His, Mine, Ours

Perspective

2009-10-13T11:15:00.000-07:00

Alfred attended a funeral yesterday for a friend that we lost to Luekemia. I only knew her through Alfred, as they used to work together, but on the occassions that we've had a chance to hang out, I had always found her to be a very nice person. She's a little older than us by a couple of years... had a husband and a little girl, about 3 years old.

Unfortunately, I couldn't attend the funeral. To be honest, I was a little afraid of going. I don't know if I could have handled seeing her little daughter say good-bye to her mommy for the last time. Alfred confirmed that it WAS the hardest part of the service. I'm tearing up right now just imagining it. I wasn't even there to witness it and it still makes me unbearably sad.

So then I start to think about how I've been feeling lately. A little disconnected from Alfred (which sometimes happens when we get busy with the day-to-day), a little short-tempered with the kids, a little lonely in general. I realized that instead of just stewing in these feelings, perhaps it's time to do something about it. Put forth a little more effort in repairing these negative feelings. I AM fortunate to be blessed with all that I have in my life and I should be more appreciative.

Last night, I met Alfred and the kids at Katelyn's halau and we had dinner after her hula practice. When we got home, instead of taking the kids straight upstairs to read my book while the kids watch TV and Alfred watches ESPN downstairs until HE falls asleep on the couch, I decided to hang out with my husband and listen to him play his ukelele and guitar (which I used to do way more often back in the day... and way not enough these days). He and I listened to music on my I-pod that he then tried to play on his guitar. Somehow Katelyn incorporated a pretend birthday party into what we were doing. Jacob would come over once in awhile to give us a play-by-play of the new episode of Yo Gabba Gabba that he was watching in the room next to ours (coincidentally, it was about: "FAMILY, mom!").

We had a nice night last night. I felt less disconnected, less short-tempered, less lonely... and a million times more blessed. I think Alfred felt the same. And when he asked me for a hug this morning before we left for work, that hug sure felt extra special. Sometimes it's all in the perspective.

Kids say the funniest things

2009-09-10T19:47:00.000-07:00

In the most grown-up voice that a 5-year-old could muster, Katelyn says this to me as we are driving home from Alfred's softball game last night:

"If daddy texts you, could you please ask him if we could go to Starbucks? I think I want to have coffee for dinner. I could smell it already and it smells SO good!"

Just to clarify, Katelyn does NOT drink coffee but she does love the smell of it when we brew the flavored kinds at home (shout out to Don Francisco - Hawaiian Hazlenut and Butterscotch Toffee is our fave!). The strange thing is that I didn't have any coffee in the car last night so I'm not quite sure what she was smelling. Although, in retrospect, I think it was a little bit of delirium since she fell asleep not long after making that statement.

By the time we were on our way home from the game, it was passed 8pm and none of us had eaten dinner yet so I stopped off to pick up food. Jacob was BEGGING for noodles as though he hadn't eaten in years and years during the 5-minute drive from Panda Express to our house. By the time we got home and I opened his door to get him out, he looked at me and said:

"It smells gooooood..."

I just about died laughing! Not that I find it all that amusing that my son was starving but the growing range in his vocabulary these days always takes me by surprise. His sentences are still choppy sometimes but he's been trying to tell stories. For example, how he was trying to tell Alfred about walking on the bleachers and falling down during the softball game. Except his version was more like:

"I fall down... WALKING, DADDY!! I fall down.."

And how funny was it that every single time Alfred's team came in from the outfield, Jacob would yell, "HI, DADDY!" or "HI, UNCLE!" (when he would recognize one of his many uncles on the team) and he would look at me, point to the field and yell, "BASEBALL GAME!" What my son lacks in eloquence of speech, he definitely makes up for in enthusiasm! (Anytime I write in bold, that's him yelling. And the boy is loud. REALLY loud. Many people have commented on how deep his voice is already for a toddler... we're very interested in how much deeper his voice will be after he hits puberty.)

One of my favorite Jake-isms is how he always tells me, "Good job, mom!" when he sees me in my work out clothes. He'll congratulate me even BEFORE I start working out and then do so again AFTER. Sometimes Alfred will work out with me and try to fish for a "Good job, daddy!" from Jacob but Jake will ONLY compliment mommy... maybe because I need the encouragement more than Alfred does...! Mommy HATES working out.

I will end this with a little shout out to my brand new Kindergartener, Katelyn. Thankfully she is liking school... for now... knock on wood that it continues for the next.... 17 years (if I'm lucky, she'll be done with all by then! - ha!)

Rookie

2009-07-28T12:48:00.000-07:00

When we were up in San Jose, visiting family and meeting my little sister's in-laws for the first time, we had decided to catch a late movie. We were going to watch my boyfriend, Johnny Depp, light up the movie screen in his portrayal of John Dillinger in Public Enemies. Anyway, this movie theater that we visited was pretty unique. Not only could you buy your standard movie fare (popcorn, candy, hot dogs, slurpees and sodas), you could also buy a STARBUCKS coffee. Yes! Not just coffee... STARBUCKS, my friends! We were so excited! We all wondered, why don't ALL movie theaters do this? It soon became evident why not.

My brother-in-law was in front of me in line ordering a drink for my sister - an ICED white mocha. For those of you who do not know, cold drinks are usually served like this:

So the kid behind the counter takes the order and goes to the back table to make the drink. I notice the kid standing there, with his back to us, as though he's deep in thought. He's reading off a piece paper, which I assume was instructions on how to make an iced coffee. I make a comment to my BIL that it didn't really look like he knew what he was doing and we just laugh it off - hahahahahahaha! Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, the kid comes over to us and hands my BIL the drink. BUT it is in this cup:

For those of you who don't know, that's the cup they use for HOT drinks. No biggie. We assumed that they ran out of the clear cups that iced drinks are usually served it.

