Do I hear an Echo?

I was upstairs. Chris was downstairs. Cailin was running back and forth between us. I was making a grocery list and needed to know if we had any frozen waffles in the deep freeze. I stand at the top of the steps and say "Honey... " and pause to wait for a response so I know that chris hears me. Cailin runs to the steps right next to me and hollers "Om-eyyyy, Om-eyyyy, bisssss (chris)". This was a week ago.
Today, I was cooking dinner and told cailin to go get daddy and tell him dinner is ready. She runs to the steps and yells "Omeyyyy, EEEAATTT"

How do you keep a straight face?

Cailin has been in the habit of kicking lately. Not when she is standing, but more when she is laying on the floor in front of me while I change her diaper. It hurts. For those of you who don't know, one of the first signs that you are pregnant is that your boobs hurt. They are just overly sensitive. When a size 6.5 little foot kicks you in the boob, or in the gut, it hurts. I have tried grabbing her leg and holding it sternly and telling her NO. I have tried telling her that it hurts, I have tried everything I can think of. Today, I told her there was a baby in my tummy and we needed to be easy. She still kicked. I asked her if I needed to spank her bottom for kicking me. She rolls over, points to her bottom and says "Ere'tis". Thanks. At least now I know what I am going to swat.
It was all I could do to not laugh. I could not however hide a smile. Anyone have a good idea how to put an end to this kind of thing?

Chop Chop

I cut my hair today. Well, I didn't cut it, I paid a nice lady named Cindi to cut my hair today! It seems as though i go through stages with my hair, I cut it short, let it grow long, sometimes perm it, then cut it short again. My hair was coming awefully close to reaching my bra strap. It was getting a bit hard to manage and hard to do much with it other than pull it up in a ponytail. I decided on friday that it was time for a change. I knew when I stopped in there was no chance I would have a new hairstyle by Christmas, but Shortly after would be close enough. I didn't get a perm this time. I didn't want to deal with the time that it would take as well as how long it would take to grow out and all that crap. Just not worth the hassle. I wanted something that was low maintenance. By low maintenance, i mean something that i can style with just a blow dryer and that is it. If i get all dolled up, I can use a curling iron and fancy it up, but mostly, nothing major to fix it.
It is now about an inch longer than my chin. It is still straight. Predominantly one length. There are some layers ONLY on the bottom, and not many of them either. I think i like it. The real test will be tomorrow when I wake and have to fix it on my own. Chris said he really likes it which means something because he normally has no opinion on matters such as how my hair is cut. Cailin isn't sure what to think. She keeps wanting me to sit on the floor so she can play with my hair in her fingers. She isn't used to it being short like this. I will take a picture tomorrow and add it so you can see.

Gentle Reminders

I have a humidifyer which I do not remember to fill on a regular basis. I try, but i just forget sometimes. Lately, I have had some gentle reminders. Cailin brings the empty tanks to me and says "more mommy". As I go in to fill the first one, she grabs the second and brings that one to me as well. It is really a big help!

Like a Kid Waiting for Santa

It is 430 in the morning. I can't sleep. Why you might ask? it is because I am so excited to pick up my pictures and get them on my quilt. If I get it to the quilter today, there is a good chance that I can get it back in time to mail it to Mom and get it there by Christmas. I might have to overnight it, but that is okay. I can't sleep. It is the same feeling that a small child has laying in bed anticipating santa's arrival with a bag full of goodies. How can anyone sleep?

Still Hope

Debbie called today. She told me that she was printing my pictures as we speak. They will be ready this afternoon!! YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I called the lady who is going to do the quilting. She said that if I drop off my quilt tomorrow, it will take three or four days to get it quilted!! That is awesome news. That means that there is still a small chance i can get it to mom for Christmas! I am so excited!

Wow things i have Learned

Splenda now makes a Brown sugar mix. I look forward to trying it.

I bought whole wheat flour. I am hoping to make my own bread in my bread machine and see if it is cheaper.

I learned you can substituet whole wheat for white flour for most stuff... If you are making cookies, mix 1/2 white flour, 1/2 whole wheat, otherwise, a wise source tells me that it will be rather cake like.

I'm a big girl now

Cailin has mastered putting on her own socks, Getting her legs into a pair of pants and getting the pants part the way pulled up. I think she could have gotten them all the way up if she didn't have another pair already on!!! She also managed to pull a swim diaper up over her regular diaper earlier this week. She seems to be mastering getting dressed all at one time. Good Job!

