I wish he would have warn this hat in the winter like he was supposed to. 

well almost, I need to paint my belly now. 

All done 

Such concentration 

Shirt is now part of the art work 

It's only laundry 

Have to use the whole hand 

now some yellow 

Blue and green favorite colors 

We've been painting again. 

I meant to post on here Wednesday but I was up loading a bunch of stuff to smugmug and since I had an album to put together I did that while all the pictures uploaded. Didn't help that while I'm putting this album together I'm getting hot flashes. I know the air was on, I heard it kick in every 20 minutes or so and if I stood right over the vent I could feel it. But sitting on the couch not 5 feet away I was sweating. BH contrax were driving me nuts yesterday. They didn't hurt but were uncomfortable. And buddah baby likes lying transverse so keeps kicking my on my lower left side. This means I can't lay on my left side, actually either side, very long. If it's the left side he starts kicking if it's the right he starts rolling.

At least today he changed position and all the kicks, while we were at playgroup were at my belly button. Not sure if it'll be a relief or not when he turns head down. So I'm to every other week appointments now can't believe how soon this baby will be here.

I've had to curb my ebay impulses so one purchase a week. So last week I found the outfit I really, really wanted the one by Kissy Kissy for about half the price I've seen it online else where this was with the shipping. I of course bought it even though I'd already bought the set by sleepsack. The problem with the sleepsack set is that it's 0-6 months and I'm pretty sure that'll be too big, Alex was 6lbs 6oz, I seriously doubt this baby will be much over 7lbs if that. The Kissy Kissy outfit was newborn so upto 8lbs. Heh I'll pack them both just incase. So anyway I'm watching a bunch of Hotslings and the bedding set I wanted. I'll actually have to wait until next week before I buy anything else, so need to go update everything and put out new watches.


:cry: It's official my baby is going to preschool in January. We enrolled him at the Goddard School. I forgot to post this yesteday but Wednesday we went to the open house they've been holding all week. I met with the Director/Owner. Then we went for a tour of the school. They had the zoomobile there that day. So we got to see a Hissing Cockroach from Madagascar, Diamondback Terrapin (my university mascot),a couple of ducks named Ritz and Triscuit, as well as a skunk named Flower. I really like their philosphy of teaching. They help kids learn things like numbers, letters and word through exploration, whether it's nature, art,music what ever. The other thing I really like it they group kids by abilities not necessarily age. So Alex will probably be in the [B]get started [/B]program which is actually one step down from actual preschool. Three half days a week is where were begin. We'll see where he's going and maybe next fall it'll be five half days or three full days. Who knows, I just know he'll have to be ready for full day kindergarten in fall of '09, so we have time. When I dropped the application and fee off today I was told to bring Alex by next Wednesday they're doing pony rides. So we're not even ready to start yet and they make us feel welcome.

Ken has been trying to finish off the shelving unit he started after he made the bed so we can get that up into Alex's room. I think he'll be working on the floor the first weekend in Aug.
I'm curious as to how Alex will react to a baby around. He's seen the other new babies at playgroup and most of the time he ignores them even when mommy is holding one. Though he has played with Logan a few times just because I was.

My appointment went well today. I've only gained a half pound in the last four weeks. YAY me!! So I'm at 19lbs up at this point. If I can keep this up I should keep the weight gain to under 25, which was my goal. My ankles seem to be normal lately a little puffy but no tree stumps. They told me they won't let the baby go longer than a week past due date. So the 24th-26th at the latest. My Glucose test came back good. And they said they'll keep an eye on my BP as I get closer to the end and we'll go from there if it shoots up again.

Not much going on this week. I'll be stuck using my old camera a few days. Ken's assistant is looking to buy a new camera and the d70 is one of the ones she's looking at. We told her she could borrow mine for a few days to see how it handles. Other than going to check out the Goddard School open house this week we're not doing much. Though there is a birthday party Saturday.

Ken has a wedding next Sunday and he's all worried he's gonna die. The Mother of the Groom was describing all the family feuds on the bride's side of the family. He's glad it's only a six hour shoot and that he's just handing them the image files. I guess he's ot good at dealing with drama. I can't understand why our son is all about drama. Unfortunately I think it's a trait of children born in the year of the monkey. My mom says I was very dramatic, I've heard stories about Ken when he was little, they were afraid he'd pull his hair out when he got upset. It's good to know he'll grow out of it, because we did it just might be HS before it happens. :sigh:

OH it is so nice to have my house back. I know my ILs were only here a day and a half essentially but man it was a huge crimp in our living style compaired to the almost none while my niece and nephew were here for ten days. I couldn't really use the downstairs bathroom because one or the other of them were in there. Then they decided that they'd both sleep on the sleeper sofa in the family room. They go to bed at 9pm. So Ken and I were relegated to the basement for two evenings if we wanted to watch TV. I had no use of my computer during the day since I had to entertain them and none at night because when the sleeper is open in blocks my desk. I could check e-mail on Ken's computer and keep up with people but since he had work to do on the last wedding he shot I couldn't stay on long. We did hang a bunch of stuff yesterday. The 4 12x12's Ken printed for me as well as some of Ken's wedding stuff.

Alex did enjoy the visit so that was a good thing to come out of it. He did his pouty thing again in the morning when he found out they were going home. But they left while we were at playgroup so he was been pretty good in the afternoon, at least he was before his nap. He was a bit whiney and needed a lot of attentionduring the evening. So my glucose testis coming up. Not looking forward to that. Guess I'll make eggs for breakfast since that's mostly protien, then go in to the lab for the test. Next week is the open house at the Goddard School. I think I'm going to take Alex over Wednesday morning so we can meet the teachers and see if this is where we want to send him next fall.

That's about it except my Aunt called the other morning reminding me that I need to make hotel reservations for my cousin's wedding real soon. I have to call my mom and get the hotel info. This is why my aunt called me, she couldn't find hers, they sent it out with the save the date, stuff early in the spring. Normally I keep everything together on my desk as it comes in, like I did for Justin's wedding last year. Not sure where this vanished to. I have the shower invite and registry info and I just got the invitation. But I can't find any of the stuff that came before that.

This lab gave me the berry flavor, and it was ice cold so it went down pretty easy. The last time they gave me the orange and it wasn't cold. I'm not a fan of orange soda to begin with. So flat warm orange flavor took me the entire five minutes to down.