Now it's my turn and I order a Carmel Macchiato. This, my friends, is a hot drink. The kid goes to the back, stands there for awhile, scratches his head, starts concocting and after another eternity passes, he turns around and puts my cup down on the counter in front of me. My HOT drink is in this cup:

One of his co-workers happens to be near by and asks, "Is that a HOT drink???" and the kid says, "Yeah". She asks, "Why is it in THAT cup??" and he says, "What? It's my first day!" She says to me, "Um... well, if your cup starts to melt, come back and we'll give you a new drink." By this time, our movie has already started so we grab our drinks and head off. I can barely hold my plastic cup, it's so hot, and I have no idea how I'm going to actually drink it (through a straw?) The whole time, we are all CRACKING UP! Oh my gawd, I thought it was the funniest thing ever! And when I was finally able to drink my coffee, it tasted more like milk than coffee. But worth it for the great laugh!

I was reminded of this story because I went to a real, deal Starbucks this morning. The white chocolate mocha I ordered tastes like pure sugar. It's so sweet it's making me gag and giving me a headache. I can excuse the movie theater employee who didn't know how to make a Starbucks coffee - I'm sure that wasn't part of the prerequisites of being hired - but it's hard to excuse a Starbucks barsita. If I had to choose right now, the movie theater Starbucks hot coffee in the plastic cup might be the winner.

Growing up way "TWO" Fast

2009-06-17T20:48:00.000-07:00

Jacob recently turned TWO YEARS OLD and we threw him a Yo Gabba Gabba party last weekend (pictures to follow). He had a blast! Something I noticed about Jacob is that he doesn’t seem to enjoy parties in close quarters. When we attend a party at someone’s home, he is very agitated the whole time. Very clingy and whiney. But parties at the park – watch out now! This boy loves to wander around with no care in the world. Sometimes he’ll even stroll on over to some stranger’s party that might be going down near the one we’re attending and insist on riding the kids’ bikes/trikes. And when I try to tell him he can’t ride their stuff because we don’t know them, he is not afraid to show his displeasure in me (and that’s putting it lightly!)

Anyway, to keep the kiddos busy as we were preparing for the party, I baked little cakes for them to decorate. Check out my little man, helping me bake….

I ended up making a Brobee cake for Jacob to blow his candle out on. (The rest of the party partook in the Costco cake.)

The day after his party, we had some friends/siblings over to watch the Laker game and to try to help us consume the 20 lbs of carne asada meat that we had left-over from the party. (I’m not exaggerating about the 20 lbs either! We were unsuccessful at finishing it all so I had to freeze about half of it and gave the other half to my mother-in-law!)

At one point, I realize that I hadn’t seen Jacob for awhile. I go looking for him and there he is, in the bedroom playing with his sister and the rest of the kids. Later on, he’s outside playing with the kids. It hit me right then and there… Jacob is gaining his independence. He’s becoming less of my shadow (following me everywhere I go) and is less afraid of being away from me (“bye, mom, go to wok!”). I realized that I need to really savor this time of his life because he is the last of my babies. Pretty soon he won’t be jealous anymore when his daddy sits too close to me or puts his arms around me. He won’t be yelling for me from outside, “Moooooooom!! Swiiiiiiiiiiing!! Mooooooom!” His eyes won’t light up the way they always do when he sees me after a long day at work. He won’t be running up to me, so excited for me to pick him up and give him a kiss, looking at me with eyes that are full of love, touching my face with his little hands. Some days, when Jacob is extra whiney and extra clingy, I can’t help but think, “Jeez, I can’t wait until he’s older.” But, no, that isn’t true. I can wait a lifetime if he can just stay my baby forever.

I've got so much "passion"

2009-05-26T18:45:00.000-07:00

Thanks to Shamelessly Sassy for the gentle reminder that it has been a whole MONTH since my last post - what the heck?! In my defense, I did start a post last week and then got sidetracked. That would have made it only a mere 3 weeks since my last post. Augh - I know, I suck!

So anyway, to continue the post I began, I mentioned before my newfound love for all things NKOTB, right? Except that post did not do proper justification as to how far my ~~obsession~~ appreciation went. I have to admit that I was too ashamed to admit it at the time. I didn't want to admit that I listened to their new CD non-stop evey chance I got. That I changed my Google homepage to their theme. That I have a Google gadget that plays continuous loops of various NKOTB videos old and new. That I was following all the members on Twitter and having their tweets sent to my phone. That (instead of writing blog posts) I was watching NKOTB videos on YouTube. That I was contemplating selling an organ or two so that I could afford to go to the NKOTB cruise that went down a couple weeks ago. Ok, that last one was a lie. (Sort of.) Anyone who knows me knows I have this groupie/borderline-stalker mentality with anyone/anything I grow fond of. Alfred (God bless him) just rolls his eyes a lot when I get this way. My friends appreciate my "passion" for things (meaning, they still love me when I get the crazies). They know that I will eventually get over it. The thing is, when I AM caught up in my... ahem... "passions"... my poor kids go along for the ride. So now they know all the words to my favorite NKOTB songs (and they even have THEIR favorite songs):

You can't see her but you can hear Katelyn singing along in the background. She loves this song (2 IN THE MORNING) as well as SINGLE.