Today, I was sitting curled in a ball on the couch under a blanket. She grabbed the other end and tried to cover herself up saying "mine". She stood up, walked over to where I was sitting, pulled the blanket off of me to cover herself up.

Thursday night, Chris was trying to get Cailin into some pj's while I was downstairs showing Deana something. Cailin was at the top of the steps yelling "Momma, Momma, Mommmeeeeee". I go to the bottom of the steps and look up to see her with just a diaper on. As I looked up, she squeels and says "I nay-ned momma!!!" and then ran off!!!

It snowed yesterday. This was the first snow that Cailin really remembers. She mastered the word snow rather quickly. She has told everyone who calls about the snow! Today, it got up to 40 degrees. If i was feeling better, I would have taken her out to play in the snow. It is almost melted now. She stands at the window and has the following conversation:
Cailin: Daddy, Snow... Seeeeee
Chris: I see
Cailin: Air'd Go? Air Snow?
Chris: I don't know... where did the snow go?
Cailin: Ount no... Air'd go?
Chris: You tell me
Cailin: Ohhhh Nooooo bye bye snow

Customer Service

I am getting really tired of the company “Winks” that is supposed to be printing my pictures onto the material. They have had my pictures for over a month now. The estimated pick-up date on my ‘contract’ says 11/19-11/21. They are behind. They keep telling me they are out of transfer paper and the place they order it from was backordered. Then that company went out of business. Then they found another place, put in an order, then they were backordered as well… This was on-going. It was wasting my time. I am a BIG FAN of customer service and their’s SUCKED!!! You would think if someone puts in an order as large as I did, (it was 58 pictures, and approximately a $60 order), they would call and let you know the status of the order. If the stuff they needed was backordered, call and tell me. I would be more understanding if someone keeps me updated than if I am left hanging in the dark. They told me that it would take a week or two. It ended up over a month. Monday, we had an ice storm. They were closed which was understandable. I called Tuesday morning getting a little (VERY) irritated. They tell me that the transfer paper had an attempted delivery on Monday, but they were closed and could not receive it. They told me that it would be re-delivered on Tuesday, the day I was calling, and they would get them printed and would be ready by 3-4pm on Tuesday. I asked them if I could get a discount since it took so long and they couldn’t even call to let me know what was going on. They refused. I was in the hospital visiting grandma who just had surgery and was very confused and didn’t make it to winks on Tuesday. Tuesday night we were supposed to get more ice. It ended up missing us and hit Kansas City instead. When I stopped in around 11 on Wednesday, THEY STILL WEREN'T READY. They told me that the transfer paper got stuck in Kansas City in the snow storm the night before. IF they were attempted to be delivered in NEOSHO on Monday, why would they be all the way back in Kansas City on Tuesday. It didn't make sense. I have a feeling they were lying to me this whole time. I took my pictures and material and left. I was just pissed. There is no other way to put it.

I left there and was in tears because I had NO IDEA where I could go to get this done and still get mom’s quilt done for Christmas. I left there and went to the post office to buy a box to mail some scrubs in. I asked Tammy who works there if she knew of anywhere else to go. Winks told me there was no place else in Neosho. Tammy told me to check WXY or silhouette imaging. I went to WXY because I knew where it was. I was close to tears. I asked the lady if she knew of anywhere that I could go to get it done without taking another 2 weeks. She says “honey, hang on just a minute”, and gets on the phone.

Hey Debbie, it’s me. Do you heat transfer pictures onto shirts and stuff?
You have to use your shirts?
What if it is on a piece of material to go onto a quilt?
Okay.
I have a young lady here who is having trouble with a certain competitor and has nothing but troubles. It is for a Christmas present.
I will send her your way. Thanks
What’s that?
Yeah, I have 2 black shirts. I will put them to the side for you.
Okay, thanks a bunch
Bye

