Liberated!!

So we're starting a "Total Money Makeover". I told David I'd cut my spending and last week I did just that!! I only spent $26 on my credit card and only because I broke my sunglasses and needed to go to Target for a new pair. While I was there I bought Laynie a pair and had to stock up on 'back to school' supplies. I couldn't pass up 10 notebooks for $1, glue sticks for $.15 or water paints for $.88! I have big dreams of all the crafty things Laynie and I are going to do together. I also spent $20 cash, which wasn't bad considering we went to the Science Museum and McDonalds Monday then to a Mexican buffet for lunch on Thursday.

This week I'm on track to do even better!! I have $15 that's burning a hole in my purse but plan to use it when we do our MOMS Club outing this week. It's going to be so nice when my credit card bill comes to not feel bad about how David is going to feel when he sees it! I'm only grocery shopping once/week now too so that will help with the 'extra-curricular' spending that I'm so good at. It will also put a stop to the impulse spending, which I'm REALLY good at! (Although I usually buy what I need... just not when I need it)

We had a pool party at our house this morning. Laynie had a great time and took a good nap. Because it was here I had everything clean early so I was able to spend a couple hours with my feet up just relaxing. It was nice as "JR" is getting bigger and I'm feeling him move a lot more. This is my favorite part of pregnancy.

I've attached some pictures of Laynie swimming. If I wasn't so tired I'd move them down but am satisified that at least I posted them. Heather bought an underwater camera so they're a couple weeks old but fun none the less! If we weren't doing the "Total Money Makeover" I'd need one of those cameras. In all honesty, I've been trying to get David to see the benefit.... By the time I do, I'll change my mind. It seems every major purchase we make I want and he doesn't then he does and I don't. Then we go back and forth a few more times and make our decision.

I had something else I was going to post about but don't remember what it was.... The weather is still hot here. It was nice today though... only 108. I think the swimming pool makes a huge difference for us. It storms all around us but doesn't seem to make it here. Unfortunately Laynie is as brave when it comes to thunderstorms as I am. She screamed earlier because she was afraid of the lightening and I tried my best to make her feel better, I was petrified myself! I hate storms.....

She thinks she's a fish

We had a break from swimming due to David's swimmers ear and my allergies. David took Laynie out today for a while. I went out with them for a bit, mostly to get some video of Laynie swimming. I thought she'd be scared again... at least a little bit. By the time I made it out, about a half hour after her and David she was happily treading water in the middle of the pool with her little head poking up. I got in the water and she wanted to swim to me.... She's got enough strength now to hold herself up. She was coming toward me when she became distracted. David told her to kick her feet and move her hands and keep breathing. She was busy looking at the sky. I went to grab her but she pushed my hand away. "LOOK, a butterfly" she was pointing to a yellow MOTH (or what looked like a moth anyways). She's so pleased with herself. I had to try hard not to panic, luckily it was flying away from us. She's so proud of herself.... I'm proud of her too!

We went to the Science Center again this week. I was neurotic with hand sanitizer this time. I told some of the other moms we were with we were NOT taking strep throat with us again. We got to spend more time in Laynie's favorite room. Actually, most of our time was spent there. Once again I spent most of my time chasing her from activity to activity. I don't mind though... I'm beginning to realize that in a couple short months it won't be just Laynie I'll be taking care of. I hope I'm a good enough mom to handle two and get them both what they need.

We're signing Laynie up for music lessons in a couple weeks. The class is going to be similar to Kindermusik, which we had a great time doing. I think she'll really enjoy it, I hope she does anyways. We've decided to wait on pre-school for this year. I'm still torn about the whole kindergarten start time but figure I have at least two more years to stress myself out about it. Best case scenario is that the cut off will be changed to September 1. December 31 is just crazy, in my opinion.

We're down to less then 10 weeks for baby boy. Could time be passing any quicker?! On the bright side I think this is the first summer in my entire life that I haven't been stressed because summer is half over and it's going to be cold again soon. YIKES I hate the cold weather. I hear about the 'heat wave' all over the US and laugh a little. The average high this past month was almost 108. It sure didn't seem like what I imagined it would.

