Happy New Year!

From my family to yours, have a happy New Year! I will chat with everyone in 2007!

Really A Lot of Randomness

Our freakin' washing machine is broken again...

Go here and check out details for our planned mini-blogher. All are welcome!

And Dude! Disney Crocs! I am sure SJ is laughing at me now...

We are in Myrtle Beach just to get away and have some fun. It is currently 70 and Ashley is actually taking a nap. In a bed no less. Oh, and Ray and I get to go out for New Year's, yea for us. My parents have internet access, so if anything crazy happens, I will be sure to post. Otherwise, I am going to try and catch up reading all of yours and will be back in full swing in the New Year.

First Sleepover

Last night, we went to our friends Julie and Jeff's house for dinner and more presents. And since their daughter Jordan stayed with us for a weekend a while back, Ashley has been begging to have a sleepover. So she spent the night.

I get this email at work at about 10:45am from Julie:

so jordan is a complete wreck. ashley is fine. however, I must have
scratched jordan when dressing her and jordan said to stop hurting
her and then ashley said you hurt her.
i told her it was an accident whatever happened.
i think that is all you should know at this point.

Poor Jordan. She's not used to getting up at the butt ass crack of dawn like my daughter. Then around noon, Julie calls on her way to McDonald's with the girls. She said they were discussing their drink options, and how they both wanted chocolate milk. Then Jordan asked what if they only have one. To which Ashley replied that she could drink soda, but she can't have beer as there is no beer at McDonald's. Yes, we have schooled our daughter on which eating establishments have beer and which don't....Sounds like Ashley is doing just fine.

More Christmas in Pictures

Ashley has always been into dollhouses and such. And knowing how much she loves Disney and the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, this gift was a must. Of course all the people to go in it sold out before I could buy them, but Ashley is good at improvising. This has now replaced the Dora Dollhouse in her room.

No Christmas would be complete without the Virginia Tech presents. Ashley and Audrey received matching outfits from our good friends Wendy, Matt and Ethan (and soon to be baby sister!!). And as a good girl, Ashley insisted on wearing this Christmas day. We are so good at brain-washing...
Ray's Mom normally gets me something from Virginia Tech, and I love my new sweatshirt. I also received Virginia Tech toe socks. Very cute. I am going to wear them on Saturday in honor of the game.
This is what a three year old looks like who hasn't napped in four days (and it's only 4:00pm on the 4th day).
TMX Elmo has been banished to the floor. Audrey is not too keen on him. He is kind of scary...

Christmas in Pictures

I hope I didn't lose anyone in my absence, these past couple of days just flew by. Don't worry, I didn't just forget you guys, I totally forgot to call my Grandmothers on Christmas Day. I know, totally horrible Granddaughter I am. But I called them the day after, does that count?

A special "Thank You" to CPA Mom (another Blogger who totally rocks) for the great gifts for me and my kids. The outfits have already been washed and are ready to wear! I will definitely take a picture of the kids in them.

Here are some updates in our lives over the Christmas holiday (which isn't really over since the kids' school is closed all week) (and don't get Ray started on that since we had to pay for that week even though it was closed).

Audrey:
Last Friday night was another sleepless night for us. So Saturday morning we took her back to the pediatrician and yes, she had an ear infection. She JUST finished the Zitromax she was on, so we are assuming the ear infection just never got better. Now she is finishing up Omnicef. Any wisdom on when I should start discussing tubes? This is three straight weeks she has been on an antibiotic.

She had a great Christmas. Her favorite presents included one of Ashley's, the Mustang my Mom and Stepdad gave her. She grinned from ear to ear the entire time she was in it. And anytime we even go near the garage, she throws a fit to get back in it. It takes off kind of fast, so we have to keep a blanket behind her head to prevent bumping her head. But she seriously could care less, she is in a cool car with her sister, what more could she ask for?

Audrey also found excitement in climbing our stairs. And we are having a hard time finding a gate to fit them so for now, we are just trying to deter her. She also likes to grab your fingers, says "Ga", and makes you walk her around for hours. This is getting really old and our backs hurt. So if you come to our house to visit, please sit on your hands to hide them. She gets pissed off if you don't comply to her demands.

Ashley:
Ashley had a equally cool Christmas. She received a ton of great gifts to include a digital camera and a MP3 player (thanks Fisher Price!). Her answer changes every time you ask which is her favorite.

A new addition to our foyer it seems is one of her favorites, a tent that "Santa" brought. Santa found this at Target for $19.99 and we could barely keep them out of it. I am thinking to try to get Ashley to nap in it...