I will never ever make corn beef hash for breakfast(with eggs) while I'm pregnant ever again. If I do someone come slap me. The gas I've had today has been horrible, I'm belching constantly. Nothing helps. Water, sitting up, lying down, walking around, even lunch. My back is starting to hurt right in the middle now because of this. I guess it's the way I'm holding myself to relieve the pressure.

Well the painting is done. Ken can now put in the laminate floor. Once that's doen we can start moving furniture back into the nursery. It only took us a week between the first coat and the second. Of course I had planned on doing the second coat wednesday but couldn't with my ILs here.

ahhhhhh 

By the end of the day he was covered in sand 

This is just too much fun 

Sand sand everywhere 

Jessica 

The boys 

The giant Sandbox 

Here's the photo I submitted to picture.com, that is a semi-finalist in the children category. Alex was about 15 month old when I took this. 

I have a very mopy little boy today. My mom left with my niece and nephew this morning. I think Alex knew it was coming all morning, so he kind of distanced himself from everyone. Even as they said good bye from the door he wouldn't get out of his chair. It's like he thought if he ignored it they wouldn't leave. The big surprise for me was the kids didn't want to leave either. I'm chalking up the lack of enthusiasm for anything to age. Any time we asked them if the liked something or had fun the answer was "it was okay" Something to look forward to in 8-9 years, the joys of being a parent to preteens.

I was able to take Alex's mind off his mopiness (is that a word?) by having him help me clean up the family room so I could vacuum. Nothing like having guests coming over to get you motivated to clean. I host playgroup tomorrow. I probably should have traded with someone but oh well. The entire first floor has been swept, dusted, and vacuumed and the bathroom cleaned.Laundry is almost finished, my third load just has to be moved to the dryer.

I really hate hot muggy weather, I've lived in this area how long? 15-20 years you'd think at this point I would be used to summer weather here. I just want to go back to Rehoboth Beach. Yesterday was gorgeous there. A nice breeze just enough cloudiness so that the sun isn't beating down on you. The ocean was a brisk 72-75 degrees, perfect. My mom kept thanking me last night and this morning for taking her. I know she missed having her annual trip to the beach the last three years. I'm gathering info so we can plan a week long trip for next summer. My mom definately wants to come, she's hoping to convince my sister to join us. If not she's kidnapping the kids again.

Alex had a grand time too. It was one huge sandbox to him. You should have seen his face light up when he saw all that sand.:roflol: At the end I even got him to go in the water a bit, getting him past his current fear of water. Earlier in the afternoon we just played in the sand close to the water. Then later we went back up and played just inches from where the tide was hitting. Eventually I got him to stand up and move a bit closer. The first time the water hit his toes he was so surprised he sat down. By the third or forth time he was laughing. At about 4 we packed up took everything back to the car and wandered the boardwalk a bit. Played some skee ball Jessie won two animals, I won one. Mom said her and Brandon just had bad lanes. :lol: Alex helped me for a bit at first. He'd throw the balls on to the lane, I'd wait for them to roll back to me then make my actual roll. Then he saw the box with the animal prizes, and started playing with one of the snakes. So when I finally won one, I told him he could keep it. He kept putting it back, he was being polite I guess, he knew they weren't his so when he was done he put it back. It was too cute, finally I convinced him it was okay, that he could have one.

We got home a little after 7:00. I ordered dinner. Alex had french fries twice that day, made him very happy. Mom had the kids get most of their stuff together and take showers. Sge knows how much they hate getting up in the morning and figured they'd rather sleep longer than get moving so they coule be on the road by 9am. (They ended up leaving at 9:30 but close enough).
Let's see Monday was boring day. I figured we'd do nothing since I had to wait around all afternoon for Ken's drill press to be delivered. Guess what, the guy showed at noon. So after Alex's nap we went to Coldstone. Alex is really starting to recognize places. As soon as we got to the main road before I turn into the plaza it's in he started calling "ice cream, ice cream" Which is sad in a way, I thought I only went there every couple months but I guess it's been more often than I thought. I get home Ken has already moved the drill press down to his workroom, I hand him his ice cream and get a huge kiss. Can you say good mood.

I got everything together so I could go to work, then go out and grab the mail. And what do I find in the mail a letter from picture.com. The photo I submitted is a semi finalist in their amature photography competition for the children's category. It's going to be published in one of the books the International Library of Photography puts out several times a year. I could careless if I win, though a $1000 is nothing to sneeze at. Ken's reaction was "Photography is good to this family"

My mom stopped in B&N while I was working, her and Jessie found something to read, Brandon just followed his sister around and annoyed her. Anyway she told me Ken was so proud of himself he Iron Chefed it for dinner. Meaning he came up from his hole, I mean workshop, and realized it was 6:15 and there were people in the house and no dinner. I hadn't left anything out for him figuring he'd be grilling something anyway. Put he put something together using the ground turkey we bought Saturday. To top that off Alex actually ate pretty good at dinner, surprising since he'd had ice cream earlier in the afternoon.

Sunday I worked as well. My mom got in about an hour before I got home. She told me my uncle Chris had offered to pay for her room out in CA so she could go to the reunion, (or "Gathering of the Clan" as my mom's Aunt Peggy calls it). My mom had told him if he'd asked her two weeks ago she probably would have jumped on it but between starting with a new client and everything being up in the air with the firm she can't now. I did burn couple CD's of the photos I've scanned and restored, for her to give to Chris today so he can take them to CA. They're meeting him for lunch on the way back because he wants to see the kids. So since Sunday night I've been trying to get through as many of the little photos as I can. I ended up send a bunch that were scan only. Even though it takes only 15-20 minutes on the little ones there were close to 40 left that I hadn't gotten to. Now I'm back to working at my leisure which means after the album I have due the 19th.

We had a good time at the Zoo yesterday. As soon as we mentioned we were going to go see the zebras Alex just about ran to the car. It was so funny he called all the animals by the names from Madagascar. So Zebras were Marty, giraffes Melman, Lions Alex. Well he didn't name the penguins, but Ken and I ended up quoting them from the movie. As soon as he spotted the monkey's he'd start jumping up and down "OOo OOo Ahah, OOo OOo AHah" He absolutely loved watching the polar bear swim. Needless to say once we got to the car to drive home around 3:30, Alex and Brandon were out in minutes, I drifted in and out. I think everyone ended up taking a nap once we got home.

