no scrubbing huh?

they lie when they say no scrubbing on the bathroom cleaning product bottle. i had to scrub, and scrub a lot. so today i tackled the job of cleaning the small bathroom that only my husband uses. my sister was here most of the day (i love her!)so she was able to entertain the kids while i scrubbed away. i should have taken a before and after picture so you could see just how horrific this bathroom was. i honestly don't know how he felt clean after using it. the only other bathroom i've seen that look this bad is the one my husband used to share with his two brothers at his parents house. i should have taken one look at that thing and ran the other way ;o) live and learn i guess. welp it took me nearly all day to thoroughly clean this one but that was of course with many kid centered breaks. i used 3/4 of the soap scum remover and the mold & mildew remover along with a whole lotta elbow grease. as i endure this headache i realize that this experience has encouraged me get on the ball with making my own cleaning products. i guess i just need to use these products up so i can reuse the bottles.

the good news is that i'm $30 richer! i've started this neat little allowance system for myself. i of course attend to regular household duties such as dishes, laundry, cooking, general cleaning, kid rearing etc. HOWEVER anything above and beyond the call of duty i get cold hard cash for doing. so i've used this a few times so far. last week i made $20 just for putting Mayden to sleep. it was a long day of just me and the kids, May skipped her nap and Cam hadn't napped well that day. Chris came home to relieve me but i knew he wasn't into putting May-May to bed so i asked him "how much will you give me if i put her to bed tonight?" he handed me a $20 bill...a bit excessive for a bedtime routine exchange but i'll take it... and so began my allowance. it's really just a system to both encourage me to tackle big projects around the house and to get some guilt free $ to spend on myself (which never happens... bills, bills & more bills)

life after people

so i forgot to mention that last week Chris and i watched a show called 'life after people' on the History channel. it was amazing. i didn't realize how much we are needed to keep up the current state of life. on the other hand after watching this you see how destructive we really are. a really bazaar thing is that some of the things that last the longest have already been around for thousands of years like the Egyptian hieroglyphs and the Great Pyramids. things we create now (paper, CDs, steel etc.) are fleeting. it doesn't take very long for nature to reclaim its land. if this ever comes to be i hope i get a front row seat to this event.

if you get a chance to catch the rerun, you should.

i guess it's official, i'm obsessed!

everything under the sun

so here's a bit of whats been going on and what i've been thinking this last week and 1/2 of no blogging.

last week i took Mayden to the doctor for what should have been her 2 year check up but really ended up being her 2.5 year check up... that's what happens when you have your second kid on almost the exact same day as your first. anyway, it wasn't as horrible as i thought it would be. we'd been reading about the Bernstein Bears getting a check up, watching Elmo visit the doctor and even did some roll playing. she tried so hard to be brave but she lost her cool a few times. i was so surprised that she cried when the Doctor listened to her heart...not so surprised when she cried about the shot. good news though: she's healthy and no more needles until she's 4!!

Heath Ledger unexpectedly died last week. so sad. death is such a crappy thing. i mean it's probably great for the people doing the dieing (hopefully) but it totally sucks for everyone who's left behind. i think the thing that makes me so sad about Heaths death (besides the fact that he was a fantastic actor) is that he was my age & has a two year old daughter. this poor little girl probably doesn't even know what's going on. since having kids i sometimes think about what would happen if i suddenly died. morbid i know, but still a real fear i have. i know they would be loved and well taken care of by their dad & grandparents but still how sad would that be for them?! i guess that's a bit selfish of me to expect my kids to be devastated over my death... but i think they would be. it makes me cry to really think about it, i mean the thought of not being able to be with my kids forever (or at least a really long time) kills me.

Friday i took May-May to our first 'aqua tots' class at the community college pool. she loved it! it was so nice to be doing something different for a change. the class is only 30 minutes long so it seems like as soon as we get in the pool it's time to get out. plus with all the work of dragging her there and getting bathing suits on then off again i really wish it was about an hour long. or at least schedule some free time in after our class so we can stay in the pool. anyway it's a lovely addition to our week.

last night i figured out that Cameron can hold his own bottle! because of our failed breastfeeding attempt i try hard to mimic it as much as i can by making it a point to be the one to give him most of his bottles and to always hold him, make eye contact etc. BUT yesterday Cam was super hungry right at the moment May ran her lip into our computer table. she was fine but i pushed my luck and decided to try and sneak some saline solution (which she hates!) into her booger filled nose and in turn created an even more major freakout... complete with vomit! so needless to say Cameron had to wait. i eventually threw (not literally) May in the bath and got Camo set up with his first solo bottle. i left the room fully expecting for the bottle to be on the floor when i returned but i was wrong... i couldn't believe it, he ate the whole thing by himself!

hopefully i'm back to regular blogging!

7 months of Camo & Doctors

so today Cameron Jude is 7 months old! i could swear he's been here much longer. he had a doctor appointment last week and he's 16lbs 11oz and 26 & 1/2 inches long. we recently switched doctors so this was his first time seeing Dr. Ibay. originally the kids were seeing this practice that i just picked out of the handbook but i never really liked them. fortunately while i was dealing with my post-birth blood clot i found this wonderful doctor and it turned out that she's a family doctor so she can take care of all of us (except for the fact that us adults do not currently have health insurance). since early December he's had a mild case of eczema all over his little body. he doesn't seem to mind much, he's still as happy as can be. i'm on a mission to see if anything is triggering it though. it's really just a matter of trail & error with this. lotion? food? formula? soap? laundry detergent? who knows!