I was planning to take Desiree and Alana to another NKOTB concert in July (in Vegas). Katelyn is now asking if she could go too. She said "Mama? Can I go see New Kids too? Coz they are SO cute!" It is SO obvious who she takes after, right? It pains me that I can't be the hero and give in to her request. I just can't see myself spending $400 for all 4 us of to go to that concert. Heck, it hurts to be spending $300 for the three of us to go. Last time, it was just me and Desiree who went and even spending that $200 was SO hard. Then again, it might totally be worth it to see NKOTB and the Jabbawockeez - our two biggest "passions"! If you are a fan of either NKTOB and/or Jabbawockeez, you HAVE to check out the summer tour. A little birdie told me that it is going to be even better than their spring tour and that was ALREADY the biznaz! I don't want to spoil it for anyone who is planning to go to the concert but let's just say that I am SO excited about what they have in the works!

BTW - for those of you who were thinking that a NKOTB intervention was in order, I am pleased to advise that I have been listening to music other than NKOTB as of late, I have since changed my Google homepage theme to something other than NKOTB, I've changed my twitter settings so that I do NOT get their tweets via text message anymore and I haven't watched a NKOTB video on YouTube for quite some time now. Thank you for your concern.

Why can't they stay babies forever?

2009-04-27T12:08:00.000-07:00

In one of those rare moments, Alfred and I were hanging out downstairs on the couch on Saturday morning watching TV while all four of the kids were upstairs playing Nintendo Wii in the office. We heard Jacob working his way downstairs so Alfred told me to hide under the blanket. As I was hiding, I heard Jacob asking his daddy, "Mama wok? Mama wok?" (translation: Is mom at work?) and Alfred answered, "I don't know?" and slowly pulled the blanket off so that my head was peeking out. The look on Jacob's face when his eyes met mine was priceless! His face lit up and he even did a little jig, he was that excited to see that I was NOT at "wok" but at home with him!

Later that afternoon, I was busy doing laundry and stitching warm-up pants that have been overly abused on the softball field (in retrospect, I should have just tossed it in the trash or turned them into shorts - haha!) when Jacob came up to me asking for "nas" (translation: bananas). I told him to go ask his daddy and was surprised when he answered "daddy! nas!" and took off running to look for his dad and chow down on bananas.

Late yesterday afternoon, the girls were helping their dad wash the cars while I watched Jacob roll up and down the drive-way on his little scooter. It was starting to get cold so I asked him if he wanted to go inside to watch some TV and he answered, "No... bike." When I asked if he was sure he answered, "No.... bike."

When did this happen?? When did my baby go from barely comprehendable babblings to... um... well, barely comprehendable intelligent questions, the ability to follow direction and form his own opinions?? Amazing. Next thing you know, he'll be asking me to take him to the "cathay" for some lattes. I don't think I can take it... all of my babies growing up.

Disgusting... but too funny not to post

2009-04-22T12:57:00.000-07:00

My kids bite their nails. A really bad habit that I like to blame on Alfred since I'm pretty certain they inherited their love of keratin from him. For the last 10 years, I had never ever, ever, ever seen Alfred cut his fingernails with a nail clipper. I've seen him cut his toenails but his fingernails stay mysteriously short without the need for clippers. Alfred recently quit biting his nails and it was so weird to see his fingernails that long and to see him cutting them with a nail clipper - WEIRD, I tell ya! And don't even get me started with his new obsession to clean under his nails. I guess one obsession replaces the other? Anyway, I digress, I'm not here to talk about Alfred (although I am very proud of him for working so hard to kick that nail biting habit!! I know it was tough! And I am NOT being facetious here.) I'm here to talk about my KIDS who bite their nails. When they run out of fingernails.... they turn to... what else? Their toenails. I guess if you can reach them... why not? Besides the fact that it's absolutely disgusting and god knows where those feet have been, I guess it makes perfect sense.

My kids get pissed off when I tell them to stop biting their nails - fingers OR toes. They get U-P-S-E-T! They were fresh out of the bath in these pictures so I let them do it long enough to take the photos but, *augh*, so gross! I promised myself I would take pictures to show to their future girlfriends/boyfriends some day. You can never have enough embarrassing photos for when they grow up! Especially posted on the Internet! I'm sure they will be eternally grateful. You're welcome, my darlings.

The Right Stuff

2009-04-21T20:50:00.000-07:00

If it weren't for my girlfriend, Liza, I don't think I would have even thought to do it. If the Jabbawockeez were not opening for them, Liza may not have thought to go up to see them either. Thanks to the Jabbawockeez and to Liza - and most especially to her sister, Belle, for hooking us up with tickets and using her VIP status to get us on the floor - we did it... we went up to Los Angeles to see the New Kids on the Block. Alfred was supposed to go with me to the concert but since Liza's man decided to skip the concert, citing that he'd rather stay home and work on the yard or fix some stuff around the house or cut off his arm... something to that affect... Alfred "volunteered" to stay home and watch the kids. I can't believe these guys! They didn't WANT to go see Jabbawockeez and NKOTB with us?? Whah?? Huh?? Luckily for Desiree, her dad gave up his ticket to her. Luckily for my sister, Twinkle, Liza had an extra ticket. So off we go with Liza and her whole family to Los Angeles - to show our support for the Jabbawockeez and to fall in love all over again with Joey, Donnie, Jordan, Jon and Danny. Le sigh...

How disappointed was I to discover that Desiree's camera was broken - it was stuck on video and the battery kept dying so we could only capture 10-20 second increments. Anything is better than nothing, I guess.

The next day, we picked up some TODAY SHOW hot dogs from PINK'S Hot Dogs for lunch and then stopped by Sprinkles for some delicious cupcakes to bring home to Alfred and the little ones. What a fabulous weekend we had!