I guess I base my parenting style on something my mom told me befoe I got married. We were walking along the inner harbor discussing family anyway she said the best piece of advice she was ever given was by the pediatrician we had when I was still a baby. He had told her that her job as a parent was to raise her children to be able to survive in their own in the world. I feel like a lot of kids now a days are given stuff way to easily. I know I appreciated stuff a lot more when I was a kid because I had to earn it. So I try to not just give things to Alex. Doesn't always work but I try.

I frickin hate pregnancy dreams. The one this morning was awful. I had gotten up at about 6:30 got Alex a cup of milk and asked him to play quietly in his room for a bit. He's actually been very good about doing this the last week or so since the kids are sleeping in the family room. When I left him he was making up a song about how good milk is. Made me chuckle. So you'd think going back to sleep in a good mood would keep bad dreams at bay.

It started out I was at my mom's and wanted to straighten up before we left to go home. Since I wanted to vacuum, I was trying to get everything off the floor. But it seemed like every time I cleaned up one area I'd turn around and more stuff would be on the floor where I'd already cleaned up. I was getting really frustrated. Finally things were good enough and I went to get the vacuum. While I was downstairs someone saw me with it and asked if I was doing the dining room. I just shrugged and said after I finish upstairs. I get up there and Alex has toys everywhere. I ask him to help me clean up so we can vacuum. He starts to help then balks and throws a tantrum, running downstairs. Once down there he proceeds to make a mess there as well. I ask him again to help, he throws another tantrum and races out of the house. I'm trying to catch him but I'm, so pregnant at this point I can't catch him. he heads for the street and I keep yelling for him to stop. He doesn't and races across the street. I can't see him because there is a truck parked in front of the house blocking my view. As I move to get a better look I see another truck backing up down the road at a pretty good speed. I'm trying to tell Alex to stop and stay where he is on the other side. But he doesn't hear me, or listen, not sure which, and darts into the street. The truck of course doesn't see him and he's hit. But I see him being carried off around the corner by the truck so I can't even help him. I'm just screaming nononono over and over. Until I make myself wake up. It's so horrible to wake up from dreams like that.
Anyway on to something funny. Last night Ken and I were downstairs watching Good Eats and eating ice cream. (I was tired of Disney channel and the kids really were ready to go to sleep.) Ken was going through e-mail then asked me how far out of the way Muncy PA was if we were going to my mom's. It's about 3-3 1/2 hours from us almost straight north, a little east. And I look at the map and figure we'd have to cut across PA on I-80 for about 3 1/2 hours before we got to I-79. Once we got to Grove City it's about an hour north to my mom's. So about 4 1/2 hours. He shakes his head and checks to see how far it is from Brooklyn. I guess he decided he might stop on the way back from dropping his parents off in NY next weekend. It's about 3 1/2 hours from there. The way he calculeted things he'd get all of 5 minutes at the place he wanted to visit before they closed. Then he tells me what he wants to see. It's the Grizzly manufacturing plant and warehouse. I guess this location is the largest showroom in the world.

Visit the largest machinery showroom in the world. Over 12,000 "Delicious" tools displayed at this 230,000 sq. ft. facility.

I cracked up and warned him this was going in my blog/journal

This baby is funny. Whenever I'm sitting or lying down he's low in my belly. He always starts kicking when I'm sitting down at the computer. As soon as I stand up it's like he floats up and stays right under my ribs until I sit back down. I guess it's his way of making sure I know he's there.

Final bit my cousin has a new baby girl. Only info I have at the moment is her name is Abigail. Mom said she'd call once she got to my Uncle's house and give me the rest of the info. I'm assuming they'll be coming home today or tomorrow. It's usually 4 days after a c-section.

Had an interesting phone call from my mom today. First little tid bit, my cousin's wife Denise is going in for a C-section tomorrow. My first thought was the baby was too big. She's really tiny, then I remembered at the baby shower she asked me when Alex turned. I had told her he was doing sommersaults until week 34 then pretty much settled into head down. So now I'm thinking the baby is breech. Either way there's a new family member here soon.

The second bit of news, is a bit more complicated. The firm my mom is with, has for the last year and a half been negotiating the sale of it to another firm. My mom was looking forward to this because it meant she wouldn't have to work with C any more (one of the senior partners). The other partners have been reviewing the contracts and the way things are written it looks like C ends up with almost everything and the rest of the partners get the shaft. Needless to say they've decided to not go through with the sale. To put another nail in this the other junior partner looked at his contract and it was only for a year, no raise. Which means once they have his clients they can basically fire him. My mom has been trying for the last month to get information on her offer. C of course gives her no info, but he's buddy buddy with the main partner of the new firm. Mom now thinks that C has been talking about her, so that now the new people feel she's not someone they want to keep around. She had thought this would be a good opportunity for her. They'd have no preconceptions and base their judgement on her work.

Both mom and the other junior partner are on C's shit list it's just the other guy had been able to weather things better. Not sure if he had more clients of his own, but he definately didn't loose half a year fighting cancer. What this all boils down to is the remaining partners are in the process of writing a letter as to why they no longer want to go through with the sale. They are going to confront C tomorrow. Basically he can move to the other firm with his clients but he's definately gone from this firm. Mom joked that now she and another partner can fight over the front office. She was just being sarcastic, she could care less about something like a front office. She doesn't need the status symbol, unlike C. She'll call back later in the week once she knows what's what, to let me know when she'll be down to visit. I know she still wants a trip to the beach before she takes Jessica and Brandon back up to Girard.

We did our 4th of July Sunday night. My biggest mistake was not to bring enough stuff to a) keep alex occupied b) snack on and c) a radio to listen to. We'll plan better next year. Alex was really onry the last hour between when we had dinner and when the fireworks started. It was of course past his bedtime. The thing that calmed him down was opening the cooler and letting him get ice cubes to suck on, soon after the fireworks started and he was all smiles, pointing and naming colors. We got home a little before 11, so a very late night for him and he didn't really sleep in or nap for that matter yesterday. Though today he did both. I guess today is catch up sleep day. Well I gotta go a thunderboomer is moving in.

This page was the result of a recent challenge. We were to scraplift a layout of another DSP member. It was really hard choosing a layout. Debb had so many wonderful ones. But I wanted to use one of the pictures I recently restored this was the result. The kit was from DSP designer Samara Gugler, the word art from Tina Chambers. 

