Somebody has been talking...

...and his name is Kennen! That's right, it's true! He seems to be in the throes of an english language explosion. He has been speaking in sentences. Not perfect grammar, but perfect sentances. Last night we were walking home from Vamos Fesjevar...brasilian style, and Jeff was carrying Kennen. Usually my boy is the first one to fall asleep but he was still wide awake and Jeff said, "You are a party animal, aren't you bud?"

"No! I Nenen! (with his little finger pointed at himself) Daddy ary a-mal" It was hilarious! We asked him a few more times if he was a party animal but he just gave us exasperated, "NO! I Nenen!" Too cute!

Then this morning he was grabbing his rear end and saying, "Ewww, Nenen poop!" I asked him where his wipes were and he pointed up up stairs and said, "Nenen ipe up dere in Nenen oom." (Kennen's wipes up there in Kennens room).

I am so excited! I'm so proud! He has struggled so long and now it's finally coming together. So many people told me that one day he will wake up and speak in complete sentances. There is still a lot of "Uh-eeee, Uh-eye, Uh-nenen, Uh-uhhhhh" talk but it is finally becoming discernable.

Anyway, last night we went to our friends house for a brasilian party. My friends husband is from Brazil and they had a simple but amazing meal of beans, rice and meat. OMG it was so yummy!! What's even more amazing is my first experience with Capirinias. It's a drink made up of Vodka, limes and sugar and holy hell is it yummy. You literally can't taste the vodka. It just tastes like very limey sprite. All the kids behaved great too! I think being in a new house with new toys mesmerized all the littles and there was hardly any fighting. Oh, and one more thing about Laura's house. She has lived in her house for almost a year now and her carpet it perfect. How a person with 2 kids under the age of 3 has immaculate carpet is beyond me. Not only is it stain free, but it doesn't look like it has ever been walked on. The only thing I can figure is that they only walk on the carpet when company is over. The rest of the time, they must fly through the house and hover over their lovely carpet. Seriously.

Ingrid Michaelson on Carson Daly -

BTW...I love this song. I can relate because Jeff still loves me and wants me even I'm being 'Mommy in the Mirror' (You know...that freakishly strong mean version of the blonde Mom that lives in the mirror on Hero's?).

Maybe...

Maybe my child isn't demon spawn. Maybe I'm just PMSing. I've been know to do that from time to time. ;)

Last night we went to gymnastics. Kimberly was doing great and she was having so much fun with her little friends. Okay, she can do basic gymnastic stuff, but the truth is, she is built like me...and um, I have little to no athletic ability. She is built for a catwalk...not a balance beam. But, in true Kimmy-girl style, she had rounded up a heard of little girls to be her friends. I'm proud of that. She is like her Daddy apparently...she doesn't know a stranger.

So, I was watching Kim and I felt an outpour of pride and love for my little social butterfly. Then this lady was standing right behind me and talking loudly the whole time. I just wanted her to shut the fuck up. She was so loud and she seriously wouldn't stop. Um, okay your story about you 9 year old daughters slumber party is mentionable...but I dont fucking care to hear every painful detail for the entire hour of gymnastics. Oh, and you kid is dropping shit (candy and candy wrappers) all over the floor. If you don't want to teach her how to clean up after herself, then at least do the world a favor and pick it up for her. Idiot.

Whew! It was at this point that I knew I was being unreasonable and totally off my rocker with PMS rage. I've talked to this mom almost every week of gymnastics so why all of the sudden was she so annoying? Why was Kim so annoying? Why was the dog so annoying? Even Kennen was bugging me. Eureka! The common denominator is me!

It was the last 10 minutes of gym and then Kennen pointed over my shoulder and cried, Da-deeeeeeee! I rolled my eyes and looked to see which man my child was confusing with his father but Jeff was there! My hero! What a great surprise! He is pretty much the only person I want to be around if I'm in a mood because he is just so darn entertaining. He turned my frown upside-down when he agreed to go to dinner next door. And would you believe it? They had a live blues band playing! How fun! And then get this...they had f.r.e.e. wine tasting! It's a greek restaurant so I had a gyro, hummus, wine, cheese....ahhhhhhhh just what this hormonal girl needed to remember that this is a beautiful world we live in. Oh, and thank G-d it's friday!