The battery on my laptop is almost drained so I guess that means my story for the day is over.

Already MID July

Well.... all I can say is "Time Fly's". Not just this week but time in general. I'm already 28 weeks pregnant and can't believe how fast it's going. My perfect baby is almost 3. It doesn't seem like it was that long I was pregnant with her. I'm trying to figure out a way to slow things down but haven't figured it out... yet!

Laynie's energy never ceases to amaze me and as always we're so busy with the MOMS Club. What a great organization this has been for us in terms of getting us out of the house and around other kids for her and adults for me. I've been getting antsy being home full time and realize I wouldn't have lasted a month without this outlet. We were going to send her to pre-school this fall but have decided to put it off another year. Her birthday falls right after the "kindergarten cut off" but she'd qualify for "early kindergarten" should we decide to send her. I have mixed feelings. I like the way it was in the district I grew up in .... if you weren't 5 by September 1 - you didn't start kindergarten, no exceptions. Apparently the "early kindergarten" program here is just a way for the school district to obtain additional funding. My feelings now are to wait and let her 'relish' her early childhood. There's no turning back once she starts school. Plus, I don't want to be sending a 17 year old off to college when the time comes. Maybe she'll be mature enough to handle it but in reality - she is MY daughter so maturity probably won't hit her until she's in her late 20's.

Molly - our family mutt was diagnosed with Diabetes a couple weeks ago. She's going to need insulin shots for the rest of her life and RX dog food. She's doing so much better now but we're still working on regulating her blood sugar. Being the Type A worry wart freak I am I've been doing a lot of research on canine diabetes. I stressed myself out about her getting glaucoma and not getting to live a good long life. She doesn't have any signs of glaucoma and there's no reason she can't still live a long time. She'll just be a little higher maintenance then she use to be.

All in all she's a great dog though. She's so good with Laynie, who isn't always good with her in return. Laynie loves her to pieces, just gets a little rough with her sometimes. Molly just takes it and wags her tail for more when Laynie walks away from her.

We had my mother & father in law and my sister in town for the 4th of July. I love watching them interact with Dalaynie. She thinks they're the greatest. They spoil her, she puts on a show. Most of the time they were here she wanted to do everything with "Grandma". She wanted to sit by grandma, eat with grandma. She wanted Grandma to take her potty and wash her hands. Anywhere Grandma went, Laynie wanted to be. It brought back memories of when her whole life revolved around her daddy.

David got swimmers ear really bad last week. The MD gave him ear drops and Vicodin for the pain. He was hurting so badly Saturday that I called the Urgent Care MD he saw to see if she could give him anything else. They suggested taking him to the ER. I guess that's healthcare in the South for you. He was having no part of the ER conversation so he suffered until Tuesday morning when he could get in with another MD. Things are getting better -THANKFULLY and we've all learned the importance of drying our ears after swimming in the pool.

Well theres life in the fast lane.....

Busy Week!!

Where does the time go? This past week seems to be yet another blur of time in the "Days of My Life". Our last week was busy... this week ahead of us, busy also.

We picked up my in-laws at the airport Wednesday morning and spent the day just hanging out. They had the pleasure of watching Cinderella... I've learned to just tune it out. After seeing it at least 30 times I still can't tell you many of the details.

Laynie had her recital on Wednesday. She performed wonderfully. I almost shed a tear thinking of her being all grown up, dancing to her hearts content. I attribute the emotions to hormones though... they don't normally come that easily. I was really happy my mother & father-in-law were able to be in town to see her. Grandma made her a bouquet of flowers with some lollipops. Laynie was very pleased with that.

Thursday we went on a MOMS Club activity in the morning and shopping in the afternoon. Dalaynie got another 'princess' dress, a Barbie one this time. Really frilly and pink. She loves it and I love the break from Cinderella. That evening we went to Fetal Fotos to get some 4D pictures of the 'bun in the oven'. He wasn't very compliant... the only thing he was willing to show off was the fact he is a boy. We get to go back in a few more weeks to see if we can get some better pictures. The bummer of the deal was we took my in-laws as Mothers Day, Fathers Day and birthday presents (Yes, I lack in gifts).