Starting Her Early

2009-04-10T12:27:00.000-07:00

Alfred and I go to Starbucks quite often. We are caffeine fiends, no doubt. Over time, our kids have developed their own "go-to" drinks. Desiree usually has a green-tea frappacino with no whip, Alana likes the sweetened lemonade, Katelyn and Jacob will get the Horizon's chocolate or vanilla milk that's a box drink in their little cooler section. One day Alfred was at Starbucks and they had run out of the Horizon's milk so they offered to make the vanilla milk from scratch. A couple squirts of the vanilla syrup into some milk, topped off with whip. Imagine Katelyn's delight! Alfred said that Katelyn commented that "it tastes even better than my sister's latte!" You know that we frequent the coffee shop a little more than we probably should when our 5-year-old is using the word "latte" in a sentence with such confidence.

A few days later, I pick up the kids from our parents house and have this conversation with Kate:

Me: I wonder what we should do for dinner tonight?
Kate: How about we go to the "cathay"?
Me: What's a "cathay?"
Kate: You know, a "cathay" like Starbucks.
Me: Ohhhhh. You mean a CAFE?
Kate: Yeah, a "cathay" and you can buy me a vanilla milk.
Me: But I could just buy you a vanilla milk from the grocery
store.
Kate: No, one like my daddy bought me.

That night, we didn't make it to the "cathay" so the next day I get a phone call at work from Alfred's mom asking me what this vanilla milk is that Katelyn wants from Starbucks. At the time, I wasn't quite sure how it was made so I told her I would have Alfred call her to give her instructions. Apparently, Grandma was ready to have their Uncle Archie (Alfred's brother) throw all the kids into the car and bring them to Starbucks because Katelyn REALLY wanted this drink!

When I got to the house later that afternoon, it turned out that they didn't get a chance to go to Starbucks so Katelyn started begging me to please, please take her! She fell asleep on the drive to Starbucks and I contemplated just going straight home but knew that the next day she would torture the people around her if she didn't get her vanilla-milk-with-whip fix (she IS, after all, her mother's child) so I went to Starbucks and picked up two of the fancy shmancy vanilla milk so that all the kids would be content. Oh man. I think we've created a monster.

My son is BANANAS!

2009-04-06T12:10:00.001-07:00

I think Jacob's goals in life are: "What can I do to make my mom's heart stop without actually causing her to keel over?" and "What other shenanigans can I get into that will cause my mom the most amount of work to clean up?" You don't believe me? I present to you...

Exhibit A

Exhibit B

And Exhibit C.

Oh, don't tell me that the video of him jumping on the couch is no big deal. You must have forgetten how coordinatedly-challenged my son is. If he can barely keep himself from falling on a stable, non-moving, concrete surface, there is no way standing on a COUCH is going to be any easier. He recently discovered the joys of jumping with his feet actually leaving the ground so this has been his favorite thing to do lately, as well as his favorite video to watch. Cracks him up every time!

And the photo of him covered in the sugar-candy... the boy had the audacity to LAUGH as I attemped to brush the candy off of his clothes and into the dustpan. How dare he laugh that adorable machine-gun-laugh of his (someday I will HAVE to try to capture this audio - it's the funniest laugh ever!!) while I was CLEARLY trying to scold him for making such a big mess! Couldn't he see that I was trying to be furious with him?

Alas, no matter how greatly skilled he is at aggravating me, he's still got me wrapped around his little finger. I just hope I can survive all the little jolts to my heart that he likes to induce. I'm sure as he gets older, the stuff he gets himself into will be a lot "bigger and better!" than what I'm being put through now!

Here I am! Here I am! I'm back!

2009-03-16T07:54:00.000-07:00

I can't believe it's been over a month since my last post! It's been a crazy, hectic past couple of weeks. The biggest reason for my lack of posting is the transition into my new job. It happened quite suddenly. It started with a little joke that I made with a friend who I used to work with. Next thing I know, we're making negotiations, I gave my notice and voila! I've been at the new job for a week now. It's an exciting move on my part. I'm working with a lot of the same people that I started my career with. I'm back in a small agency setting, which is totally fine since I never did get used to the bigger agency life. I'm used to doing all the dirty work myself... I'm not very good at delegating! My former employer was quite upset about losing me but I had to do what I felt was right for me. I finally feel "at home" and am confident that this is the place that I will be retiring from twenty years down the line. Holy smokes... twenty years... at LEAST that. That's a LOT more years of working to look forward to. Darn it.

We just celebrated Desiree's 13th birthday on Saturday (her actual birthday was on Friday) by throwing her a party at my parent's house. She had a jumper AND a DJ - talk about fun times! What a waste of a perfectly good DJ, though. Thirteen-year-olds these days do NOT know how to have a proper garage party. Not like WE used to have them back in the good ol' days. Ah well, we did enjoy the "old school" set that the DJ did. If Jacob wasn't so darn clingy and grumpy by that time (he DID spend the whole day jumping in the jumpy, after all) I would have shown those kids how to get doooooowwwwn! Lucky for Des, her brother wouldn't give me the chance! She had a great time and that's what matters the most! I can't believe she's officially a "teenager" now. Oh boy....

Alana's birthday is on Thursday but she's still having trouble deciding what she wants to do. So many things to choose from - sleepover, Disneyland, party at the park. I can't even remember all the other ideas she had. I think she's leaning towards Disneyland, since she mentioned to me yesterday that she had invited people to her birthday celebration in Disneyland but advised those people that they'd have to buy their own tickets into the park. Alana cracks me up! I told her that she probably should wait to talk to her mom first, before she started inviting people anywhere! Alana's special request is that we do the Disneyland trip together - her mom, step-dad and siblings along with her dad, step-mom and siblings. If it goes through, it will be the first time that both families do an outting together, if you don't count hanging out at parties. Should be interesting.

Katelyn has a hula recital this Sunday. I can't wait! I love to watch her shake her little hips! She's the cutest patootiest! Her thing these days is to ask me what something is. If I don't know the answer, she says "But you're a dult." Not an ADULT... a DULT. She says that me and daddy are two DULTS. Oh man... that girl cracks me up!