Mothers and Daughters #2

G-d Damnit!SHITFUCKSHITFUCKSHITFUCKMOTHERFUCKER! aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR
RRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!

Wow, I actually feel a little better.

Kim is still complaining about every little thing. I feel my blood pressure rising just thinking about it. How do you teach a 5 year old the crucial life lesson: You can choose to be happy or you can choose to be miserable. Your perspective and attitude really do dictate your happiness. Maybe I should take my own advice. I should expect my kids to be the ungrateful little buggars that they are...maybe I wouldn't be so disappointed when they complain about pancakes for breakfast.

Oh yes. I waved the white flag this morning and whipped up a batch of pancakes for my Kimmy-girl. They are her favorite and I thought it would get our morning off to a good start. But no. She complained because I didn't let her 'stir' the batter. She complained because she thought Kennen had the bigger pancake. Then she didn't want butter. She didn't want me to cut them. She wrinkled her nose and poked at them with a fork. Just shut up, eat, and say thank you, okay?

Motherhood has always been thankless, from the little piglets I nursed for hours on end, to the 5 year old who refuses to wear the school clothes I bought her. Perfectly good new clothes that we picked out together. She wants to wear this ratty ass tank top from last year that is too short. AAAAARRRRRGHHHHHhhh! I know that I'm not here to be Kim's friend, but if she would just not fight me tooth and nail and constantly complain, I could at least be sane Mommy. I actually sent Jeff upstairs to deal with her because I know if I stayed to convince her to put on some respectable clothes, I would have bashed my head against the wall.

Please Lord let this be a phase. Didn't I read somewhere in a child psychology book that 5-6 year old children disassociate themselves from the same sex parent? I miss her. Attachment parenting my ass.

On a positive note, she is really doing well at school. I cant believe how much she is learning! I am so proud of her and I love sitting down with her at the end of the day to do homework. She is so bright and funny! She gets mad at me when I correct her, but I can tell that she does listen to me and she is doing great.

I just remembered one thing. This morning at the bus stop she ran off to talk to a group of little girls and she was playing with them until the bus came. When the bus came, she got in line and I was pretty far away from her and wasn't going to push a kiss goodbye. She stood waiting for a minute and then I saw her little face scanning the crowd looking for me. I hurried over and gave her a quick kiss and told her to have a good day and she actually smiled. Halle-friggin-leuia.

Random

Wow! I feel like I can barely catch my breath! I have been running around like a crazy lady. I guess I was disillusioned when I thought that I would spend every Monday and Wednesday lounging around my house. Or getting facials.

Speaking of facials, I was talking to my asian neighbor yesterday while we were waiting for the bus to drop the kids off after school. I've not really ever talked to her, but I think she felt compelled to talk to me since earlier that morning we jogged past each other but were both too out of breath to have a real conversation. She told me I was so beautiful and so young!

"How old you are?"

"28."

"Ohhhhh, you so young! You so beautiful..." She smiled at my face and then furrowed her brow.

"Oh, you have stress all over your face. You break out? You need facial. You too young to let your skin look like that. You need to moisturize...you need to exfoliate."

Apparently Delia had a beauty salon in San Francisco before she started living the Cinco Ranch lifestyle. She that I was too young to have crappy skin a few more times and then the kids got off the bus and she walked away. I was telling my friend Laura about it and I could not stop laughing. Unbelievable. The funny thing is that I'm not at all offended about it. She really did say it as sweetly as possible. It was sort of a wake up call really because I don't take care of my skin anymore. Delia is 40 and her skin is as fresh as a baby's bottom. I went inside and pondered my pores and then I pondered google on how to do a home facial. I used whatever I could find around the house, and my skin does actually feel a little smoother. My favorite discovery was a homemade sugar scrub made with equal parts sugar and warm water. It really is a gentle exfoliant. I really should invest in some quality face products. I guess that's why G-d made Macy's charge cards. :)

This weekend was great! My in laws came and spoiled everyone, plus my mother in law taught me how to knit. Jeff was appaled. He made me promise him that I wont turn into his mother. :) When I was halfway done with my scarf, I asked him if he liked it. He said yeah, sure...it's great. I told him he was going to be so warm this winter! Now he is very scared...and he should be!

I have been trying to think of something fun that the kids can be for halloween. I want them to 'match'. The best idea I have heard yet is Little Bo Peep for Kimberly, and the Sheep for Kennen. Cute huh? Jeff said that was lame. I told him he was lame. So, does anybody out there have any other ideas?

