promotion June 11, 2008

We got up at 5:30 to get ready for PT with Scott today.  They told him the only time they had to promote him was at the PT formation.  It wasn’t fun getting up, and Serena is already ready for a nap, but it was worth it.  I pulled the old rank off and Serena put the new one on.  It was upside down and I didn’t notice as I straightened it out.  So then someone yelled, “Its upside down” and everyone laughed and we fixed it.  Serena was really cute doing it though.

In other news we ordered furniture.  They were doing a no payments and no interest for a year thing.  We will pay it off in less than a year of course, so it was a good way to get what we wanted and not have to take out of savings to do it.  We thought about getting a bed too, but figured it was best to wait.  Don’t want to get in over our heads for stuff we don’t really need.  It gets delivered on the 17th so just about a week to go and we will stop sitting on the floor!

We have been looking for a Wii Fit for a while and had no luck.  Scott waited in line on Sunday and found out they gave out tickets at 9 am and if you didn’t get one you didn’t get a Wii Fit.  Then when we got to his parents his dad said, oh yeah I got one on e-bay.  He didn’t take it on his business trip so Scott and I can try it out.  We still have to find one before he gets back so we can give him the new one.  I hope they are easier to find!

h.e.l.p. June 6, 2008

So we went to a couple places looking for living room furniture today. Here are the things we are thinking about.  We have a small wall, 64 inches to be exact.  We can’t fit a couch, well we could but it would take over the room.  So we knew going in we were getting a love seat and chair.  The first place we went the only thing we liked (that we can sorta afford) is this.  Its a dark olive type color.  Its microfiber, which they say is the best for kids because its easy to clean.  They say leather is easier to clean but its more expensive and with animals that could be a bad idea.  Plus I sit around half naked (TMI) all the time and its not nice on the legs.  Its cushy, I think the chair is more comfy than the love seat, not to say the love seat isn’t.  The ottoman is big which is nice.  We could special order another color but it would take too long, and its not a bad color.

 

Our second option is totally different.  We are still going with a love seat but its a few inches shorter.  In fact there are two love seats to choose from, but one is much more comfy and cheaper than the other. I couldn’t find pictures of these things on the website, not all of them anyway.  So you will have to get an idea from my camera phone pictures.  The first picture is of a sectional sofa that also comes as a love seat.  Its the one of the two that I would choose, its cheaper and more comfy.  The one on the right is more expensive by 100 bux but I think it goes with the chairs a little better.  The chairs are 100 more expensive in a beige color but a great deal in the “celery” color.  I think it looks good in person.  I have to call but I think I can get either sofa for the same price in the celery or a beige.  I think that the couch in beige and the chairs in celery would look good together.  Oh and the chairs look like they may be small, you can see me modeling one (hahahaha, yeah I’ve lost lots of weight) j/k anyway they are really comfy.  I wouldn’t have sat in them but when I did they were nice.

 

Scott likes the second option better because he said it will take up less space.  You could put on of the chairs upstairs in our bedroom if you didn’t want it in the living room.  Either way the love seat will go in the same place and is about the same size.  So tell me what you think everyone!  I kinda have to choose by the end of this weekend.  There is a price difference between the two sets a pretty good difference really.  Anyway the lady at the second place was really nice and said she could beat the price of the first set, so maybe its not a huge issue.  Oh and at the second place they have a cool sleeper ottoman.  Here are a couple pictures.  Its not too expensive, so if it matches the love seat and we choose that place, and have room maybe we will go with that too.  The picture is not the exact one, its just one I found searching.

cold turkey June 5, 2008

Yesterday Serena woke up really early and Scott got her and put her in bed with me.  She laid there and nursed for a while.  Then she got up and threw up all over me.  Its not the first time, but it was the last time.  We don’t know what is causing her to cough and throw up so much but its getting old.  I feel terrible for her, I know it hurts.  It does seem to happen a lot right after the nurses.  We put her on Zyrtec and that didn’t do anything, so we put her on Singulair too along with a week of steroids.  The steroids are to reduce any inflammation.  Something does seem to be working because she isn’t coughing so much anymore.  Her nose is still running, but in time maybe the meds will help that.  Anyway I figured that yesterday was as good a time as any to stop nursing, cold turkey.  Yes I could reduce it to only twice a day, morning and night.  Then to once a day, night.  Then make it less and less time until she doesn’t do it anymore.  The thing is when she wants it she doesn’t give up easily.  So I’m going to be dealing with a very pissed off toddler a lot of the time.  Here is how its going.