And as for my son... well, that doctor's appointment that I've been dreading is tomorrow. Tell me Jacob didn't get sick two weeks ago and did not eat again for a whole weekend. Ok, I'm noticing this pattern. I think what is happening is that he is a TERRIBLE teether - when he sprouts teeth, his body doesn't know what to do with itself. He runs a fever, he stops eating, he's absolutely miserable and cranky for at LEAST two days... three days tops. And this seems to always happen right before a doctor appointment is coming up. Sheesh! My girls didn't even bat an eye when they grew teeth. Just a little bit more drooly than usual but that was the only sign I ever had that teeth were coming. Just goes to show how much more tolerance for pain the female species have over the male. You know how it is. When men get sick, the everything stops and all they can do is lay in bed, moaning and groaning. When women get sick, we still have chase the kids around, make sure people get fed, etc etc. The world doesn't stop for us. Ah well....

Grow, baby, grow!

2009-02-06T09:56:00.000-08:00

At Jacob's last well-baby check up, the doctor had noticed that he hadn't gained any weight nor had he grown taller since his last visit three months prior. She had the nurse re-weigh and measure him just to be sure. I reminded his doctor that his bout with those fever blisters really affected his weight, since he could not eat any solids and could barely drink anything for days. He also stopped drinking from his bottle during that time and he is NOT a fan of milk in a sippy cup so we've been trying to supplement with other types of dairy products. Jacob's next well-baby visit should not be until June but the doctor asked that we bring him back in March just to weigh and measure him again. Never mind the fact that I will be paying a $20 co-pay just to have him weighed and measured. Let's say he STILL hasn't gained any weight or gotten taller. What, exactly, would we do about it, I wondered? So, of course, I turned to the handy-dandy internet to ~~make me more paranoid~~ find an answer to my question.

I found an article on Babycenter that talks about the steps that would be taken if your child was diagnosed with "failure to thrive". The article talks about adjusting your child's nutrition and the doctor monitoring his/her caloric intake, running tests, so on and so forth. That makes sense. But, of course, these kind of articles also have to throw in the worst case scenario and, wouldn't you know it?, that is what your mind clings to.

"In rare cases, failure to thrive can be a result of cystic fibrosis, heart disease, celiac disease, or an endocrine disorder. If any of these is the problem, it's important to catch it early."

And now I'm trying to keep myself from Googling each of those conditions separately because you know it's just a downward spiral from there. What good would it do, with his doctor appointment still more than a month away? Augh... damn you internet!!

So the question is... HAS he gained weight or gotten taller since his check up in December?? Well, I have to admit that I haven't checked. I was putting size 18 mos. pants on him this morning and they seemed kind of baggy on him, which caused me to think about his upcoming doctor's appointment and the whole purpose of his visit... which caused me to start browsing the internet... which caused me to write this post. Now the suspense is killing me. I wonder if my parents have measuring tape and a scale handy at their house and if they would think me out of my mind if I called and asked them to weigh and measure him right now??

Was it a full moon last night??

2009-01-26T14:24:00.001-08:00

Alfred likes to say that Jacob inherited his athleticism from me. Translation: Jacob is as clumsy as an ox. When my sister baby-sits for us, she amuses herself by counting how many times Jacob trips and thinks it’s even MORE hilarious when he trips over air. Sometimes I wonder if this is cause for concern. Perhaps it’s an imbalance in his vision or coordination?? People have assured me that their sons were the same way as toddlers but outgrew their clumsiness as they got older. I don’t know. It just seems like he trips an awful lot. It has gotten to the point where his grandparents don’t even raise an eyebrow anymore when he comes over with a new bump on his forehead from one of the myriad times he has fallen or run into a wall. Suffice to say, when we saw him running around yesterday with his drum over his head, Alfred commented, “That’s probably better. At least it will protect him if he falls. Maybe we should just get him a helmet already.”

As Jacob was running back and forth from the kitchen to the family room with the drum on his head, Katelyn was using a pointer to point at objects in the room, hollering at the top of her lungs, “I AM THE TEACHER SO YOU HAVE TO LISTEN TO WHAT I SAY!!” We commented on how she was coming off as a mean teacher by yelling at us so loudly and she said, “BUT I’M THE TEACHER SO YOU HAVE TO LISTEN!” She then stands on the arm of the couch, uses the pointer to point at Alfred’s chest and yells “YOU HAVE TO SHAVE YOUR BOOBS!” She looks at the rest of us and says, “YOU TOO, MOMMY, AND ATE DESIREE. BUT NOT ME OR YOU, JACOB. OR YOU KIDS (she says pointing to the dogs).” I have no idea….

Our dogs have learned to tune Katelyn out. Bailey was sound asleep in her kennel and Mika was snuggling with one of Katelyn’s “students”.

It was a strange night last night.

Thomas saves the day!

2009-01-10T10:10:00.000-08:00

Don't let the mess in the background distract you from the fact that my son is playing with TRAINS, ladies and gentlemen. Yes, trains. T-R-A-I-N-S. Not dolls, not my little pony, not fairy wands but TRAINS. Now... if only Thomas the Train wasn't so dang expensive. Die-cast metal trains are $20 each - are you friggin' serious?? And if I go the "cheap-o" route and get the wooden trains, they are still at least $12-$15 each. Holy tamole. Luckily, he's happy with the starter set that he got from us and the figure 8 set that he got from my sister and her family for Christmas. That should keep him happy until his birthday in June when we can add to his collection.