SPI

I *finally* got the pictures from our trip to South Padre Island last May. They were stuck in a disposable camera in Jeff's fishing bag for the last 4 months. OMG I can't wait until we can go again. Jeff already has 3 free nights at the hotel with his points. Oh, but get this...he seriously wants to trade in our free night points for a fucking shaved ice margarita machine. I'm speechless.

Are you kidding me? You mean you want shaved ice instead of an annual vacation that saved my sanity earlier this year?

"No Baby, listen...it's not like a regular blender...it SHAVES the ice. I don't think you know what I'm talking about...you've probably never had a margarita with shaved ice."

WTF???

All that I can say is that he is his mothers son. She loves gadgets and she loves to share them with me. She is the only reason that I own anything from pampered chef. Oh, and he also doesn't think it's that big of a deal now because I'm relativly calm, cool, collected and sane. Just wait until next April when I'm really burnt out from the kids and calling him 50 times a day to asking him when he is coming home to help me. I'll ask him then if he wants to give me shaved ice, or if he wants to give me a room with an oceanfront view for 5 nights.


Here's an example. This is me and Jeff on the first morning of out little vay-cay. I am not relaxed yet and I want my damn coffee.

Don't I look tense? I am smiling for the camera but I don't mean it. Do I look fun to be around? I would say no, that by the look on Jeff's face, I'm not at all fun to be around right now. He is counting the minutes until breakfast if over and he can get his pole wet. His fishing pole, that is.


This is the day before we came home and we had just spent the afternoon day drinking on a Bay fishing charter. We caught Whiting and we drank a 12 pack of beer. Don't I look...happy? I'm rockin' the trucker had that I bought for $3 to keep the sun out of my eyes. I had so much fun. I was so much fun to be around. Hey look at that...see Jeff's smile? There's your proof:
If Mama ain't happy, ain't nobody happy. I'm already counting down the days for our trip next year. And *that* makes me very happy!

p.s. I'm also counting down the hours until my in-laws get here. Yipee! If I want to go for a quick run? I can strap on my shoes and go! Well, go by myself and not worry about sunblock, juice boxes, and teddy grahams to keep little man occupied. If I want to sleep in? Grandma loves doing the morning thing with the kids. I heart them!

Barnacles!

I broke my blog! I tried a new template and I don't like it but now not only do I not like my template, but now I've lost my blogroll links. Tartar Sauce! I'm too pissed to fix it now. Ugh. I dont know what I was thinking. What do I think this is, myspace? argh! I know I want to personalize my blog but I think I need to do a digital scrapbook thingy for my masthead and leave the rest alone. Anyone know how to help me? Keikicakes? I think I will take you up on your offer. Okay, now I really have to clean the guest room! Bye!

sensitive boy

Kennen is sensitive emotionally, and apparently dermatologically. He was in my bed since the wee hours of the morning and he kept thrashing around and crying. I kept buring my head under my pillow and telling him to hush up or go back to his crib. At around 5:00am he finally found the words to tell me what was wrong with him and he cried out, "Buh-Eye!"



"Bug bite?" I slipped my hand under his shirt and he was covered in hives. I stripped him down, gave him benadryl and sponged him down with Aveeno oatmeal bath, to which Kennen responded, "No day-doo! Doo-olh! Doo-olh!" (translation, 'no thank you, too cold too cold!!!) I kept him home from preschool because even though they aren't contagious, he would be a super duper whiny boy and I didn't want him to suffer without his interpreter (me).



Oh, and i have a secret. I haven't mentioned it because I didn't want to jinx it, but my boy is potty trained! I know that in another 6 months it could be a different story, but as it stands now, he just goes to the bathroom when he needs to. I am so close to Mommy freedom that I can taste it!

My passion party was great! Great food, lots of wine and a bunch of wild girls. I can't wait for my new friend to get here. Oh, and the best part is that after 6 glasses of wine and stubling home at 1:00am (thankfully she is only about a block away) I didn't wake up with a hangover. Just a grumpy husband. Watching the kids by himself has that effect on him.


