Pool Play

My friend, in tow with children and hubby came over to go swimming with one set of floaties and three toddlers...not the brightest. LOL. Anyways we all had fun playing in the pool except one of her boys stepped off the step in the kiddie pool and got a mouthful of water but luckily daddy picked him out just in the nick of time. My wonderful oldest daughter helped out with watching the boys and her little brother. She was so good and helpful. I am very proud of her for how she acted yesterday. After swimming we came back in and had lasagna and cheesecake...yummy.
My rant. What is it about parents who can take their kids to the pool and not pay attention to them? This happens so much where i live. There is a couple who has an 11 month old and they have their friends with toddlers down there and just sit around tanning, drinking beer, talking not paying attention to what the baby is doing. There has been a few times that they even left her sitting onthe step in the pool to go back out and tan or hang with their buddies...not to mention their friends leaving their kids in the pool. And then there are the older kids. They jump in the pool without looking..go running around the pool doing all kinds of stuff that they are not supposed to..come on people parent them. Then of course you have the parents who let their kids come to the pool by themselves..and i'm not talking teenagers..i'm talking about kids mydaughter age..8, 9, 10 years old. What kind of freaking parenting is that?
I'm not saying i am the perfect parent. But i don't drink in front of my kids...especially not get drunk in front of them; i don't leave them unattended especially in a situation that can turn harmful, and i don't let my children run rampant causing mischief. I mean I will sit at the pool and let my daughter swim but i keep an eye on her. I let my son be in the kiddie pool and play but i don't leave him there alone. To me there is no excuse for that. Am i the only one who feels this way or am i just weird? Ah well I hope for the sake of parents like that that no danger ever comes to your children.

WARNING: RELIGIOUS

My soon to be DH has a 15 yr old son who isn't too enthusiastic about us being together or the fact that we just had a baby so he hasn't been spending time with dad. Their relationship is kind of rocky right now. So I get up this morning to get ready for church and the kiddos and to my surprise he is going to go. Today's sermon was about laying your troubles before god and not to worry and also the miracles of praying when you pray with the spriit and the word of God. I thought what a good sermon for my non religious hubby to hear. Since our life is full of strife this was something both of us needed to hear. He believes in God but not organized religion and doesn't see the need to go to church. Anyways he didn't seem thrilled but on a plus note he did say maybe we could try a different church. The church we have been going to is non denominational and does alot of praise music, prayer partners, and then the sermon. It is about 2 hrs long. Anyway, he thinks it is a bit too commercialized and so my job this week is to look at other churches in our area that has a nursery and wonderful children's program and something that we would like to. We would be catholic if it wasn't for the fact they do nursery or have alot of children or adult bible studies. Anyways, I was just really moved today because with everything that has been going in our life I hadnt really taken time out to pray about it. I guess this was just a reminder that through God everything is possible. For me, this month (august) is about laying our worries before God through prayer instead of being so stressed out and concerned.

A whole bunch of stuff

Yesterday I had lunch and visited with a good friend of mine. We had fun..she loved getting to hold the baby as her baby is almost 2. Plus she has three boys and no girls so getting to hold Lauren is fun. We had lunch at a little bbq place...not real fancy just a small quaint place. It was yummy. My son loved getting to play with a whole bunch ofnew toys..and even got to take the popper home with him. Yeah. His favorite thing is running it into the door or against the wall just to make more noise. Thanks buddy. LOL.
My wonderful daughter (the baby) isn't sleeping on her own. She is being a spoiled brat. She has to be held..and not just held but rocked in order to stay asleep. She won't even sleep next to us in bed...nope has to be on the chest. We have tried a few nights of letting her cry it out but that didn't work. She learned how to hold her breath and make herself turn blue. She also started gagging if she goes for 5 min of crying and no one picking her up. She literally sleeps with her eyes open i think just to make sure we are holding her. The minute we put her down in her bassinet or boppy she wakes up. My daughter (Katie) has been holding her at times throughout the day so i can get stuff done or play w/kyle. Or while i'm holding lauren, katie will play w/kyle. But school is starting in three weeks and I can't continue to do t hat. HELP. Any ideas would be helpful. On a postive note...she did sleep for 5 hrs last night straight. Yeah.
Does anyone do ebay? It can be quite frustrating. I have been selling some items on ebay and what is it about some people not responding to you. I have a person who bought a book from me and i have emailed him twice about payment and still no response..should I just repost the item or wait..not sure what to do. I really don't want to resell it because he paid a good amount..but then again maybe if i repost it will go for higher? Plus, a couple of either people sent payments like a week after winning the item. Ugh. Frustrating.
Well off to get my daughter registered at her new school, pay bills (whoppee) and school supply shopping. What a wonderful day. LOL.