My son cracks me up somedays. He serenaded the entire house this around 7:10 this morning with a rousing version of [I]Rain Rain Go Away[/I] Ken and I were just laying in bed laughing for a good ten minutes. Jessica heard him and she's at the other end of the hall from him with her door shut. Brandon of course heard him over the monitor becuase the reciever is in the kitchen and he was sleeping on the sofa in the family room. I guess he was happy to be home.

He didn't do too bad on our trip to mom's. Though both times he only slept an hour of the trip. Usually he'll sleep a good two hours in the car. This trip was harder in another way. Since he's no longer in a crib we couldn't have him sleep in the PNP. He slept on an air mattress on the floor. Problem with that is he kept getting up to turn on the tv. It wasn't too bad at night but it meant he didn't take much of a nap either day. Wednesday we just hung out. Alex played with his cousins a bit in the morning then we went over to my sister's after his "nap".

Thursday morning mom and I (and Alex) went shopping. First stop was BRU. I wanted to find a homecoming outfit for the baby. I found one online I really like but it's really expensive, I also found a possibility at baby center that I'll probably get because I found nothing at BRU. Well I did find some cute stuff just not what I had in mind for bringing the baby home in.

Next was Old Navy to get a few more maternity tees. That was a bust too they had nothing in stock bigger than a medium. Bad timing on my part my guess is in a couple weeks the fall stuff will be coming in. Final stop was DSW, where I picked up a pair of Tevas and a pair of sandals both are adjustable for when my feet swell. I know everyone says wear flip flops but when my feet swell they don't get wider, they get puffier so that they don't fit under the strap in the first place. SO I need adjustable not less shoe. I didn't end up meeting up with Sherri again this time. She was on a business trip and got back late Thursday afternoon and we left Friday around 11 to get back here.

Besides the mornign singin we went to play miniature golf this afternoon. Alex was so funny. Ken wished he had though to bring the video camera. At first everytims someone would hit a ball he'd go and get it and bring it back for them. Later he got the idea that the balls were to go in the hole, so he's pick them up and drop them in. The last half of the game he started using the putter to hit his ball in the hole, though he did continue to kick everone else's balls around. He dropped his ball down the last hole, thinking it was like one of the others where it went down a shoot to another part of the green, but of course the last hole just takes the ball. There was a drain pipe a few feet away so he went over there and kept looking at it waiting for his ball to reappear. He didn't want to leave but it was time to go home and make dinner. May have to take him again.

Tomorrow I work then we'll go up to Harve de Grace for their 4th of july celebration. We might go to the ones in Bel Air on the 4th itself as well but the fireworks in Harve de Grace are over the bay.

I also decided on a bedding set. Ken's booked one of two last minute brides, is he books the other as well I can just go to buy buy baby and get it. The picture of it is at the top of this post.

Okay I've had three dreams in the last two weeks on a similar theme. The most recent was last night. In all three I'm looking for something I've lost or forgotten where I put it. In one it was directions, in another keys, last night it was a box of tea. The other cominality was the mix of people from both my past and present, some of whom I'm still in contact many of whom I'm not.

Last night's was just weird to begin with. I'm cleaning out my car and somehow Ken has rigged it so that we have a turntable in the dashboard, so I'm cleaning out the mess of album covers. Pulling out the empty ones I because I want to keep whatever they hold on the turntable and the ones I don't I just, want out of the car. So while I'm cleaning a bunch of friends come up to see what I'm doing. Some are online friends, that I met at least one was an old friend in HS. I'm looking though the album covers weird mix, like one was a box set of something on Charles Manson, like an audio book in album form, the next was from Living Color a best of type of thing, (even though I already have everything in cassette) a Lenny Kravitz duets type thing (I was buying CDs by the time I bought his stuff). The last two have sexy men at least, not sure what's up with Charles Manson. But along with this stuff was an accordion folder of gov't files. It had been sealed at one point and I had opened it to start reading it but never got around to unsealing the actual files. It was on some scandal in either the Kennedy or Nixon presidencies. That's all I knew and Amy, the girl I knew from HS asked if she could read it. I said sure and let her have it.

From here it's almost like I went back in time to when I shared a house with several other single women, so before I met Ken. I had recently moved to another room because someone had moved out and I had been there longest, so could move up to a bigger room. I had all my online freinds in the room and we decided tea would be a good thing while we hung out. I had a particular kind I was looking for. It wasn't where I thought I put it. But it had been a couple months since I'd had tea because of warm weather, so I thought I'd put it somewhere else or lent it to a housemate. I end up going through the house looking for my box of tea. I find everything but the one I'm looking for. I asked the housemate I thought borrowed it. She was in the middle of setting up the dinning room for her very small wedding ceremony. (This woman had actually been one of my housemates several years ago) She said she'd returned it almost right after I lent it to her. Then I wander into the kitchen and talk to two more friends, Kris, one from HS and another former housemate, Jen (both of whom I talk to regularly and see a couple times a year) All I find are the boxes I had given to them as gifts. This is about when I woke up with [I]Delta Dawn [/I] stuck in my head. I haven't heard this song in years and even then the last time was a clip from a TV commercial so not even the whole song.

But waking up from my dream reminded me of the other two dreams. In one I'm supposed to meet up with Ken and Alex after going out with Aimee my best friend from college (I haven't heard from her in 5 years though I have tried contacting her, never heard back but nothing was ever returned to me either), and Sherri(the HS friend I met with last time I was visiting my mom). But I couldn't find my directions to the place I was to meet them anywhere in my bag. And I knew I had put them in there before I left.

The other dream is only a vague rememberence at this point. All I really remember was being at playgroup and losing my keys and needing them because I was going to meet Jen. The last I had remembered seeing them Alex had gotten them out of my bag.

I used to be really good about recording my dreams but I got out of the habit once I moved into the TH with Ken. For what ever reason my usually vivid and lucid dreams nearly vanished while we lived there. Obviously they're coming back of course this could all be pregnancy induced as well.

I got this from one of my journal buddies over at LTJ

Fill this out about your SENIOR year of high school! The longer ago it
was, the more fun the answers will be.