My in-laws are coming! I need to hit the guest room with the Dyson (I love it! I sleep with it when Jeff is out of town!). And a shovel for all of my paper clutter. And a garbage bag...for all the garbage. :)

The Chef

My friend L, over at Keikicakes is married to The Chef. He throws a great party because the man offers us feasts like no other. Seriously! He is the fancy pants executive chef at some fancy pants eatery. He is also a man of few words. But when he does say something, it's unusually deep and wise. It gets all the drunk people in the room to either stop and reflect for a moment, or to roar with laughter. He is also a magic man, because he got the children to do THIS! May I proudly present to you, the neighborhood love triangle:

See no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil...can you imagine these kids in 13 years?

Team Britney!

Okay, I can't really say that I 'feel bad' for Britney Spears for her MTV 2007 VMA debacle. The girl still has a montly income of $700,000, so yeah, I don't feel sorry for her. But she is a human being, and a mother, and girl who married a guy who just used her. Just lay off people! Ch-check out 'Britney's apology'.

Mothers and Daughters

What is up with my 5 year old? I think she hates me. At least she is treating me like she hates me. When she gets home from school, she complains about the snack I packed for her. "I WANTED CHIPS!" I am brushing out her rats nest hair in the morning and she tells me I'm not doing it right. I volunteer at her school twice a week so I can see her and that she can see me and we can have a hug and a quick kiss before she scampers off to recess. I want her to feel secure and confident. I remember being in elementary school and seeing other volunteer moms and knowing (but slightly hoping otherwise) that my mom would never show up because she had to work. Actually, the only time I saw my mom on the school campus was in 5th grade when she came and checked me out early. I saw her and smiled and thought she was taking me to lunch. She was actually picking me up because my Dad had a brain tumor and was in the hospital. Ahhhh, memories.

Anyway, if I do nothing else as a mother, I want Kim to know she is loved and that I'm there. Physically and emotionally there. It's never enough with that child though. I see her twice a week when I volunteer and I always go and sit by her and talk with her and her friends for a few minutes. All these giggly little girls look up at me and ask me if I'm taller than the principal (yes I am!), and tell me that I'm pretty. They are so cute! I'm happy she has little friends. When Kim gets home though she just complains and tells me that I never sit and eat lunch with her. It stings because, okay sure, I dont eat with her but I am there. She is so ungrateful. I never saw my mom at school ever. Is this just age appropriate Mom/Daughter stuff, or is my child just a huge brat? Is it because she is my first and I'm learning as I go? Are these qualitites that I should try to snuff out, or should I hope that she carries this 'spirit' (to say it nicely) into adulthood. Maybe it's just our personalities. My mom and never had that weird Mother/Daughter tension. We got along swimmingly. Maybe it's because she was working 40+ hours a week and we missed and truely appreciated each other. I don't know. It's hard because I think I'm doing the right thing, but if I use Kimmy-girl's behavior as my gage, I feel like I'm fucking up big time.

On a lighter note, I'm going to Passion Party #2 this weekend. I've heard good things about the bullet...we shall see!

Say what?

A hurricane hit Houston last night/this morning? really? It was a Cat 1 and since I am waaaaaaaaay out in the western burbs, I didn't even get a drop of rain. All I have is a lovely cold front. Ahhhhhh. Look out New Orleans! It's coming your way. It's not going to be bad though.

Again, I must say all the excitement of the storm and the predicted 15 inches of rain and lots of wind...it was very anti-climactic. Oh well, I'm going to go running on this beautiful cool morning. Peace out yo!

kiddos

I just dropped Kennen off at preschool and he screamed like a crazy boy.

"MAMA! MAAAAAAAAAAMA! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

Goodness child. I really hope that he pulls it together and can have a happy and enriching year at preschool. Last Wednesday he cried all day apparently. I don't want Kennen to be unhappy, I don't want the preschool teachers to be overwhelmed with him.

*********

okay, seriously as I was typing that last sentance, his preschool just called. I answered the phone and said, "Oh no. How is Kennen doing?"

She told me she just wanted to call and say that Kennen was doing great and that he had a lot of fun in music class and that he is happy and having a great day. I said thank you so much for calling, I feel much better now. I hung up the phone and did the ugly cry. Shoulder shakin sobs. The dog went nuts. That boy does something to me, it's true. And it's not that my love doesn't run deep for Kimmy-girl, but she is a sturdy little thing. Whoa! Speaking of Kimmy-girl, I gotta go volunteer at her school today. I love being the mean lunch lady! Bwahahahah!