Dear Janeen**, (or really anyone who has more than 2 kids)

how do you find time to eat?

i realized today that it takes me at least 2 and a half hours (if at all) to get my breakfast in the morning. i guess if i was smart i would wake up before them and enjoy such frivolous activities.


**Janeen is my cousin who lives in northern CA. she has a 7(?) year old daughter and two sons ages 2 & 1 (and a husband, which believe me counts as a kid sometimes :o) .... i think of her often during the day when i'm at the end of my rope.

back to basics

so we're back to using cloth diapers 80% of the time. i took a bit of a hiatus because they are a little more of a pain than disposables. you definitely have to change them more often when they are in cloth and with all the holiday festivities i just chose to use disposables so i didn't have to try and remember to change them ever hour and a half. Cam got band new mediums for Christmas (thanks mom!) 'cause he is itty bitty compared to what May was at his age. a little more laundry to add to my "to do" list....but it's worth it for sure.

it's probably too late

but if you happen to have plenty of time on your hands between now and January 31st i strongly encourage you to run (don't walk) to your local video store and pick up LOST seasons 1-3. that is if you haven't already fallen in love with this gem of a show. i'm telling you that once you start you won't be able to stop so make sure you're able to at least watch 2 episodes a night. if the dedication (or time...but common what's more important then LOST?) just isn't there then watch this video and it will sum it all up for you. although the trill of the roller coaster ride will be LOST...hahaha. hold on Losties, only 15 more days!



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FREE THE THREE

so Chris and i recently viewed the documentaries Paradise Lost 1 & 2. i actually watched them twice because this case is really disturbing to me. the documentaries walk you thru the triple child murders of West Memphis, AK back in 1993. the crime itself is horrific but an almost equal injustice (and much of the focus of the movie) is the conviction of 3 teenage boys who were supposedly in a satanic cult.



the trial is a circus filled with a media fueled frenzy. basically their case against the three boys is a coursed confession & the way they dress. the jury ends up with a guilty verdict and even sentence one of the teens to death. they do this without a single bit of conclusive evidence. if they murdered those boys then of course they are in the right place but i don't understand how can you convict on a capital murder trial with no evidence? worse yet, since the convictions there have been a ton of evidence that these boys did not commit the murders. and that things happened much differently then they first suspected. however the courts are in no hurry to do right so they have been sitting in jail for the last 15 years waiting. visit their website http://www.wm3.org/ to read it all. it's a very well done and extensive website and will probably take you days to read everything but it's all there. i just don't know how people can be so blind.

there is great theory (one i happen to believe) that a parent of one of the boys is more likely responsible for the murders. but as Damien put it "it's not as scary to believe that blood thirsty satanist were out murdering children then it is to believe that parents were actually murdering their own children."

this is exactly the reason why i am so proud to live in a state that has recently abolished the death penalty. juries do get it wrong. innocent people do go to jail. there are many reasons to do away with capital punishment as an acceptable form of punishment. and because innocent people are sometimes mixed up in all of this is a very good reason. how dare we try to play God.

support the innocence project who are there to help wrongfully convicted people get their sentences overturned.

boredom ensues

time to waste? yes! my impromptu photo shoot with the kids:


Other pictures from today:

a lazy morning watching TV (please note that this was a set up i do not allow my 6 month old to watch tv :o)

two May-Mays....oh no!

Mayden actually took this super cute picture of Cam and I. she's well on her way to becoming the next big photographer of our time.

i can not contain the love

handmade gifts

so i've been meaning to post this for awhile now and just haven't. my mom and i made this for my Nana & Grandad this year. from what i hear they really liked it. it was really fun to make and i definitely want to get into making more of my gifts. as much as i love to "give" i felt really empty with the buying this holiday season. i need a solution for that. i hate that people give and get things they don't want/need/use yet i feel guilty giving someone a piece of paper that tells them i got them a goat in Africa. anyway, we're taking orders now for next year :o)

maybe beer

so the last few days have been in the 60s and I've been in heaven. i even got to hang a few loads of laundry out to dry. this weather is making me so excited for spring! I've become such a winter wimp in my old age.

two funny things Mayden said to me this evening....

1) i was being a little impatient and rough with washing her hair in the bath. she hates water getting in her face yet she won't keep her head looking up...anyway i was doing my thing to get the job done and she says "Mama, don't be mean." okay so it was more sad then funny. she melted my heart and definitely made me stop and think about my actions.

2) reading books in bed and we get to the end of this "Little Critter" book and the picture shows the little girl with a cup in her hand. May says "what's in her drink?" and i say "i don't know maybe water, soda (which she's not allowed to have) or juice... what do you think she has?" May answers "ummm maybe beer!" lol the girl cracks me up!

1st .

isn't it the best feeling in the world when you first realize your pain medicine has finally kicked in!? ahhhhhh

can't write anymore, gotta go wipe off my neck.... the baby in the backpack has discovered the joy of spitting!

sitting purdy

so Cameron is getting better and better at sitting up by himself. he's still a little wobbly and requires and entourage of pillows to assist his eventual fall. it's all over if something catches his eye and he turns his head to quickly. gosh i hate it when a baby expert website tells you"by now your 6 month old is rolling over from his stomach to his back and vice versa" ...ummm no he's not! tummy time isn't going well either. he doesn't last long before he wants to be rescued. May did really bad on her stomach too, that's probably why she went straight to walking. I was determined to not let that happen to future kids. i think i'm too soft when it comes to tummy time. we need tummy time boot camp over here!

in other news i finally put up the December pictures on our photo website. check them out if you want.

http://www.speer.phanfare.com/

password = turtle