I don't remember what we did Friday... I guess that was too long ago. In the evening David's cousins family came to swim and visit. It was fun... we always like having people to swim with.

Saturday David & I went to a hotel for the night. It was nice. We went to dinner at a Thai restaurant.... I forgot what it was like to be able to eat a meal, in a restaurant, without "speed eating". The dining out experience is a lot different with and without a 2 year old.

Sunday we had another day of swimming and family. Laynie decided she no longer needs floats to swim and is no longer afraid of the water. Unfortunately, this brought out a whole new anxiety I knew nothing of. Needless to say she'll be starting swim lessons in the near future. Don't get me wrong, I'm glad she 'thinks' she can swim... and can actually tread water for a couple seconds... I just worry that her brave new attitude will make her forget the golden rule in our house of not going to the backyard without an adult.

I had my glucose test today for my pregnancy. Hard to believe I'm already starting my 27th week. The time has just flown. It will be interesting to see what my test result will be. My blood sugar was really low with Laynie. I'm a little older now though and don't have 'high' hopes for a repeat. Especially considering I don't feel well after I 'sugar' up.

Well... Gotta get Laynie to bed. I'll try to post more again soon!

A tough weekend

So -- Darling Laynie was sick this weekend. It started Friday morning with the "whines" and a low grade fever (100.7). By evening her fever was 102.7. She doesn't get sick often so when she does I naturally over re-act and assume she has meningitis or scarlet fever. SOOOO I call our insurance company sure they're going to recommend we head for the Emergency Room. The nurse says to give her more Tylenol and call the pediatrician if the fever doesn't drop. Being smart I decide to call my sister the ER nurse instead. She says to give Tylenol and Ibuprofen in intervals. David and I have "conversation" over whether he just bought Ibuprofen or not. I convince him it was Tylenol he bought and send him on the merry way to the grocery store (Turns out -- it was Ibuprofen he recently bought, now we have two bottles).

Regardless of the Ibuprofen situation after a semi-sleepless Friday night we get up Saturday morning to a feverless child. We thought that was the end of it but NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO..... we're not THAT lucky.

We spent the day Saturday watching Cinderella, Princess Stories (because Cinderella is in it) and Princess Sing-A-Long Songs (because Cinderella is in it). She was crabby the entire day. It was almost like she reverted back to a speechless 9 month old... uhhh uhhh uhh for EVERYTHING. We kept up the Tylenol/Ibuprofen combo hoping to kick whatever was wrong with her.

Unfortunately Saturday was another sleepless night. More so for David then I. He popped up the trundle under Laynie's bed up and slept next to her. She woke up about 5 and came to sleep with me. At 7 she was ready to get up... crabby-face and all. We spent most of the day Sunday with a repeat of Saturday. No fever but clearly something was wrong.

By early afternoon we couldn't take it anymore so I headed off to urgent care with her. The MD said her throat was very red and sent us home with an antibiotic for strep. He said to continue with the Tylenol/Ibuprofen, it may not have seemed to make a difference but he said it most likely did. She ate a little dinner Sunday (which she didn't eat much all weekend) and fell asleep about 6:30. We thought she'd sleep through the night but no such luck. She was up an hour later. She went back to sleep about 11 and slept until 7. Thankfully! She wanted to get up but 8 hours isn't enough for our 12 hour girl so I convinced her to go back to sleep and we slept until about 10.

Today wasn't so bad. She has a dance recital Wednesday so I needed to get her some shoes. The minute we got in the car she was happy... I think part of her problem has been "cabin fever", I get the same way when I feel cooped up. We got her shoes & went to Target and bought her some frilly hair accessories. She was fine the whole time, until we got home then the crabbies got the best of her again.

We went to the rehearsal tonight. She's so cute and so much like her mom. All the kids did their dance routine... Laynie stood in the middle of the bunch and looked scared. I guess she has my tendency to freeze up the minute she's uncomfortable! Anyways, after rehearsal we went to thank her teacher (I want my child to be polite so we thank the teacher each week). Her teacher put her on stage and had her do the dance...She was perfect, hopefully she'll pull it off Wednesday. If not, at least she's damn cute!!