Excessive?

Please tell me not to be a retard and buy the new Pink Dyson vacuum. Mine died while I was trying to vacuum up fleas (p.s. I've not seen any since Sunday and nobody has been bitten...I'm hoping it was just a few rogue fleas).

I told Jeff that we needed a new one and asked for a budget. He said, "Whatever you think is best."

It sounds like he is being sweet and saying, 'Buy what you need sweet sweet mother of my children.'

Really he is using Jedi mind tricks because he knows I have a hard time spending money. Well, that is unless he is out of town and I am really bored and I start thinking irrationally because the only company I keep is 2 kids and a dog.

Honestly if I just swear off Super Target for 2 or 3 weeks, that is the money right there. I can live off bean burritos and coffee for the next few weeks! The kids have ramen noodles...I could throw in a multivitamin for good measure!

Gah I'll probably just end up duct taping my old vacuum! Is there anyone out there that thinks that vacuum cleaners are interesting and have an opinion either way one which products are better than others? No? Didn't think so...

Busy bee...

...yep that's me! I don't understand the mathematical equation that cause me to run around non stop all day when the kids are in school, but lay around and not accomplish much when they are both home. I totally don't get it. I have been up since 6:30 and this is the first time all day I have caught my breath. My day started with no milk. WTF! Mama needs here creamy coffee and the kids need their cheerios. I tried to get Jeff up to run to the store for me, but no. He had only slept for 14 hours (literally) and he would 'get up in 10 minutes'. What is so fucking appealing about those magical 10 minutes? Get your lazy self up already! I went to the store and he made up for it by packing Kennen's lunch and making me laugh.

Speaking of Kennen. I had to run back up to preschool because I forgot his nap mat. When I went there, I peeked outside at the playground and he was screaming like a banshee. Bwahahahaha! Better you than me preschool teacher! Actually I cried. My buddy boy. I asked the principal if she wanted me to leave a binky with them.

She said, 'Uh, okay. We don't give them until nap time though.'

In the sixty seconds it took me to run out to my car and back, she took it gratefully and said, "You don't mind if we give it to him now do you?"

"Of course not." I smiled. This validated me a little. He is such a turd sometimes and I know that I'm not the only one that can't take his crying anymore. I seriously wont let anyone babysit him because he is the kind of child you want to smother. A mama's love runs deep but I could see how he can push you quickly to your breaking point. Kind of like his Daddy. Who wont get up to buy me some fucking milk in the morning.

Jeff's speckled trout

I never thought I would be the kind of girl who likes the kind of guys who hold dead fish and flex. He is reaching out to my inner cavegirl.

4 letter words

There is a new four letter word in my repitoire. I know that y'all have to endure a damn, shit and an occasional fuck, but now I have a new one.

F.L.E.A.

My fucking perfect dog has fleas. Hannah Banana Shazama Hotlanta Fleabag-a Montana. Has a nice ring to it, no? I just gave her a monthly Frontline treatment last Thursday and now she has fleas? How? This is my first encounter with fleas so I am totally clueless on how to treat my house for them. I'm doing the yard tomorrow and i vacuumed like a mad woman today. I gave Hannah a 'buh-buh bah' (Kennen was very excited about the whole thing) and since I don't have flea and tick shampoo, I just scrubbed her down and then made her lay down in the water to drown the fleas. Well, I kind of held her under for 2 minutes. Yes of course her head was above water. Mostly :).

I busted out Jeffs clippers and trimmed up her face. It is soooo uneven. She looks like the nerd dog who's mom gives her home haircuts. I also gave her another Frontline treatment. I hope I didn't poison my dog...but honestly the last dose I tried to put on her was mostly on her fur and not on her skin. And apparently I have joined forces with Hannah in spreading the frontline flea and tick killer to any bug that bites us. After I put the medicine at the nape of her neck, I kissed her. On the nape of her neck. It was delicious! Kidding...I'm such a moron.

Here's Hannah Fleabag-a:
Oh, but don't fret for me! There is a silver lining. Remember the laundry monster I told you about? Well it's less of a monster and has actually morphed into The Blob. I can't see my carpet in my bedroom, let alone vacuum it. Oh, and are you wondering if there are fleas in my laundry pile? Yeah, me too. I am slaying the laundry monster as we speak. sigh...