Wednesday: wake up, nurse, throw up on mommy, go downstairs with daddy, get mad when daddy leaves, try to nurse, throw a fit (30-45 minutes), have some eggs and pudding, share the eggs with Gizmo, go outside and play for a while, come inside and eat lunch, go sit on the bottom step and scream, stop screaming the second mommy opens the gate and lets me go upstairs, lay down and take a wonderful three hour nap, get up and play with daddy for a few minutes, throw another fit when daddy leaves, go outside and run around, say “NO” when mommy asks me to come inside because its starting to rain, keep running around until mommy hears thunder and drags me in the house, yell at mommy because just looking out the window isn’t good enough, look out the open front door at the crazy thunder storm, get excited when daddy comes back home, throw a fit when I can’t go play in the rain some more, eat franks and beans (not hers but what mommy and daddy have), get cranky, go to bed at 8:30, wake up when mommy is stupid and comes in my room to get the fan out, play on the bed for a while, scream when I get put back in bed but go to sleep after a few minutes.

Thursday: Wake up and throw a fit when daddy changes my poopy diaper, get really mad when mommy won’t let me nurse, throw a fit, scream, cry, headbutt mommy, pull on mommy’s shirt, scream, lay on the floor, after about two hours of being crazy I’m OKAY to sit in mommy’s lap and watch tv but only if mommy doesn’t look at me its all over when she does, run after mommy crying when she is trying to get things done, get excited when I see ramen for lunch, eat a lot of noodles, drink about half a cup of milk and ask for more, spill most of the new cup on the table, help mommy throw clean clothes all over the living room, walk up the stairs and run into Mommy’s room after the cat, get mad when mommy puts me in bed, cry for a few minutes but go to sleep. . .

We will see how this afternoon goes.  Scott has a pass for this weekend, so today is the last work day.  I have pretty much said that I want to finish the house, hang the pictures and curtains, re-arrange our bedroom, unpack all my clothes and when done go find a couch/love seat and chair.  We really don’t have a lot of money to spend, so we will see.

root canal June 3, 2008

I’m supposed to go in at eleven today for my root canal.  Scott was able to get off for a couple hours during the day so I didn’t have to wait two weeks to have it done.  I’m really not looking forward to it, duh I guess.  I hate dental work at all.  I went with the dentist that takes my insurance because I know up front how much I’m going to have to pay.  Its still a lot of money.  I woke up yesterday feeling like I was getting a cold.  The first day its hard to tell whether its allergies gone crazy or the start of a cold.  Today I’m sure its a cold.  I don’t know the office policy but some of them won’t see you when you are sick.  I know if I cancel on them I have to pay a fee so I’m going to let them tell me they can’t see me first.  I guess I should get dressed since Scott will be home soon and I want to get there a few minutes early. 

birthday, chinchillas (updated) June 1, 2008

We spent the weekend at my parent’s house for my birthday.  We had outback for dinner then Scott and I went to see What Happens In Vegas.  It was a cute movie, though its crazy to spend $20 just to see the movie, then another like $8 for a drink and small popcorn.  I’m glad to say I only had like two bites of popcorn.  After that we headed back home for cake.  Sammy wrote “Happy Birthday Mommy” on the cake and then Serena used the icing to add her own touches.  It was cute, I’ll post a picture when I go over to mom’s again.  Thanks everyone for the birthday wishes and cards.  Mom got me a new camera, something I can keep with me all the time but at the same time takes great pictures.  I’m super excited about that. 

Here are some pictures of the chinchillas.  I didn’t get great ones, so I’ll take some more sometime soon.  Okay wordpress/my computer is being a prick.  So I’ll fix this later.

These are the boys.  Speed on the left and Patch on the right.  They had different names when we got them but we didn’t remember them by the time we got home.  Speed got his name because he is super fast.  Once you catch him he will let you hold him.  He will even jump out on your shoulder and climb around on you.  Kinda cute.  Patch got his name because there was a patch of hair on his back that was growing back, but now it doesn’t make a lot of difference since its grown back most of the way.  I didn’t get any good close up pictures of the girls.  They have the bottom “apartment” in the cage right now.  My dad and I built the cage.  Well he did most of it.  I got the bookshelf from goodwill for a pretty good price and then added shelves, wire to the back and a door on the front.  My dad made pans for that fit just right and then I went and got some metal “pee guards” meant for rabbit cages and bent them to fit right in the front.  It keeps them from kicking a lot of bedding and stuff out of the cage. 