She hangs up and tells me where to go. Silhouette imaging is FOUR STORES away from Winks on the square in town. Four stores is NOT VERY FAR!! They are little stores. I offered to deliver the 2 black shirts for her and she says great, thanks. I go to this new store and Debbie is at her desk. When she gets off the phone, she asks me if I was the one who was making a quilt. I give her the shirts and she laughs. She asked me if my material was 100% cotton, or if it was a polyester blend. I wasn’t sure. She asked me If I needed the entire sheet, or if she could use a corner of it to test it with a picture. She took a small square as well as one of my pictures. She scanned the picture and printed it out and then pressed it onto the material. It took about 5-8 minutes. The picture was a little dark, but she told me that she would lighten them up so they would look better when printed. She even washed my material roughly with soap and water to make sure it was going to last. She asked how many pictures I had. I told her 58. After we were in agreement that she was going to do this, I remember to ask about cost. She said it was $4.50 a press, and 1 press per sheet. She played and found she could get about 10-12 pictures per page. Winks could get 4. She told me that since I had so many pictures, she could give me a discount and give them to me for 2.50 a sheet. This is going to be significantly less than Winks, and already much better service. She told me that she was going to try to get them done by Friday, but she promised it would be Monday at the very latest. I feel so much better about this already. Now I only hope that I can get the pictures sewn on Monday after I pick them up and then on Tuesday take it to the quilters. It just depends how long it will take the quilter to see if it will be done in time for Christmas. I can only hope so!!!!


Oh, and in case you were wondering, Debbie also told me that she was curious where winks was getting their transfer paper from because it isn't hard to come by at all... she just got 4 huge loads of it in the past 3 weeks.

Germs to Share

I am so pissed. My friend had a slumber party for her little girl on Friday to celebrate her 8th birthday. She asked me if I could come over and help her, and stay for the night. Sure. No problem. I don’t mind. Deana was staying over as well. I got there later than I was planning because I was helping MIL with Grandma. I got there as the girls were winding down some. There were 8 little ones. I had Cailin with me. Steff LOVES Cailin and wanted her to stay too. Again, no problem. Around 130, we were getting the girls settled down to sleep. Melody, Deana, and I were getting tired. Around 1:45 in the morning, a little girl, who lives down the street, wakes up, and PUKES all over the place. On herself, in her hair, on her blanket, on the soft child’s fold out couch of Steff’s that she was sleeping on, on the carpet. It was a mess. Her older sister was over as well. Deana starts cleaning up the carpet while melody gets the girl in the shower to clean her off. I talk to the older sister and get her phone number and call parents. Nothing like getting a phone call at 2 in the morning from a complete stranger about your daughter being sick. While on the phone, mom tells me that the older sister was sick and puking on Thursday all day, then mom and dad were sick on Friday and the little sister (the one who puked at the party) was complaining of a tummy ache earlier that day.

This is where I got ROYALLY PISSED!!!!!!!!!! IF your kids are sick, or just getting over the flu, DO NOT send them to a slumber party where there will be lots of little girls in close quarters. You just potentially infected everyone that was in the house that night. Melody felt embarrassed when she told each of the parents in the morning that their child was exposed to the flu. I was stressing Friday whether I should go or not because I was starting with a nasty cold and didn’t want to share with anyone and make them sick… especially this close to Christmas. I can’t believe someone would be so inconsiderate to send a sick child to a party.

Today, Sunday, both Melody and myself have been in bed all day. Melody did go to the dr and they did a flu test that was positive. I am sure that is what I have as well. I will call my OB in the morning and make sure I don't have to worry about the baby being sick from it.

We've had this conversation already!

Yesterday we put up our Christmas tree. We have an artificial tree with fiber optic lights. I love our tree. The main problem was crawling under the tree and under the tree skirt to turn the lights on and off. This year, we found a remote control for the tree. THIS WORKS GREAT!!!!

Cailin knows what remote controls are and loves them. The one for the tree is nice for her to work because it has only 2 buttons. On and Off. Yesterday, she learned that this clicker works the lights on the tree. She would push the on button and very excitedly say "Wooooooow". Then she pushed the off button. "Air'd go momma? Air'd go ight?" (Translates to where did they go mommy? Where are the lights?". Then she would push the on buttone "Ere tis". Then she pushed the off button. "Air'd go momma? Air'd go ight?". Then she would push the on buttone "Ere tis". Then she pushed the off button. "Air'd go momma? Air'd go ight?". Then she would push the on buttone "Ere tis". Then she pushed the off button. "Air'd go momma? Air'd go ight?". Then she would push the on buttone "Ere tis". Then she pushed the off button. "Air'd go momma? Air'd go ight?". Then she would push the on buttone "Ere tis". Then she pushed the off button. "Air'd go momma? Air'd go ight?". Then she would push the on buttone "Ere tis". Then she pushed the off button. "Air'd go momma? Air'd go ight?". Then she would push the on buttone "Ere tis". Then she pushed the off button. "Air'd go momma? Air'd go ight?". Then she would push the on buttone "Ere tis". Then she pushed the off button. "Air'd go momma? Air'd go ight?". Then she would push the on buttone "Ere tis". Then she pushed the off button. "Air'd go momma? Air'd go ight?". Then she would push the on buttone "Ere tis".