1. Who was your best friend?
Robin Merski

2. What sports did you play?
I took pictures of sports for the yearbook, does that count?

3. What kind of car did you drive?
A blue Ford Econoline window Van

4. It's Friday night, where were you at?
Sometimes working, sometimes at home, sometimes sneaking out of the house

5. Were you a party animal?
No. I wanted to go out and party, but was clueless as to where and when most times.

6. Were you considered a flirt?
Nope.

7. Ever skip school?
Not usually a whole day but I had two study halls ending my day the last semester so I just left early

8. Ever smoke?
Nah

9. Were you a nerd?
Kinda sorta

10. Did you get suspended/expelled?
Nope

11. Can you sing the Alma Mater?
Are you kidding?

12. Who was your favorite teacher?
Mrs. Wintrode

13. Favorite class?
Name a math class any math class

14. What was your school's full name?
Girard High School

15. School mascot?
Yellowjackets

16. Did you go to Prom?
nope

17. If you could go back and do it over, would you?
Probably not.

18. What do you remember most about graduation?
Not a clue

19. Favorite memory of your Senior Year?
Finally finding out about a party and watching Chuck Miller almost fall into the fire.

20. Were you ever posted up on the senior wall?
huh?

21. Did you have a job your senior year?
Dishwasher at the Girard Diner

22. Who did you date?
I didn't

23. Where did you go most often for lunch?
Cafeteria

24. Have you gained weight since then?
Oh yeah

25. What did you do after graduation?
went to the University of Maryland

26. When did you graduate?
1986

I know this is TMI but at least once a week when I brush my teeth it sets of my gag reflex and I start gagging and coughing. It usually happens on the days when post nasal drip is especially bad. We'll today it was so bad I actually threw up I wasn't even feeling nausious, so I know it was my gag reflex causing it. Oh the joys of pregnancy.

It's one of those pregnancy annoyances. Though I've noticed it's worse if I bend over the sink, if I stand up and look in the mirror I don't gag as much. My husband is now getting sympathy heartburn. :D This happened when I was pregnant with Alex too. I think it's kinda funny we both end up getting heartburn no matter what we eat but only when I'm pregnant.

Anyway I meant to get on here last night but things went down hill yesterday as soon as Alex got up fom his nap, until I put him to bed at 8:00. He woke up and I heard this "help, help" over the monitor. I go upstairs and the first thing he says as I open the door. "Diaer chane" I go to get him out of bed and he doubles over, crying. Then he's squirming around so in obvious pain. I can smell that he needs a change. I pick him up and carry him to the changing table. He's crying the entire time I'm getting him cleaned up. Just as I get ready to stand him up so I can pull up his diaper pants he lets go this long pee arc. He's upset, embarrassed and then he sees most of it landing on his comforter, which makes him even more upset. I wait until he's done get him cleaned and dressed then console him as I clean the floor and strip the bed. He obviously had a pretty full bladder so I'm thinking that may have caused the cramping.

Most of the rest of the afternoon, he was either crying or whining or acting helpless. I used to think this male trait was because moms catered to sons when they were sick, now I'm beginning to think it's genetic. Well we soon find out why he's acting like such a pistol. After the second bout of diarreah, I put him in the tub, and let him play for 20 minutes. He came out acting like his normal cheerful self. He's been fine all day to day. He hasn't really eaten anything different lately so I'm not sure what was up, there was no fever either. So I cancelled going to playgroup last night since we were going to a pool and even if he's feeling fine it usually takes a day or so before he has a normal poo again.

So last night I ended up working on a new digiscrap challenge in photoshop, the other reason I didn't post. This was also the third night in a row I've had the song [I]I'll make a man out of you[/I] stuck in my head as I go to sleep. Alex's new favorite movie is Mulan, I've watched it at least once a day if not twice for the last week and a half. He likes Mu Shu. Any time he wants to watch it I hear. "Red Dragon, Red Dragon" He likes the music too because he sings along with every song, especially the Christina Aquilera song.

Before I came on I did some work. I designed two albums from an order we got in last week a bridal and a parent album. I don't think this bride is actually giving the parent album to a parent, I think she's using it as a candid album for herself. Because I have never before put together an actual parent album that didn't have any formals or any of the big events in it before (dad bringing daughter down the aisle, first kiss, recessional, presentation, first dance, parent dance, cake cutting) Ah well it's her money.

Just to let everyone know I don't alway post pictures in here but if you hit my Gallery link on the side I'm always uploading new stuff there, usually weekly.

I think I've decided I really don't like playgroups that end up being other than someone's house. This is because my son has to go his own way which means I can't sit down and chat, hell half the time I just plain can't sit down. Anyway this weeks playgroup was a birthday party at Chuck E Cheese. And I know it was held here because the mom lives in a condo and the kids are just getting too big to keep them in a small space like that for too long especially in warm weather. But the fact that I had to corral my son in a booth just so I could get a bite to eat was left me a bit frazzled. I wouldn't have minded him playing on any other rides or games near we were sitting but I knew if I let him out he'd take off to the other side of the room. And yes CEC is better than some places in that they stamp the mom and the child and check stamps before letting you leave, but still I know Alex can get into all sorts of trouble in a few short minutes.

Friday was my biannual cleanign at the dentist. I took Alex with me this time because they requested I me too. They like to have kids come in at 2 1/2 so they can see what goes on before their first appointment at age three. He was very good. This office has windows in their waiting room as well as a kids area, so he didn't even notice we had to wait 10-15 minutes past when my appointment was. Even during the cleaning he was good. Of course the fact that I brought his colorwonder markers with us was probably the real reason.

After we came home had a quick lunch then headed over to Coldstone Creamery to get a Father's Day cake for Ken. I told Alex we were getting daddy and ice cream cake. So the entire ride I hear him chattering about "ice cream daddy" Of course once we got there we had to have a little ice cream first. Alex was all excited he did his little dance swinging his arms in front of him and grinning. At the end he didn't realize I already had a cake for daddy and kept pointing out which one we could get him in the freezers. I showed him we had one already and he was like "oh all right" Cmae home in time for nap time.

Today was the playgroup annual BBQ. We hosted this year. Ken made his Almost famous wings. Everyone brought side dishes so we had pleanty of food. Too much really, we had a couple of people cancel out the last few days so three families less than expected. It was a good time, I inflated the pool and most of the kids played in it. Except Alex. He'd splash the water with his hands but he wouldn't get in. He was good about sharing his toys, well at first anyway. Once we got close to nap time he was just having a breakdown everytime someone was playing at his train table. So he was quickly taken upstairs for a nap. Of course as soon as he woke two hours later he still expected all his friends to be there to play with him. Clean up wasn't too bad, we'll have food for a couple days.