Ray:
Ray received great gifts as well. I got him a bike, and I don't think he had any clue. Of course he was pretty mad that I spent that much money when we said we weren't, but I couldn't help myself. We have been saying we were going to buy bikes for years.

His parents always do great with gifts. This year, he got this so that we can enjoy our deck that much longer...

But my Stepdad takes the cake. Anyone want to play poker (and not poke-her)?
Doesn't it look great sitting next to the Little Mermaid vanity set?

More pics to come...I'm going to bed. I actually have to work tomorrow (blah).

The Friday Before Christmas

My boss came in my office at exactly 10:22 this morning and asked me what I was working on. I of course told her important stuff (when I was really reading blogs and doing schoolwork) and she then told me I could go home. Holy crap, I could actually get my last minute shopping done.

On my long walk to my car, I started to cry. I finally felt that it was really Christmas. Shopping was almost done, presents are wrapped. We are unbelievably happy here in North Carolina, and happy that we are going to get to spend Christmas in our home. Ashley is at an age where Christmas is really exciting to her. Everyone is healthy, and family is coming to visit.

Why I really started to cry? I am totally PMSing and if someone looked at my sideways, I would probably cry. But hey, Merry Christmas anyways!

What I remember

Audrey is better, thanks for those of you who have asked. She still has snot issues and somewhat of a cough, but last night she feel asleep at 6:45pm and was still asleep when I left for work this morning. I think she just needs some rest at this point.

Being so close to Christmas, I thought I would share some of my fond memories of Christmas from my childhood.

First all, I don't remember when I found out Santa wasn't real. I just don't. I guess I figured it out, but who knows. I will just blame it on my brother.

A favorite memory I have is from when I was really little. We lived in a trailer until I was about five years old. My parents would erect a cardboard fireplace at Christmas time, the one that even made it look like there was a fire burning. Like this picture, only think 1970's style. I loved that fireplace and actually thought Santa came down it.

I also remember the year we got a real Christmas tree. And the damn thing would not stay up. So my stepbrother decided we would nail the tree stand to the floor. Yup, nailed it through the carpet into the subflooring of the townhouse we lived in.

I had a couple of years in high school were I did unwrap all my presents and wrap them all up. I hate waiting, I am the person that reads the last page of a book first. And I am dying to open the presents that are under are tree right now. I even tried to convince Ashley last night that we should open one present. Her response?

"It's not Christmas yet, Mommy."

Smart girl, smart girl.

YEA! A NEW LOOK!!

Check out my new site! How cool is this? And who do I have to thank? Mrs. CPA who totally rocks and who took time out of her life to do this for me since I have no clue with these damn templates.

I had originally planned to pay Zoot to do one for me, but after some bad business, she is no longer doing blog designs for people. But she does post these really cool free templates that I totally love. Blue - my fav color. And the yoga chick - totally not me, but it's close enough!

Wednesday Randomness

Good grief, it's only Wednesday. I don't know what happened this morning. Either I turned off my alarm when it went off or I never set it last night, but I normally get up at 5:45am. At 6:30am, somehow I woke up. At least it was good sleep as Audrey FINALLY slept well last night.

Last night was my office Christmas party. We also had our first "non-family" babysitter, a 25 year old who was great. Loved her, and would totally use her again. How much do you ask? You don't want to know...

At the Christmas party though, I was talking to our ENT doctor and of course squeezed in there about Audrey and her ear infections and he said just page him whenever I can get her into the office and he would see her! Finally, working for a health system is paying off!

One Christmas present I think all spouses should give each other? A full body mole/freckle check. A couple of weeks ago, I noticed a freckle on Ray's shoulder that had turned completely black. So into the dermatologist he went. Turns out it was precancerous and on a ranking scale of mild, moderate, and severe, it was moderate. So please, check yourselves out and go see your doctor if there is anything sketchy.

My health? I have lost 40 pounds since starting Weight Watchers in August. My clothes that I had prior to Ashley aren't fitting, they are too big. I will have to find some good before and after pictures to show you guys. I only have 10 pounds to go to reach my Weight Watchers goal, but now I think I may drop that another 5 pounds, just to see if I can do it. And Ray is doing Weight Watchers now as well and doing great too.

E is for Earaches and Emergency Rooms

Last night, we attended a dinner party with Ray's team he works with. The kids were with us as this was a kid friendly party. The whole time, Audrey was a bear. She was fussing, nothing made her happy, and she seemed very tired even after a three hour nap earlier in the day.

On the ride home, she cried the entire time and continued to cry once we got home. Finally, close to 11:00pm, we decided we didn't know what was up with her after we tried giving her a bottle, numbing ear drops, tylenol, you name. So Ray took her to the emergency room. Lucky for him, he only had to wait about 45 minutes to see a doctor while others in the waiting room had been waiting for hours. We don't know if it was due to Audrey's continual crying or the fact that Ray reminded whoever he saw that I work for that hospital as well.