So - Thats the last few days. My in-laws are coming for a visit in a couple days. My sister (the ER nurse will be here also). I bought tickets to take Laynie, myself, MIL and sister to see a matinee of The Beauty & The Beast musical. I'm so excited about it. Laynie LOVES going to plays so I'm especially excited to see how she reacts.

A little background

I probably should have started this random rambling with a little background on who the random rambler is....

I grew up in Minnesota. It was a great place to grow up and an even better place to move away from. Considering I hate the cold that is! I came from a big family - 3 sisters and one brother. We're spanned over 15 years (WHAT were my parents thinking!).

One of the saddest days in my life was when my dad passed away almost 10 years ago. He was a wonderful dad and there isn't a day that goes by I don't miss him. I dreamed a couple weeks ago he was in my daughters room looking at her when I went to check on her in the night. I asked what he was doing and he said he just wanted to meet her, see her and touch her. Then he told me he thought I was a really good mom. It was a nice dream.

I also have a close relationship with my mom. I think the death of my dad brought the two of us closer together. Not that we weren't close... we were just different back then. I went to my dad for everything... advise, friendship, support. I guess that's what girls do.

My siblings are all great, in their own rites as well. I can't imagine my life without any of them. Especially considering I've got 4 nephews and 4 nieces - the only one with an even number of each! (until my son is born then Heather will have 5 of each)

I'm married to someone I consider a best friend.. I'm not sure how I made it through 30 years without him. We first met in 2000. I knew I liked him the first time I met him and remember making eye contact with him at Bennegins thinking "WOW, I'm going to marry this guy". At that time I thought he was dating someone else and kind of blew it off. Plus, I had divorced the year before so my first instinct was to "RUN AND DON'T LOOK BACK". We went out a few times then due to miscommunication (HE never called ME back) didn't keep in contact.

A year later under similar circumstances we met up again. This time I was ready and we started dating seriously. He proposed on our one year anniversary and a little over nine months later -- well lets just say our honeymoon to Italy is named Dalaynie Grace-Anne.

We're expecting our son the end of September. I thought naming a boy would be much easier then a girl. I'm finding out it isn't to be. I like the Celtic names and think considering Laynie's is - his should be too. David thinks not. Mostly because I haven't come up with anything he likes (I like Deklan and Keegan). All we agree on is that we can't give him a common name considering Laynie's isn't. (This is strong considering my name is Johnna. I grew up with Jeanine, Daniel, Heather and Stephanie. Pretty sure none of my siblings ever had THEIR names slaughtered.) I don't know how I got so lucky in the 'family department' but I feel truly blessed.

We have our family dog, Molly. She's been around about 5 years and is a cool dog. Sometimes she bugs me but mostly I hope to have her forever. Right now she's either on a food strike, is trying to be anorexic or thinks it is just too hot to eat. I'm thinking she doesn't like her dog food anymore. Especially considering we watched David's cousins dog and he had Pedigree canned dog food. Uncle Jim lived with us for a while and walked her daily. I've tried to get out 3 -4 days a week with her (see the post regarding the daily blizzard). She's not looking like a fat dog anymore!

I'm going to try to post some pictures. Hopefully it will work!

A Day of Nothing

After our day at the Science Museum and the fact that I was up until 2 playing around with this thing we made the decision to have a "Day of Nothing/A Dalaynie Day".

Laynie came in my room about 5 am and climbed in bed with me. We slept until Molly woke me to go out at 9:45. It's been a long time since we've done that. We had Cheerios for breakfast - actually Fruit Loops for her and Honey Nut Cheerios for me. The first thing Laynie asked was if she could watch Cinderella. She looked stunned when I said "SURE". Normally we don't watch TV until later in the day or not at all. So - She watched Cinderella then wanted to watch The Fox and the Hound. Again... stunned look when I said "SURE". She asked for a banana so I gave her one. Then she wanted another one so I figured what the heck.. it's healthier then licorice... and let her have it. (This it turned out ended up being a bad idea as she had some smelly poop that she didn't actually control...... ) Anyways, she decided the bananas were her lunch and she didn't want anything else. I decided to have a chicken salad sandwich and some watermelon. My MD cut me off from Tuna, I've found chicken salad to be an okay substitute.. for now.