Tomorrow I work of course. Ken said he'd sand down the patches in the nursery. That means I can start painting next week. Monday, Ken has to go out to VA to meet with the family and the trust lawyer. I switched nights with a co-worker so I'll work Friday night for him this week. Should be a quiet week. The week after I have my dr appointment then I go up to Erie to pick up my niece and nephew. I was talking to my mom last night, she asked me how long I expected to have them I said "two weeks". "your sister seems to think it's just a week and asked when I was leaving on the 7th to go get them." My mom is like if she wants the kids back sooner than the 14th she'll have to go get them. "I have a charity golf tournament on the 7th that I already promised to participate in becuase I was planning on the 14th, to get them."

Looks like CA is out this year. My mom decided that it really wasn't a good time for her to go moneywise. She's been doing really well getting out of her financial problems. If I didn't find a cheap air fare she could have ended up spending as much as a $1000 for the trip. Not something she can afford right now. That combined with a new client that needs their year end reports by Aug 15. Taking a week before a big first project is due, not a good idea. So I go to my 20 year class reunion on the 11-13th.

I learned something new this week. Small boys are like dogs playing fetch when there is a ball around. Even when you are closer they'll run to get it to hand it to you. I kept Alex entertained with the game for a half hour, Ken joined in when he got home so I think we had Alex running around for a good hour all together.

I swear the boy is trying to give me a heart attack. He woke up from his nap at one point yesterday afternoon screaming. It was so loud I heard him down in the basement without the monitor. I was working on an album order we got in last week. So I rush up two flights of stairs. I open the door and he's obviously crying in pain. I get to his side and I see an indentation just below his right eye. He turns his head everytime I try to touch it. Finally he lets me open his eye. I needed to make sure there was no blood or bruising on the eye itself. Nothing I clean up his face give him a little tylenol then go back downstairs for a little ice. I think the cold helped more than they tylenol, he started to drift off. By the time he woke at his normal nap end it was just a small indent. He had a couple books open and leaning against the bed rail. I think he must have rolled over and hit his eye on the corner. By bed time tonight it was just a small red mark.

You know there are lots of things that aren't a good idea to do when you're hormonal. I've been researching preschools for Alex, for fall of 2007. I'm doing this now because many schools in the area fill a year in advance. So a couple days ago I send in an application for the Goddard school near by. They sent me information which I recieved today. I could barely get through a page of the booklet without starting to cry. I guess I don't want him to be old enough to go to school. Anyway we plan to start him with three half days a week and see how that works, possibly making it three full days in the spring.

Last night made me realize that doing photo restoration of old family photos when pregnant isn't always a good idea. Now the older stuff, from like my mom's childhood isn't bad because I have no memories of that. But the stuff from when I was a kid can bring up some bittersweet feelings. And it's really hard to be precise when you have tears clouding your eyes. I'll try and post some of the stuff I've been working on.

I called my mom Saturday and asked her how dramatic I was at 2-3 years old. The answer "very" I wanted things my way and was stubborn enough to wait it out. My sister on the otherhand was very passive aggressive about stuff. :sigh: Guess that means Alex is just following in my footsteps.

Now what brought this up was earlier in the evening at dinner time. Alex was basically finished but he stays at the table with us until we're all done. He wanted to color in a particular coloring book, and therefore wanted the specific crayons that came with it. I started digging those crayons out of the jar but told him to move his trains off the table. I just wanted him to have room but I wouldn't give him the crayons until he moved the trains. He didn't want to move the trains, so started throwing a temper tantrum. I calmly looked at him and told him as soon as the trains were off the table he could have the crayons. So he starts rolling around on the floor, then he starts asking for everything under the sun. Peanut butter, milk, Madagascar on the tv, finally diaper change, in addition to the crayons. I'm trying so hard not to laugh, luckily part of the time he was throwing his fit behind my chair, Ken was having a hard time keeping a straight face too. It was all drama and fake tears, and whining. As I'm cleaned up the dinner dishes, he dropped the trains on the floor, and grabbed the crayons and his coloring book and moved them to the side table in the family room. He really did need a diaper change, I think during the fit he wet himself one last time and filled the diaper.

I sure hope my feelings about this second kid are right in that he's calmer, more laid back than Alex. Not sure I can handle two drama queens.

I keep forgetting to mention, I saw it in the Sun last week. The guy who made my wedding cake is getting his own reality-based show on Food Network. Called [I]Caking it to the Limit[/I]. They're in the middle of the 12 week shoot right now. I don't think this will be a continuous show, just one of those one season things, probably this fall. I thought it was kinda cool. I know he's been in a couple of the Food Network Challenges. A neat step to a little more publicity.

So now we know why the carpet smelled in that room. Ken rolled up the carpet and there was a huge urine stain on the underside going right into the padding. I remembered our neighbors mentioning the previous owners had a small dog. Guess that's the room he hung out in. Ken patched the small holes he made when he pulled off the base moulding. Next we need to unscrew the shelves we put up then I can paint.

This morning my boys were so sweet to me they let me sleep until 9am. Too bad I have to work tomorrow so i have to get up. So I made Alex clean up his toys so I could vacuum. Of course the room is lsowly going back to chaos already. Little does he know nex Friday we'll have to do this all again, we're hosting the playgroup's annual BBQ. This is why we hit BJs today, had to get all those little things like buns, forks, plates,water.

You all probably know how much Alex likes Blue's Clues. It's been about a year now. But it's funny watching how over time the way he watches has changed. At first he liked it because of the characters, including Joe. (he'll pick up our home phone and start talking I ask him who's on the phone he'll say Joe) Now he watches and participates. This last two weeks he has to have a notebook and crayon before he watches. He also won't let me sit in the room and watch with him. If I come into the room he holds up his hands to stop me. If I'm in the room he nudges me until I get up and leave. :lmao:

So for the last week I've been doing some touch up work on old photos. Trying to get them presentable to send to my cousin. He requested pictures of him and his brothers growing up for something he's doing at the wedding in September. I found one from when the entire John family was in Ocean City. I must have been 12-13 at the time. I looked at the T-shirt I was wearing, oh man I was such a geek, not that I'm much better now but I don't at least wear dungeons and dragons stuff any more.

For this one we were to use an ad for inspiration. I think the hardest part on this was the extraction, no it was writing using the wacom tablet. 

For this one the idea was to use overlays, words, art, or other photos could be used for the effect. 