About a week ago, I took Audrey in for another ear infection. She had just finished that medication on Friday and lo and behold, she has another ear infection. And this one must be bad considering the amount of crying she did in an eight hour period. So I stayed home with her today, and we shall see how tonight goes. She's on stronger medication, so we are keeping our fingers crossed.

Why I Should Win Mother of the Year Award

My kids eat their snacks off the floor...

I wear shirts like this one...(by the way, a Christmas present from my boss, how cool!)

And the only way to get them to take a nap these days....

Informational Session

I know a lot of you have been having issues with blogger and making comments. According to Google, you should be able to log in with your blogger account. If you sign up with Google, it will attach your blogger information on it somehow because it did for me. I am unfortunately not the right person to ask how to do this, but it must have been somewhere in the whole signing up thing because I got it right.

Anyways, I miss those of you who normally comment, please come back!!

On to more good stuff - BEDTIME for a Three Year Old:

So our evening proceeds like this - pjs, teeth/hair brushed (she has a ton of damn hair), read two books, lights out. In a perfect world, this would mean she would quietly talk to herself until falling into a blissful sleep. In our world, this means crying, screaming, more crying, out of bed, back in bed, out of bed, I need medicine, I need water, I need to go potty, crying, crying, out of bed, in bed, out, in, out, in - get the picture?

What we have been trying the past few nights is when she does get out of bed, we do not say anything, just march her back to her room and back in her bed (yes, we stole this idea from Super Nanny, so sue us). Wednesday night I did this probably at least 15 times. I don't need to work out anymore, I get my exercise in my hallway in my house. It sort of works, it sort of doesn't. It sucks to have to hang out in the hall waiting for her to come out. Hopefully this is a stage she is going through and the novelty of driving her parents nuts will pass. And the only real reason we are fighting her on this is she tends to wake up her sister when she is gallivanting in the hallway. Fun times, fun times.

Holy Crap

Man, I was freakin sweating bullets. Blogger switched over to google or something like that yesterday. Well, I had a google account, but it had my work email address attached to it. So, I of course tried to change it and GOOGLE PROCEEDED TO DISABLE MY ACCOUNT.

I sent emails, I googled for google's phone number (pretty funny, huh?) and called and got nowhere and then tonight, I FINALLY got an email that my account was reactivated. Whew.

It was seriously stressing me out. I get stressed out pretty easily, but I was seriously stressing. Just ask CPA Mom.

So sorry for all those blogs I didn't read because I was stressed that I couldn't leave comments, etc. Yes, I am fully aware I am crazy.

Anyways, Ashley's Recital:

Her performace was spectacular. She did what she was supposed to on the stage and was absolutely adorable. But just as I suspected, the class Mom was less than desired for. I did stick around with Ashley before the performance for a while. The Mom was pretty clueless and the other class Mom never showed. And after the performance, I went and got her and the Mom didn't even notice I was taking her. Exactly why I didn't want to leave Ashley alone with her to begin with.



But she did absolutely great, and we were proud of her. But a dance "mom" instead of a soccer mom? I am just not cut out for it. All the makeup and hair and outfits, just not me. Plus, Ashley really doesn't like class either.

Then Sunday I took Ashley to see a Cinderella play in downtown. It wasn't exactly the Cinderella story, but she enjoyed it. But at one point, Ashley did lean over and ask me "when the other Princesses were coming." Apparently she thinks they work together in a group now. Like a union. The Princess Union. Maybe we should start one.

Circa 1977, West ByGod Virginia

Ashley and Audrey look nothing like me. They both greatly resemble Ray and his family. Although now I have hope...

My Mom sent me this picture recently. It was taken in 1977 when I was two. We were at a relative's house in West Virginia. Yes, I have family in West Virginia, specifically my Mom's family. Just take a look at the wonderful flooring in that house. Anyways, I showed this picture to Ashley and asked her who it was and she said "It's me!". So maybe my kids will look like me when they get older.

Tomorrow - dance recital updates and such...

Who can forget this face?

My neighbor is organizing a pj swap between a few of us on the street. She emailed me and asked me for the girls' sizes. I emailed her back with just Ashley's size. She of course emails me back re-asking for Audrey's. Why did I forget Audrey?? For starters, all the other kids involved in the swap are all Ashley's age, so I guess I was just thinking it was for Ashley. But who can forget this face?