The craziest three and a half hours of my life

2008-12-16T14:57:00.000-08:00

December 16, 2003

5pm-ish: I was driving home from work, stuck in traffic, when I noticed I was having contractions. I wasn't just STARTING to have contractions. I was having 7-minutes-apart contractions. Huh. Strange that I didn't feel my contractions while I was at work? I call Alfred and he asks if we should meet at the hospital. I don't know what compelled me to tell him to meet at home but I did.

6pm-ish: I am finally home (yes, my commute to work took me about an hour for a 30 mile drive) and I realize that perhaps we should have met at the hospital after all. I called my parents to come to our house to stay with Desiree so that Alfred could take me to the hospital. We grab my hospital bag and, as we wait, Alfred tries to complete the hospital registration form that we had not brought to the hospital yet because it was still 4 weeks before my due date. By the time he gets to the section about my work address and social security number, my contractions are so strong that I can't talk to him anymore. I'm pacing the house, which I realize is WRONG, WRONG, WRONG since walking around speeds up the labor, but it was the only way to get my mind off the contractions. By the time my parents get to the house, I'm almost in tears and I waddle as fast as I can to the car.

7pm-ish: We finally get to the hospital. Alfred LOOKS FOR PARKING while I'm holding on to the back of the passenger seat in a death grip. (It isn't until I told this story that someone asked why Alfred didn't drop me off at the front of the hospital so that they could wheel me up to the maternity ward while he looked for parking. Alfred and I just looked at one another and laughed so hard! Duh!) We walk into the hospital, freak everyone out in the elevator as I cursed and breathed through contractors and get to the maternity reception area where the nice lady at the desk proceeds to ask me to have a seat and wait since all the beds were currently full. I beg the lady to please, please, PLEASE find a place for me ASAP before I have the baby right then and there, PLOP, on the floor. Seriously. Alfred tells me I'm scaring the kids in the reception area and it take everything in my power not to shout obscenities and become physically abusive.

Feels like a whole day has passed but it probably is only 7:15pm-ish: I'm finally in triage and they hand me a gown to put on. I barely get this on and practically crawl to the bed they have waiting for me. The nurse takes a peep and "WHOOPS, UM, LET'S GET A WHEELCHAIR! WE'LL HAVE TO BRING HER TO THE OPERATING ROOM SINCE ALL THE REGULAR LABOR ROOMS ARE FULL!" I ask if they aren't going to hook me up to those monitors first and they say "No time." I ask if I can get an epidural for the pain and they say, "Sorry, sweetie, no time." I ask if I can get ice chips since my mouth was so dry and they say, "Sorry, no time." AUUUUUUGGGGHHHH!! They get me on the operating table, the nurses act as stirrups for my feet and a couple of others are holding my back up. The nurse trying to get the IV in me is having trouble because my contractions are so close that I can't relax long enough for her to get the needle in me. The head nurse comments that if my doctor doesn't get there soon, she might have to deliver the baby herself! All I remember is begging to push and everyone telling me to HOLD ON! Wait just a little bit longer! Finally, my doctor walks in and as soon as he does, I ask if I can push and he nonchalantly says, "Sure!" as he is washing his hands and by the time he gets in front of me, TA-DA! My Katelyn was born at 8:30pm.

Happy 5^th birthday, Katelyn. The sweetest daughter, the most loving sister, the biggest animal lover, diva and sometimes pain-in-the-butt-because-you’re-so-stubborn-and-too-smart-for-your-own good person I know. I hope today and the rest of your days continue to be the “best day ever” for you.

Best Birthday Ever, I can tell already

2008-12-11T06:49:00.000-08:00

I wake up to a crying Jacob who won't let me put him down, not even so that I can pee.

While I'm in the bathroom, I can hear Katelyn crying "I want my mama! I want my mama!"

Both of the crying kids join me in my closet while I try to figure out what I'm going to wear to work today. It's hard to think over the crying. I ask Katelyn, "Guess whose birthday it is today?" and she asks, "Who?" I point to myself and she gets sad. She says, "But I want to blow out the candles." I tell her, "Forget it."

*Alfred has not said a word to me all morning. Snatches the crying boy away from my closet and brings him downstairs.

I get the kids dressed and put them in Alfred's car. Nothing from Desiree either. *sigh*

Go into the house and start tidying up. Finally, Alfred comes up to me and says gruffly "I'm leaving now. Happy birthday." Gives me a peck on the lips and leaves.

Opens up door again to holler "Don't forget that the trash needs to be taken out today!" I didn't answer. "Sherry!" OK! "Oh, did you say something the first time? Coz I didn't hear you." Shuts door. Cue tears.

It really doesn't help that I'm PMS-ing. I shouldn't even really care. I don't usually care about my birthday. Damn hormones.

On the bright side.... I woke up to 9 birthday greetings on Facebook.

*Long story that I'm NOT going to share about an argument we had last night.

The Joke's Over

2008-12-09T12:53:00.000-08:00

The one thing that really kept me up at night after finding out that I was pregnant with our first (and would be ONLY) son was the fact that he would have three older sisters as his playmates. I plagued Alfred with questions, "What if his sisters were watching a Disney princess movie? Would he not be allowed to watch with them? What if he wanted to play with their dolls? What if they dressed him up in their princess costumes?? What if? What if? What if?" And what about me? I don't know anything about playing with boy toys. I grew up with two sisters - all I know is Barbies, baby dolls, and doll houses. What the heck do you do with dumptrucks? Trains? I can barely throw a ball straight. I don't have an athletic bone in my body.