The challenge here was to scrap something where the focus wasn't people 

I've been doinf some challenges at a digiscrap site here are a few of my most recent. This one was to use a feminine kit for a boy or a masculine one for a girl. 

Seems like lately, I’ll pop on during the weekend but I don’t get around to posting in my own journal until Tuesday or Wednesday. Let’s go back to Thursday. We were supposed to go to Sesame Place for playgroup. Several people over the last three weeks had cancelled out for various reasons, until we were down to 4 of the ten families. Well the night before the mom who had arranged for the trip had to cancel too. She’s 33 weeks pregnant and her husband, ended up having to travel for work. Since he wasn’t going along she didn’t feel she could handle the park on her own, with a two year old. I don’t blame her not sure I could either if I was that far along. The rest of us decided that it wouldn’t be as fun with out more of us going. Playgroup ended up at a local park and lunch at Cheeseburger Cheeseburger. This meant it was too late to go to Ken’s nephew Alan’s graduation. It was the same day we said we weren’t going because of this trip but by the time it was cancelled it was too late to get tickets to that. At least we got our money back on the Sesame Place tickets.

Kids are funny. I think all of them had fries and chicken tenders. One mom had taken the chicken out of the cars they served kids meals in, broke them up and put it on a plate. Her son kept saying “Car, car” She thought he wanted to play with the car and told him he could have it after he ate. He wouldn’t touch the chicken on the plate. She got fed up and dumped everything back into the car. As soon as she did he started eating. My son on the other hand ate all his French fries from the car but refused to touch the chicken. So I moved it out of his way and put it on my plate. As soon as I did he started eating them.

Friday was our kick back and do nothing day. The fact that it was raining probably contributed. I did start my hotel/airfare search for our trip to CA in August. And in the three weeks since I last checked airfares they’ve nearly doubled. Needless to say the trip was probably not going to happen. We’d been hoping to keep the trip for the three of us under 1200. Well it was around a thousand now to just fly. Two thousand is definitely out of our reach.

Saturday started out not looking to promising either. I let Alex actually get up out of bed at 6am because I needed to put him down for an early nap. The appointment for my cut and color was at 2:30 which is normally smack in the middle of his nap. Ken had a wedding so wouldn’t be home and we had a birthday party at 4 pm. It was just easier to make sure he napped early. I called my mom to tell her we probably weren’t going. Ken definitely wasn’t. She said she’d find and book a room and told me to keep checking fares. She has a feeling we’ll be able to make this trip one way or another. Ken said as long as I can get fares under 250 each Alex and I can go.

Alex was very good while I was getting my hair done. I brought his color wonder markers with us. That and the hair dryers kept him occupied. The trouble came when it was his turn for a haircut. Now all last week he was complaining about his hair sticking to his forehead in the 90+ heat. Ken and I figured we’d get his hair cut real short. Michelle started with the clippers on the back but his hair is still kind of thin so she didn’t want to cut it that way all over. The real trouble was getting him to hold still so she could cut everything else with scissors. I think it took like 20 minutes, at one point she had him sit by the dryers to distract him. By that time it was almost four, so we booked over to Bel Air Athletic club, where the party was being held. I brought all Alex’s swim stuff because they had the baby pool reserved. Alex did not even want to change into his swim trunks; there was no way he was getting in the pool. I have no idea where this fear has come from. He’ll gladly climb into the bathtub. He’ll get into the inflatable pools but he will no longer get into in ground pools. I guess Swim lessons will be out for a while. Our group was given the opportunity to use what’s called the Tree House. This is a kid’s play area inside the club. All the kids had a grand time there. After our time was up it was time for pizza and cake. The family had arranged for everyone to return for to their house for a special treat. They had Dora come visit the kids. Alex was hilarious. He was so into it. As soon as she brought out the map he was right up there pointing everything out. He danced to all the music. Though at the end he wouldn’t sit in her lap, but his did sit right next to her for a while. After Dora left all the kids were out in the back yard playing. Alex ended up playing volleyball with one of the dads and an older brother of one of the other kids instead of watching the present opening. The party broke up around 8pm because all the kids we’re starting to act out. It was definitely bedtime.

Sunday was the usual. I could have definitely used another hour of sleep but had to be at work by 8:30. When I got home a little after three Alex was still napping, Ken was editing so I took my own nap on the couch. Alex ended up having an almost 4 hour nap. Guess Saturday wiped him out. Ken made a pork roast on the grill rotisserie, sweet potatoes and salad rounded that out. Yesterday I was still dragging because Alex got me up at quarter after six. Seems he’s gone back to his old tricks of being up at the butt crack of dawn. Hope it’s only temporary; Tuesday was 6:45 so a bit better.

I so screwed myself up yesterday. I was feeling very tired and had a migraine brought on by the fact that I know I didn't have enough water Sunday, though I kept myself hydrated Monday I didn't add extra to make up for the previous days loss. So I took what ended up being an hour and a half nap. I should have kept it short because I was up until close to 1:30. You can probably tell as my post was kind of messed up towards the end. At least Alex let me sleep until 7:20 today. But since my eyelid is still twitching occasionally I know I still need to catch up on some sleep.

This weekend should be a quiet one. No weddings or parties maybe we'll get some work done on the house. Other than that I wish the weather would just make up its mind and either be sunny or rain and get it over with.

Guess it's fast or feast in here.

Sometimes my son just cracks me up. The heat had me wanting a softserve ice cream. But since there isn't anything within ten minutes of us, we went for second best, Sundaes at Friendly's. We are in so much trouble when Alex hits his teens. The table kitty corner from us had a boy and a girl about 12-13 years old sitting at it. Obviously on a date (her mom was on the other side of the wall) Alex was trying to flirt with her as we waited for our sundaes. So as we almost finished, he climbed over me so that he was sitting at the end of the booth. Better flirting angle I guess. A few minutes later he moves to the other side to sit next to his dad. The entire time he's watching this girl and every time she glanced at him he smiled. I leaned over the table and told him he needed to pick someone closer to his age right now, ten years was too much. He just smiled at me and went back to watching her.