On another note of Audrey - she waves bye-bye like a champ, shakes her head no, and gives us the best cheesy smile with her eyes closed that I have ever seen. She is just getting over another ear infection (that makes two in a little over two months) and she will be one in just a little over a month. How scary is that?

What I want for Christmas

Except not really...

Go here to check out more fun fragrances like sawdust and such. I came across this and had to share with everyone. Enjoy!

I Will Portray Psycho Mom

On Saturday, Ashley has her first (and quite possibly her last) dance recital.

Here is the deal - they expect me to take her an hour early (at 2:00pm no less, yes, right in prime I should nap but I'm not time) to the dance recital, drop her off with a volunteer I don't know from Adam, who will then take her to some room to wait with 2 class Moms until it's time to go. Yup, 'cause that will work. No, instead I plan on being Psycho Mom!! and proceed to go back to the room with her and wait until right before she goes on. She is only three for goodness sakes. Forget the fact they expect (yes, expect) me to put EYELINER on her (it's not the putting on, it's the taking off I would be worried about). Forget the fact she doesn't know any of these kids except for the 45 minutes she spends with them every Thursday. And the class Moms? Don't get me started. They are more worried about who has a better house/car/pedicure than to worry about whether my kid has just snuck out of the room to look for her Mommy.

Okay, so you can tell me I am being psycho, I can take it. Really, I can.

A Letter to Naptime

Dear Naps (or Naptime, or Mr. Nap, whatever you want to be called):

You are precious to me. The fact that you no longer visit my three year old every day from 1:00pm to 3:00pm is very upsetting. Did I do something to piss you off? Was it the fact that I actually got both of my kids to nap at the same time for a couple of days? Are you reducing your hours for Christmas?

The fact is, Ashley still needs you. She is okay for most of the afternoon, and then 4:00pm hits, and she is a NIGHTMARE. She won’t listen, she whines, and she is just in general in a pissy mood. A nap would have actually cured all this.

But this past week, you have decided she didn’t need you anymore. She is old enough. Well, dammit, no she isn’t! Most of the other three year olds in her class as school still nap, so why can’t she?

And I know what you are going to say. She was a doll for the Princess Party we went to from 2:00pm – 4:00pm on Sunday. Really, a doll. She listened, she participated, and she played well with the other 11 children there, of which she only knew one. But you know what? She completely crashed in the car on the way home. See? She still needs you.

I beg of you, come back. What do you want? A bottle of gin? A timeshare in the Bahamas? A trip to Disney World? Just ask, I will see what I can do.

Sincerely,
In Need of a Nap Myself
Amy

Tagged, Get Ready for Some Weird Stuff

I was tagged by SJ, my good high school buddy. And yes, I am copying word for word from her blog the rules.

Here are the rules - Each player of this game starts with the "6 Weird Things about You." People who get tagged need to write a blog of their own 6 weird things as well as state this rule clearly. In the end, you need to choose 6 people to be tagged and list their names. Don't forget to leave a comment that says 'you are tagged' in their comments and tell them to read your blog!"

Okay, so I really did have a hard time with this one. I asked Ray to help, and he said the fact I blog is weird. And yes, he did sleep on the couch after that comment (just kidding!).

Here goes:
1. I will start with the really lame one - I play the bassoon or as my coworkers call it, the baffoon. Kind of lame, but you tell me how many people you know that actually play that instrument...

2. I have a really bad habit of not biting my nails, but actually biting the skin around my nails. I inherited it from my Dad.

3. Another bad habit? I chew on the skin inside my mouth. I know, I know, really bad. I actually had a dentist once yell at me once. I honestly don't even notice I am doing it most of the time.

4. Okay, this is as weird as I get. When I was little, I swear one night something tickled my foot in my bed. At that time, I would sleep with slippers on my feet so that it wouldn't happen again (or so I told myself). As an adult, I have to have the covers at the foot of the bed tucked under my feet.

5. Another weird thing about my bed? We don't use a top sheet, just the comforter. Maybe it's laziness, maybe it's out of ease, but I can't remember the last time Ray and I had a top sheet on our bed. And no, there isn't a top sheet on Ashley's bed either. She has to be as weird as us.

6. One more, good grief. Ohhh, I just thought of it. My two front teeth on top? I have teeth behind them. Yup, call me shark lady. When I was a kid, they filed them down as far as they could before hitting a nerve and then put filings in the space between the rows. But the filings fell out and now I just have to pick food out of them everyonce in a while. Good times.

Yea, I am done. Now it's your turn:
1. Margarita Madness
2. Mrs. CPA
3. It's MY Life
4. My Little Corner of Life
5. Lost a Sock
6. Ice Cream Mama

New Site

Check out the new Working Mom's Blog, and my latest contribution.