Because I worried so much, I think Alfred has done his best to take everything in stride. When Jacob was a baby, we could even laugh about it. Now that Jacob is a year and a half, Alfred's patience is starting to run thin. Alfred does not find it even remotely amusing anymore. It frustrates him. It frustrates me that it frustrates him because I don't know what to do about it. If Jacob spends 100% of his waking moments with Katelyn and all he ever sees is Katelyn playing with dolls, Littlest Pet Shop, My Little Pony or Barbies then naturally that is what he will want to do too, right? If he never sees anyone playing with trucks, cars or trains then how would he find any of that interesting?

I tried last night. Oh, how I tried. I busted out the yellow dump trucks and all the other little trucks... I don't even know what they are called. One pushes the dirt around, one scoops up the dirt. I threw some of Katelyn's seashells into the back of the dump truck and ("Look, Jacob! Yay!") let the truck dump it all out. Then I took the other trucks and tried to show Jacob, "Look! Let's push the shells around! Come on! Let's get it all back into the truck!" All the while, Jacob sat in my lap and couldn't tear his eyes away from Katelyn who was playing My Little Pony at the other end of the room. After a short while, he just got up from my lap, walked over to his sister and snatched the pony she was playing with away from her. My mission failed.

My friends reassure me all the time that Jacob will grow out of it. My question is... HOW will he know to grow out of it? How will he learn to prefer boy toys over girl toys when there is no one to show him?

If only I could DREAM...

2008-12-07T19:53:00.000-08:00

Alfred and I were watching Stephenie Meyer being interviewed on Ellen and she talks about how the idea of writing Twilight came from a dream she had. They discussed the unexpected success of the Twilight series, the perks of being a big, huge, success overnight on her first book ever written, the fact that her husband was able to recently retire and how they get to spend so much more time with their kids, yada, yada, yada. Alfred looks and me and asks, “Why don’t YOU write a book?” My answer, “She got the idea of her book from a dream. I have to have MORE than a couple consecutive hours of sleep at a time in order to dream. No dreams, no ideas for a book. Sorry, babe.”

Cool trick, cool trick!

2008-12-05T08:37:00.000-08:00

Jacob's favorite TV show of all time is Yo Gabba Gabba. Thanks to his Uncle Archie, he also loves ~~that wretched~~ Barney. He's beginning to warm up to Hi-5, Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and The Upside Down Show but his first love will always be Yo Gabba Gabba. On this show, there is a segment called "Cool Tricks" where a person showcases their (you guessed it) cool trick (huh, whaddaya know). This include breakdancing, beatboxing, martial arts, playing music on their hands (picture hand farting noises but to a tune), just to mention a few. And the one cool trick that Jacob has learned from this astoundingly educational show... I'm such a proud mama... drumroll, please... hanging a spoon from his nose! (*thunderous applause*)

Not to be outdone, of course Katelyn and her BFF, Kyalin, had to show that they know how to do cool tricks too!

My future mini-me

2008-12-04T16:03:00.000-08:00

As I was leaving my mother-in-law’s house, I stepped on the gas a little harder than necessary to come out of my fancy three-point-turn and Katelyn gasped and then giggled. At the next corner, the road curves slightly and the cars that are coming around the corner are hard to see behind the parked cars. I was about to make my left turn when a car pops out from behind the blind curve so I slam on my breaks and Katelyn gasps and then giggles again.

Katelyn: I think maybe you need driving lessons!
Me (laughing): YOU need driving lessons.
Katelyn: I can’t have driving lessons. I’m just a kid! See? Look at my legs!

I look back at her sitting in her booster seat and she swings her legs, showing me that they don’t even touch the floor yet.

Me: You’re right. You are still too little.
Katelyn: And my voice is… uh… funny.
Me (laughing): I think you have the cutest voice ever.
Katelyn: It sounds funny. I want to sound like you.
Me: Oh, don’t worry. You will when you are all grown up.
Katelyn: And I want my hair to be like yours, and my lipstick, too.

I will never have a bigger fan than Katelyn.

It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas

2008-12-04T09:13:00.000-08:00

I was feeling very lazy last Thanksgiving weekend so I wasn’t sure if I would be able to make myself crawl into the coat closet/storage of doom in order to haul out the Christmas decorations. Sunday afternoon, I shut my eyes against what would be another very sad Chargers defeat and found myself dozing off with Katelyn on one side of me and Jacob on the other side of me. All the while thinking, “I guess we’ll take the Christmas stuff out NEXT weekend.”

When I woke up, Alfred was no where around. I heard Christmas music coming from the garage which could only mean one thing – he was in the garage taking down the outdoor Christmas decorations. The kids and I ventured outside and, oh, how their faces lit up when they saw the candy cane lights lining our lawn! Our front door was lined with a Christmas ornaments garland, to which Jacob kept exclaiming “Ball! Ball!” as he tried to pull each off of the garland. With all the holiday excitement in the air, how could I NOT bring out the rest of the decorations? So off I went… through the jackets, over the mountain of shoes, past the Halloween décor, over the miscellaneous “I’ve-been-looking-for-these!” to the coveted Christmas decorations. As I brought each box out, Katelyn became more and more excited! She went straight to work on decorating the Christmas tree while Desiree and I decorated the rest of our house.

Katelyn barely got the front, bottom half of the tree decorated before she gave up and insisted that she and Daddy needed robes ASAP!! And hot chocolate! And they needed to sit in front of the barely decorated Christmas tree in their warm and snuggly robes and sip their hot chocolates. That girl is hi-LA-rious!

This being Jacob’s first Christmas being mobile, he went around the house trying to undo all the decorating we had done the way only a little boy could. Pulling stockings off the fire mantle, taking all the music-making-stuffed-animals and throwing them on the ground, pulling the ornaments off the tree, etc. I always marvel at how different he is from his sisters. So much more mischievous.