We spent the afternoon reading books and just 'hanging' out. Dalaynie was a little surprised when I talked to David and she over heard me tell him I wasn't having her take a nap today. "I'm NOT taking a nap today?!" She asked in disbelief. I asked if she wanted to? As she shook her head no her little cheeks jiggled. I love when they do that!

I spent some time posting back and forth on the MOMS CLUB web site we belong to. Thank GOD for the MOMS CLUB! We'd have lots of days like today without them and both my brain and Laynie's would be mush (as opposed to just mine - which some are trying to convince me is just pregnancy related. I really am becoming dumb though).

Late this afternoon we went to the Mail & Copy store in town to send some packages. Then we went to Carls, jr for dinner & an Oreo shake for me. I use to love the local Dairy Queen but my husband ruined that by telling me some kids were eating out of the containers they keep the blizzard ingredients in. I just imagine two 8 year olds picking their noses, going to the bathroom and not washing their hands then digging in the food that was put in my blizzard. YUK YUK YUK!

I'm hoping to get Laynie to bed early so I can get to sleep early. Then maybe tomorrow we can get back into our routine.

This was the 'recap' of our exciting Day of Nothing!

Laynie Easter 06 Picture

Here's a pic of Laynie from Easter. I'm just playing around with this and trying to figure out what I can and can't do.

Busy Two Year Old

I'm still up so I figured I post about taking my kid to the Science Museum today. I'm pretty sure it's one of her favorite places. I took her in January and she's talked about it several times since then. We had so much fun I decided to buy a membership. We haven't gone due to the 'unexpected' complications with my pregnancy (all better now and 3 more months she'll be blessed with a brother!).

So - I took her today. We went with the neighbor and her 3 year old boy. They had a blast. It was fun to watch the differences in what interested each of them and how they expressed those interests. "Joe", the 3 year old neighbor boy (this isn't his real name, it's being protected for privacy), was interested in BUGS and wanted to look at them.. for a long time. Dalaynie, my kid, (who's name isn't being protected as I'm sure only friends and family will ever read this) was interested in running from station to station randomly. I found myself envious of the parents with older kids (maybe 5 year olds plus) who could actually get their kids to sit and play games or study the exhibits. The only one I could get mine to stay long enough for was the "airplane simulator" and she's been on so many airplanes in her short life it really shouldn't be "cool" to her. (The airplane simulator is like 4 rows of an airplane with two t.v. monitors. On one they show what the plane looks like from the outside taking off and landing.. the other has a narrative with the pilot).

She really liked the planetarium... actually.. they both did. I wish I was one of those people that could look at the sky and find constellations. All I see are a bunch of stars.. and what I usually think is the big dipper is something else! We live in a great area for the night sky. We're in the 'country' so there isn't a whole lot of light pollution. By country I mean the closest mall is a half hour away. Our houses are ten feet apart but we're still in the country!

So -- see why my blog is 'rambling' -- I got off topic. Back to the Busy Two Year Old. I'm use to watching her run through my house. I remember the first few months I was home with her - she'd wear me out bouncing and running all over. I'm use to it now so I guess I forgot how much energy she has! She was a running fool and was so interested in everything.... for about 45 seconds at a time. It was really busy though so her time in her favorite room was cut short. I told her we'd go back very soon. Maybe when my in-laws are here... and my sister. Then I can just sit in a corner and watch as they wear themselves out.

I'm tired now so time to sign off. I'll post more two year old ramblings soon I suppose.

OH -- HAPPY BIRTHDAY H!!

First Time EVER

Well - This is the first time I've ever "blogged". I've thought about it... just never done it. If I can bring myself to follow through with this maybe it'll be a better use of 'free time' then playing poker on pogo.