Well, I did it. I took the bull by the horns. I sucked it up. I jumped into the deep end on a cold day. I bit the bullet.


I went bathing suit shopping. AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!

It's never fun for any woman. Why do they have to have such awful lighting? If it was better and make you look tan many more bathing suits would look better. And what is up with those mirrors? Don't they know if they are free standing and leaning up against the wall everyone looks skinnier? Haven't they ever been in a fun house?

It's even less fun for a pastey white pregnant woman who is over 200 pounds.


Not fun, my friends.


I looked online first, like I could EVER buy a bathing suit online. I was just looking at the styles at Motherhood and Target, b/c I know I could actually go there and try them on.

I picked Target. They had only 3 bathing suits styles on the rack and there were only about 5 of each style. Oh boy! I better pick one now or I am going to be stuck with the ugliest one left! Or *gasp* buying one online!

Now I know you are all thinking how brave I am to even own a maternity bathingsuit, nevertheless wear it in public. Well, I live a mile from the ocean and I have a 3 1/2 year old child that LOVES the beach. So it will be our second home this summer.


I found a cute one:

No, you will probably not ever see me in it. Like you will probably never see any belly shots. But it was a nice large bottom and had some great coverage on the boobage....although, I did switch the bottoms... shhhhhhh. I slid one size top with a different size bottom past the checkout girl. (Larger on the bottom, of course.) Don't tell Target. Half the suits I brought in the dressing room were all missmatched anyway, so I don't think I am the first one.

Doctor visit at home

So the big brother is already getting impatient for this baby to come out. Whenever I tell him that the baby can hear him the only thing he says to my belly every time is 'baby, what time you come out?'

Yesterday he decided he was going to take matters into his own hands. He went around the living room and collected up stuff for his doctor's kit and announced that he was going to get the baby out of my belly.

First he pulled out his winter hat and gloves and put them on.

Then he pulled out his bungee cord that he is allowed to play with (b/c it is plastic and not metal) with the hooks on each end...then he pulls out his toy SAW!

I don't know what they are playing on Noggin these days, but I think it's time to cancel the cable.

Baby Flips Out

It's official! As I was sitting here this morning reading another blog of someone else's birth story I started feeling my little peanut doing back flips! It was the coolest thing ever...well except for my son's back flips, but now he just does those off the couch.
yeah! Now I just can't wait until we can feel him/her from the outside.

I had a whole post in my head last night while I was in bed. I was actually laughing out loud while I was thinking about it. But, alas, it's gone. I need to get that notebook.

Missing the 5K

We finally have a beautiful day in NJ! We got out nice and early (meaning 10:30ish) and got out to watch a 5K race (3.1 miles) in the next town over. My hubby was volunteering for the race for the running club we belong to and I was chasing after the kid at the playground.

I was so jealous that I couldn't run today. It was a perfect running day...oh and when I say running, I really mean jogging slow. I am not a 'runner' with the tiny shorts and sports bra in the races, far from it. Good God people I am a DDD, I'm lucky I don't get black eyes when I run. Although, I have the BEST sports bra, Enell Sports Bra - Welcome Keeps the girls from moving an inch. I swear.

We ran this race last year and I finished in just over 37 min. That is only a 12 min mile. Not too fast. The 1st place female was at about a 6-7 min mile pace. FAST! I can't wait to start up again after I pop out this peanut. By March next year he/she will be 6 months old and can go in the jogging stroller...while my almost 5 year old can be running with me. I can't wait!

Kick off

I think I felt the baby kick me last night. I was getting out of bed to pee for the millionth time and it felt like my husband poked me in the stomach with his finger. I even yelled at him for it. It only lasted about a millisecond, but it was so great. I think have been barely feeling flutters or it's gas. It is tough to tell since I haven't been pregnant in 4 years, my memory is shot. I have no idea when felt it first time around. My next doctor appointment is on the 14th, I am hoping it's not too early to tell the sex! I am one who has to know. I don't have high hopes since I will only be 17 weeks...but you never know.

Oh, and NKOTB were on the Today Show today....for those of you who didn't grow up in the 80's have no clue what I am talking about...for those that do, rock on. They are back and looking good. Just hope they sound good. They didn't sing today.

New Blog

I am very new to the blogging world. Well, not too new, I have been a faithful reader of http://www.diaryofamodernmatriarch.com/ and have been a lurker of many of her favs. I have read so many and so many of you seem just like me. It's crazy. I also am feeling weird that I know so much about many of you, especially AndreAnna and you know nothing about me.

A little background on me. I have a son who will be 4 in July. He is a good little kid and has so many funny moments. He just now came to me with his 'work' goggles on and told me he was going scuba diving with the fish. And I can hear him in the living room yelling "cannonball!"

After a miscarriage last October, I am now 16 weeks into a new pregnancy. This one is due Sept 19th, but I don't trust the doctors. My son was due on July 8th and didn't join us until July 20th, and was only 5 lbs 13 ozs. I will do a birth story on him another day.

My husband and I just moved into my grandparent's house after selling our first house. That is also a whole other story for another day. (I should get a notebook and write down ideas, shouldn't I?) Our 5 year anniversary is this month.

Since I am a mom I am writing for all moms too. I am not a writer at all, but I need to think of an audience while I write, right? I remember that from college comp (oh, another fun post day- we can get into some of my college days.) I do not need practice until I go back into the real work force. So this is just for fun and to get through some long days. I am a stay at home mom and in my life before kids I was a Police Officer (Class 2*) and a 9-1-1 police dispatcher. So be prepared for typos and there will not be compete sentences all the time, but I will do my best. Thank Target for spell check.

I am on the computer everyday, so I am hoping to post something everyday. I know it can get tough, so I may be stealing ideas from other mommy bloggers, I will ask nicely first! :)
Thanks for reading...if anyone is!


*Class 2 Police Officer- on duty, exactly the same as a full-time police officer, yes, I carried a gun. I was not a 'rent-a-cop.' Off-duty, had no police powers and had to leave my gun in my locker in headquarters.