Remember how I was talking about my fabulous neighbors? Tonight I was considering Ramen noodles for dinner when there was a knock at my door. Dr. N was delivering chicken enchiladas, courtesty of Patty. :) She even put them on a festive little plate for me. She's such a good Bung Chow.

p.s. Patty, they rocked!

Shopping therapy

I have never been a big spender. Until recently >:).

Now, when I'm bored, I go shopping. When I am stressed, I go shopping. When I go walking at the mall early in the morning, I linger until the shops open so I can reward my hard working exercising ass with new work out clothes. I love finding deals. Yesterday I found Nike workout shorts, skirts and tanks for like 75% off. Go me! Today I got an email saying that my Macy's bill was due. I could pay it online but since I have a full tank of gas, I think I will drive to the super duper mall that is 20 miles away and make a day of paying my credit card bill. Maybe I will buy a new purse...only if it's on sale! I also need to pick up some clothes for Kennen. I was getting him ready for school the other day and i relized that he has outgrown almost all of his shirts. I'm also going to just look at their furniture department. I hate my sofa. I need leather because I let the kids eat on the couch and I just can't keep up with the stains. Oh, and I have rolled up my wool rug in the family room because Kennen smeared desitin all over it. Then the dog kept walking in it and now I have desitin paw prints all over my wood floors. It's all good though...that's the beauty of washable surfaces.

Ever since Kim started school, I feel busier than ever. I am hardly ever home. It's weird. My laundry monster is out of control (what else is new) and Jeff says we are having a laundry party this weekend. There will be alcohol involved. Ahhhhh the weekend. Is it wrong that I look forward to every weekend to put on a late night movie for the kids and get drunk with my friends and go home and have drunk sex with my husband? Do other Moms do this? I'm so glad that we chose this neighborhood to move into. And that my friends chose to move in next to me. I hit the house jackpot. The house next door to me is for sale (I miss you Lisa!) and I pray that whoever moves in will be my friend. :) And that they like kids. That might occasionally drive their Barbie Jeep in their driveway. And big dumb animal drunk husbands every Saturday night. Who might mow their lawn on Sunday morning so he can sweat out his hangover. It's all about give and take, no?

Boyz

Okay so first I'm going to have to start off with an Ode to Kennen. Oh how do I love thee baby boy? When I was pregnant with my son and we found out we were having a boy, Jeff did a victory dance in the ultrasound room and I was disappointed! How disgusting is that? The whole thing just felt very weird to me. The thought of growing a boy (penis) in my body was not appealing. I tried to go shopping for boy clothes but I kept gravitating to the baby girl section. I looked at toddler boys at the playground throwing rock at my toddler daughter and shooting at her with imaginary guns and I cringed. Boys sucked.

Then I had one. I dote over him. I spoil him. He is the infallible child. He's a good boy. And he started school today and I cried because I was worried about him and I missed him. Apparently Kennen is pretty confident because he didn't shed a tear when I dropped him off at school today. He just sat down and played with no problem. I stayed in the window waiting for him to realize I was gone and cry for me, but he didn't so I left. When I picked him up from school as soon as he saw me, he totally lost it. He cried and cried and hugged me so tight. Goodness I love that boy. Here is a photo recap of our day:

Here's my sleepy babies. Look at Kenny's fred flintstone feet compared to Kim's normal feet:
He cleans up pretty nice, eh?
When did he start looking so much like Daddy?
Rear view!

At school!

Being a big boy. I just keep clicking pics so that he can't see that I'm crying!
Ok, maybe I'm biased...but he's a studly little man, no?
I'll take what I can now until he runs screaming when I try to kiss him...
p.s. I chopped off my hair!

100th post!

Wowie! It's my 100th post y'all! In these last few months I have developed a fan base of like 5 people! I'm totally big time now. Thank you to everyone for checking back to read about my lame ass life and for actually posting comments! It makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside just thinking about it.

Oh, and more big news is that Kennen finally went pee pee on the potty today! He is a stubborn little man and it took me force feeding him two diet strawberry sodas and sitting him on the new Elmo potty in front of the tv watching Bob the Builder before he actually went. There were lots of tears and locking of horns from both of us, but in the end we both felt the jubilant victory of peeing in the potty. Here is a picture of Kennen with his bounty. Doesn't he look so proud?