I don't know why this is bothering me still it happened over two weeks ago and it's just so minor in the sceme of things as to be ridiculous but it is. To under stand why you need to know that I was a pretty voracious reader, before child. I still read alot just not as quickly and sometimes there are gaps. I used to go through an average novel (300-350 pages) in a day or two. If it was longer than say 500 pages it might take me 4-5 days. Non-fiction will depend on the subject and how much it reads like a novel how quickly I read it. So biographies, essays and some history move faster than science, psychology or current affairs. Everything now takes longer. 3-5 days for an average novel, a week to week and a half for longer ones. Now this is also compounded by the fact that I usually have 2-3 things I'm reading at a time, magazines and non-fiction titles in addition to the novel. It's just the habit I picked up from my mom. About a month ago I pick up a novel by an author I've read before. Her stuff is nothing spectacular but enjoyable for what it is. Well two weeks later I'm still not halfway through this book. I finished the book of essays I was reading at the time, in 4 days and started a mystery and finished it. Now usually when a book doesn't catch me right off, I give it time or slog my way through (probably from sheer perversity). I got to the point where I couldn't even pick the thing up, not even sure what bothered me about it, so I took it back and got something else. So it's really silly that this is bothering me, must be the hormones.

Hehe all my friends seem to like Kai. I think Ken liked Quinton the most. I know he liked it even more after I told him what it meant, which is Fifth. Eng means five in Chinese, or I should say it's written using the character for five.

Okay I know I wanted it warmer than 60's last week but I specifically said mid 70's would be nice. This over 90 in May is crap. I can deal with 90's in July Aug and even September because it's expected. Not may, especially since we're holding off on the AC because we'll have to use it sparingly come July's 72% rate hike by BGE.Well my ankles are vanishing, and I can no longer see the bones in my foot. I can't remember when the swelling started last time. I know by 7 months I was complaining. I suppose this heat isn't helping. I'm keeping a 16oz glass of water by my desk at all times lately.

I think something bad must have happened to Alex in a waiting room in a past life. He hates them absolutely detests them. Well except the one at the pediatrician's office. I think that's because all the tabels and chairs are kid size and they have windows to let natural light in. Once we're in an exam room he is fine. So I don't know what it is, since most exam rooms don't have outside windows. Ken at first thought it was florescent light, could be who knows. Not looking forward to my appointment tomorrow morning. I hope they take me on time, I don't want to be in that waiting room more than 10 minutes with Alex because nothing, even stuff I bring to entertain him seems to help when we're in a waiting room. he keeps heading for the door.

So from the above you get the idea of how things went Friday morning as we waited for the U/S. At least Ken was there to help for that. later we went to BJs and got all the stuff we were running low on like papertowels and cereal. Saturday we made a run to Lowe's for a gallon of paint for the nursery. I decided to go with green anyway, even though this is a boy. It's just not sage like I would have gone for a girl. A little bluer and brighter. If it cools down later this week I'll get a start painting. Saturday night was the surprise party for Ken's brother. His sister and parents stopped at our house first, I think because his parents needed a break from the car before going to see everyone . So we all waited for Alex to wake from his nap before going over. I was so happy that Alex greeted his YeaYea even calling him by YeaYea. Now we have to work on him greeting his YanYan.

As soon as we got to Dave and Carol's, Ken got put on grill duty. This suited him just fine. Alex spoiled the surprise though. He was playing outside as Dave and Eric drove up, if he had stayed closer to me he wouldn't have been seen but he decided to climb up the little grassy hill and sit down just as they got out of the car. Dinner was pleasant, then we gave Dave his gifts. Alan got graduation gift soon after. We all took a quick trip over to the new house. Honestly I think Dave and Carol will be living on the lower two floors. That is the main floor and the basement. The only thing on the upper level is three bedrooms one of which is being turned into an office/study for the boys when they are home. We came back had ice cream cake for dessert chatted a bit moe then went home. Alex was way past his bed time. I was hoping he'd sleep later than he did Sunday morning. But ten after 7:00 is better than 6:00.

Well almost, he definately had the congested cough I had last week by morning. So he was tired, cranky and a bit listless all day. Nearly fell asleep on the couch an hour before his normal nap time. I was a little annoyed with Ken that morning. I didn't find out until 10 am that he didn't need to leave for the wedding until 2pm. Now when we made arraingments for me to stay home that day it was because he thought the ceremony started at two, so he needed to be there by noon. The bride had been a bit ambiguous on the form about the start time. Well he clarified it at the meeting a weekand a half ago but forgot to let me know. I could have gone to work and just left a couple hours early. Now I have to use a vacation day. he said things went well, the only problem was even though the bride and groom told the caterer to have dinners for the vendors, just like the ones served to the guests. They didn't bring enough food. So Ken and Isabel didn't eat nor did the DJ and his assitant. Now normally this isn't a problem getting fed that is. Usually the caterer at least has sandwiches for the other vendors but since the bride and groom had made arrangments for extra dinners, so they thought, there were no sandwiches. So a hot day and no food mean Ken was kinda hungry when he got home. (They did get cake and some stuff of the dessert table as well as salad and fruit that was "left over") He feels it's tacky to have in his contract to be fed but he was a bit annoyed with the caterer for treating fellow vendors that way.

Monday was a kinda lazy day for most of it. Made banana pancakes for breakfast had leftovers for lunch. Pulled out my hair because of a cranky toddler with a cold, so I was definately ready to go to work that evening. I was supposed to be there at 6 but left and hour early and got a frappichino and cookie, so I could chill out. Ken had hid out in the basement most of the day so I'd been stuck keeping Alex occupied until nap time.

So today I planned on setting up the pool in the back but I come to find out the battery powered air pump is broken. Do you know how many hours it would have taken me to fill that pool using the foot pump. I tried it for about ten minutes and there was no visible change in how much air was in it. Alex and I took a trip to Target. I ended up getting more fingerpaints as well as some 0-3 onsies. I think that's it for now.

So we've gone and revised or boy's name list. We had two names from last time left. I don't see this child as a Kevin. Every Kevin I know is a mischief maker. And I'm not feeling Brian. Ken didn't feel like waiting for me to bring a book home Monday so he went on an online search. Here's what we've come up with. We had a lot of fun either making fun of names or making fun of names with our last name along the way.
Corey
Jeffery (kinda boring)
Kai (Ken didn't like it last time I suggested it but does this time)
Orion
Quinton
Terrance

Went and bought Saturday today. Ken tore out the base boards and pulled up the edges of the carpet. We'll roll it up and take it out next week when he can take it to the dump.Need to think about getting lots of onsies and sleepers for the first 4 months.

It's a lot easier to see what the tech saw after I scanned and enlarged this. Looks like we have another boy. 

then the other