   

So I don’t know what it is but either my allergy medication isn’t working at all or I’m getting a pretty nasty cold.  I’m supposed to have my root canal tomorrow, but at this rate I will have to cancel.  I think they charge a fee so I may go in and make them tell me to reschedule rather than do it myself.  Well I’m waiting on the clinic to call me back about getting Serena an appointment.  She is still coughing and the meds don’t seem to be working to help at all.  She will cough so hard she throws up, and not just a little.  I guess it makes the baby spit up look mild. 

big baby May 29, 2008

 

Today she got tired to I took her upstairs and on the way into her room I almost fell over one toy and banged into another one.  Serena laughed and I was sure that was the end of her going to sleep.  I laid her in her bed and she put her head down and smiled at me.  I was able to take her shoes off and cover her up and she just went to sleep.  It was a nice over three hour nap and I found her looking cute so I took a picture.  She woke up shortly after and that is the other picture of her holding a doll that was mine when I was little.  They are camera phone pictures, like most of mine are now.

May 28, 2008

Serena has this thing for carrying baby dolls around now.  Sometimes she has two or three at a time.  You can’t trick her into forgetting about one either, if you hand her one and try to do something she points at it and gives you a “don’t play with me” look.  The giraffe was something I gave to my sister when she was born and she gave it to Serena.  She saw it on her stuffed animal shelf the other day and had to have it.  She carried it around the PX with her today.  Here are a couple pictures of her at the doctors office a week or so ago.

 

Just hanging out.

pool time May 28, 2008

 

When we got home yesterday I thought it would be a good time to get Serena’s pool out.  I did find out that its got a little hole in it, but nothing that makes a big difference.  Since the hose hook up is in the front of the house, and we don’t have a hose we had to haul water from the kitchen.  It worked out well though because it was warmer than the hose water would have been.  She seemed to have a really good time playing in it.  She spent a lot of time getting in and out of it.  There were some kids up the hill from us that spent about half the time in theirs and when we were done she still wasn’t into coming inside.  It was a real fight taking off her bathing suit and swim diaper.  Then Scott got the bright idea to put Gizmo in the pool.  He of course jumped right out and ran right into the flower bed…which is more a dirt bed right now since I mixed the dirt all up.  Nice dirty doggie.

 Here is a picture of my empty apartment, snif snif and a picture of little Serena.  I think you can totally see the couple inches she has grown since this picture was taken.  I think she went from 29 to 32.  The onsie she is wearing in the picture and the pants too for that matter, are way too small for her now. 

I had a not so fun time at Target yesterday.  I went in to exchange a swimsuit for Serena.  I got an 18 month and its really too small.  It would fit, but not for long.  So I wanted to get a 24 or maybe even a 2t.  When I got up there to exchange it they were really rude to me about the fact that I had returned two things in the past 12 months without a receipt.  After asking for a manager and fighting with her for a while they still wouldn’t do the exchange.  Its not like I was asking for something different, or cash or even store credit.  I just waned a different size, it still had the tag and everything.  It turned out okay because Scott was with me and had his drivers licence which wasn’t banned from making returns.  I understand their policy is to keep people from stealing things and returning them for store credit.  But when you want to make an even exchange why should that matter?  Eh, still pisses me off to think too much about the whole thing.

 

toy shelf May 21, 2008

The toy shelf I posted a picture of in a blog before came from Target.  Its not on sale now, but they seem to put them on sale pretty often.  Mom ordered it for Serena when it was on sale and had free shipping from target.com.  Its sitting in our living room right this minute and I think it will work well there, its already full of toys.  She likes to put things in and take them out.

clinic May 20, 2008

So I went to bed last night feeling like crap.  It started on our way home from taking Serena to the doctor.  I figured I would feel better in the morning.  I was wrong.  I called the clinic and they gave me an appointment at 10:10, which gave me just enough time to get there.  When I got there they took me into the head nurses office and she told me about the “clinic policy” for children.  More or less you can’t bring children under 8 with you, and if they are over 8 they have to stay in the waiting room.  If you have two children and the appointment is for one of them you can’t bring the other.  If you are new to the area or have a last minute appointment then they will make an exception to the policy, as they did for me today.  The doctor was nice and told me more or less there is nothing wrong with me, which is what I figured.  She did do some blood work and gave me refills on my allergy medications.  When I got down to the pharmacy it was 10:45.  I got a number and then went to the lab.  After I got done in the lab I went over and still had to wait for the prescriptions.  Actually it was 11:45 before I got out of there.  This clinic is crazy huge, I wish it was smaller.  Oh well I’m going to go take a nap while Serena does.