And so my day went... Occasionally she stopped to let me know her baby was nay-ned, but then back to the lights.

I'll treat this time

I normally don’t like to talk about politics, or government stuff, but today I need to vent. Seriously, our government has to do something to revamp our welfare system. I am tired of paying for slackers.

I am well aware that there are people who are on welfare that truly need it and are doing their best to get out of that situation. On the other hand, there are quite a few who I feel are taking advantage of the system. They say “why try to better ourselves? If we do, then we loose the free stuff that we get”. This makes me mad.

I know of a person who recently found she was pregnant. She and her husband have jobs that you see high school and college kids taking. Insurance and other benefits just aren’t offered. They chose not to have insurance. Now that they are pregnant, they have found that combined, they make too much money to qualify for medicade. Their solution: She is going to quit her job. That way their income will be low enough to qualify.

Why not try to get a better job? Why do I have to pay for the medical bills of people who don’t want to make any attempt to make it on their own? This is a perfect example of taking advantage of the government’s system. How is this fair to those of us who are working hard and paying our own bills, AND paying for insurance? How is this kind of program going to encourage anyone to better their situation? Why bother? Why work harder if I can get taken care of (insurance, food stamps, free child care) for not doing anything?

As you hear from many little kids, “It isn’t fair”… I guess now I know what my mom meant when she said, “Life isn’t fair”.

Another Cailin Quote

I had to use the restroom while out at a store last week. Cailin came into the stall with me. As I was pulling my pants back up, Cailin pats my leg and says "Good Job Momma, Good job".

Apparently I have been giving her quite a bit of praise and she has picked up on it!

New Vocabulary

Cailin learned a new word today. It comes out sounding like "neh-nid" This is the state that her dolls are in when they have no clothes on.

Thankful

Things I am thankful for:

Family that loves me
A husband and Daughter to make me smile
Jesus Christ
A home to keep me warm
A new baby growing in my tummy
Friends who have stayed in touch over the years and through the miles
New friends who make living far from family more bearable

An Early Christmas Present

On Thursday, we were still in Maryland. The entire time that i have been on this vacation, I have been paranoid that my wonderful monthly friend would show up at the most inopportune time. It was due 2 days after we arrived in FL. This anticipation was in the back of my mind as we went through EPCOT and Animal Kingdom. I did not want this friend to show up then and make me uncomfortable. By the second Thursday of our trip, my friend still did not arrive. I told Chris about it and we bought a home pregnancy test. I did not have good luck when i was pregnant with Cailin with tests that had lines only. I bought one of those tests that uses just words. Hard to mis-interpret those tests!!!

The result: PREGNANT!!!!!

We were hoping to be pregnant by Christmas and have a September baby. I would be able to work as pool manager all summer. Cailin would be two and a half years old, and it wouldn't be the middle of the summer. We are a month early. This baby that is now transforming on a daily basis in my tummy is due to be born on August 4th. This is very neat because my mom's birthday is this day as well.

This is an awesome early Christmas present. I feel so honored that God is going to trust me with another small life to raise and nurture and to teach to love Him.

I am worried:
We have a lot of cleaning out of our house, and rearranging of items in the next nine months.
Cailin is a wonderful Child. Is she going to feel slighted when there is another child in the house?
I feel like I have no time as it is. How am I going to have enough time to put towards a new baby and still give Cailin the love and attention that she needs?
How do you stretch the love you have and make sure no one is feeling slighted, and everyone is getting LOTS of attention that they need. When I say everyone, I mean Cailin, this new baby, Chris, my pets (Socksy, Rebel and Jesse James).

I am excited and nervous at the same time. I have nine months to get used to this idea and get everything ready.