Speaking of being mischievous, Jacob really pushed the limits of my patience the other night:

I was cooking dinner when he asked for some oranges. I peel an orange, put the slices in a Tupperware bowl and let him have at it. When I came to check on him, he had squeezed a couple of slices so that the coffee table had a nice layer of orange juice floating on top of it.
As I was cleaning up the orange juice, he proceeds to rub the orange rinds all over his face. I take him into the bathroom to wash him up, put him back down and then go back to check on the dinner I was cooking.
As I was cutting up some meat for Katelyn’s plate, Jacob climbs on one of the chairs and teeters on the edge of it! I drop everything (knife included) in a huge clatter and dive action-hero style to save him from falling off the chair. Put him back on the ground and get back to work on the plate I’m making for Katelyn.
Not even two minutes later, I hear glass shatter and look up to see Jacob on top of the step-stool that we had put next to the fire mantle in order to put up some Christmas decorations. How the heck did he get up there so fast?! He had knocked over my glass candle holders off of the fire mantle and there were shards everywhere underneath him, on the floor, on the SHAG carpet. SHAG, my friends. I went over the carpet with the vacuum a gazillion times and my paranoid mind STILL keeps imagining that there might be shards still hiding deep inside the carpet. I think I will vacuum again tonight… just to be safe….
I put him in his highchair so that I could clean up the glass. By this time, Alfred is home from work. He goes to the kitchen to check on the kids and Jacob has rice stuck all over himself – his hair, his face, his shirt, his pants. So Alfred strips him down to his diapers and lets him finish his food.

By the time I was finally done cleaning, everyone else was done with dinner. I sat down to eat my cold dinner and gave Alfred a replay of our night and I could see that he was trying desperately hard not to laugh. The corners of his mouth kept twitching but, being the smart man that he is, he kept his face solemn and his words sympathetic. He knew that I was already pushed to edge by this time. Laughing was DEFINITELY not going to help. All I know is, Jacob is sooooooooooooooooo different from his sisters.

Hubba-wha?!

2008-11-26T11:56:00.000-08:00

So, the dork that I am... I just ASSUMED I wouldn't have access to my blog at work. When lo and behold... here I am! Huh. I guess they DO think it's necessary for our work environment. Now if only I didn't have to work through my lunch hour so that I could blog instead. That would be awesome. But with the new system, some new accounts to learn and take care of, the holidays fast approaching and just being back-logged in general, working through lunch has been necessary lately.

AND... I can read OTHER blogs, too! Yes! I am back baby! Actually, I am going to clear the 600+ unread blogs from my reader and start from there.

I would love to write some more but I hear my book, TWILIGHT, calling my name. It's my second go-around with the series. OMG, I am so, like, totally obsessed. It's, like, ridiculous! And, like, how excited am I that me and my BFF, Jaedeevee, will be going to watch it again on Sunday??? *shrieeeeek*

Happy Thanksgiving!

Triple threat... to my sanity!

2008-11-18T15:54:00.000-08:00

Three things happened over the weekend.

I RAN (not walked... I'm a stickler for punishment, what can I say?) the Silver Strand 5k even though I haven't exercised in at LEAST a month. Surprisingly I beat my last 5k time by about 4 minutes! Not surprisingly, I could barely walk, sit, stand, breath, blink the next day.
My "monthly visitor" came.
Jacob came down with Herpetic Gingivostomatitis aka Herpes Simplex Virus Type 1 aka COLD SORES FROM HELL.

Individually, I could have handled the physical and emotional strain of all of the above with nary a blink of an eye. But put them all together in the course of one weekend and it's all I can do to keep from crying every two minutes.

I'm exhausted from the sleepless nights we've been having. As I was leaving work today, I stood in front of an elevator for at least 2 minutes, waiting for the doors to open before a gentleman came up behind me and pushed the button. I didn't even realize that I had forgotten to push the button for the elevator. I'm not sure but I might have even fell asleep for a minute. I'm stressed from the work that is piling up at the office since I've been having to leave work early or stay home from work since Friday. I'm heartbroken to see my boy suffering from the gazillion cold sores (or FEVER BLISTERS, as his doctor called them) that are all over his tongue, mouth and throat. He hasn't eaten solid food since Saturday and can barely drink from a cup. He's standing in front of me and I can tell he's lost weight since the onset of his sickness. There is no worse feeling than the helplessness and uselessness you feel when your child is in pain and there is nothing you can do for him. My hugs, kisses, and whispered words of comfort seem so inefficient.

On the bright side, Jacob just ate almost a whole container of yogurt, sipped some water and started dancing to Yo Gabba Gabba! It's the best mood I've seen him in since Thursday. Oops. I might have spoken too soon. Darn. Gotta go! More hugs, kisses and whispered words of comfort are needed ASAP!

'Nuff Said...

2008-11-17T18:12:00.001-08:00

So...

2008-11-06T18:48:00.000-08:00

if you thought I was lagging on my blog posts BEFORE... well, I'm sad to say that it will be worse now that my work has put a lock down on our internet. Yes, it is OFFICIAL. I can only access work-related websites. I wonder if I can convince IT that blogger is essential for work purpose?? Probably not. In any event, this is one of those rare nights when Jacob is asleep (at 6:51 that either means he will be awake soon and awake until the wee hours of the night or he'll be waking at some ridiculous hour tomorrow morning), Kate is occupied with Blue's Clues, Des barely got home from the mall with my sister and Alfred is cooking dinner. I have a few precious minutes to shoot this post out before it's time to re-focus my energies to family time. I just wanted to vent. That it sucks. Not to be able to jack around at work... hahaha! I mean, not being able to spin my creative juices via blog during my lunch hour. Yeah, that's what I meant. I miss you, Blogger. Gmail and Facebook (my new addiction, by the way) via cellphone is WEAK but I'll take what I can get. *sigh*