Healthy vs. Junk Food

Why is healthy food so much more expensive than junk food? We had to go to the mall yesterday and ate at the food court. For a half roast beef sandwhich (not a sub or anything; just a regular sand. made on nature own wheat bread) and a bowl of chicken noodle soup and a 16 oz drink my total was 6.31. My daughter gets a 2 slices of pizza and a 16 oz rootbeer for 3.32. She not only gets more food but hers was three dollars less than mine. It is so frustrating for those of us who are trying to eat better to have to pay more. Ever notice this when grocery shopping? A bag of chips costs you like 3.50..but fresh fruit can cost anywhere between 1.00-2.00 a pound. Isn't that ridiculous? Every where you look you see ads for eating better, ways to lose weight, surgery, but there is no incentive to do it in the food world. Its like they want you to eat unhealthy but buy the products to help you be smart in the way you eat. It makes absolute no sense to me. That is my rant for yesterday and today.
A friend and I have started a fitness blog where I will be posting recipes...usually what i will be making for dinner that evening. I am also posting some of the workouts I do. You should take a look...just click on the nat and barb link. Peace.

Eggs

We had a milestone today...my son ate eggs for the first time. Whoppee. Granted it was only 5 bites before he s tarted spitting it out but it is an accomplishment in getting him to try and chew food. For those of you who don't know my son is still on baby food and refuses to chew or eat regular food. We have been trying to get him to chew and have been trying different foods to no avail. He does eat vanilla wafers, oatmeal, grits, and sometimes cheerios. So I just wanted to brag about my boy finally eating and chewing.

Old Friends

Do you ever hear songs that remind you of your first love..even if it wasn't quite love but perhaps a love affair or passionate affair and of all the good friends you had and it is as if you are in a moment in time that seemed so wonderful and bad all at the same time? I am sitting here listening to some music thinking of a time before that seemed so long ago but was actually more like 4 years ago. This past week I was contacted by an old friend and she doesn't quite agree with some decisions I have made; this affected me in a way I didn't think it would. Talking to her stirred up so many memories..some sad, some regrets, and happy times. I expected her to be how she was four years ago and I think she thought I would have been too. It is amazing with how people change overtime and how things don't always go quite as you planned. I would hope that I have grown up and matured in the four years since we hung out and sometimes I wonder if I really have. We both were friends in a city that we moved out of and that city represents my maturing process I think. It is a place that to me will always be where my youth is and leaving it was like me leaving home..maturing. Going back would never be the same and the people I knew are gone; some still there but they too have moved on. It is as if I think of that place as frozen in time with who I was. I am grateful for the lessons I learned but I am happy with where I am at now and although I have made mistakes in the past year; hurtful mistakes; I would like to think that I am better than the person I was in that place. It jsut goes to show that we really can't change the past and would we really want to if we could because who would we be now if things were changed? Would you change anything and who would you be now if you did? Probably not the same and better left unknown.

My hubby's great

Okay so technically we're not married but who cares. I have to give him props. On Monday and Tuesday he gets up with Lauren to feed her and take care of her. She was waking up every 3 hours or so and he would get up with her after working all day and working part time on the weekend. So you know he is tired. Well yesterday my allergies started acting up really bad. I am sneezing and eyes watering and just plain grumpy. I go to bed around 8.30 because i know Lauren will be up soon. Well I end up waking up around 1.00 am to hear her crying and my poor hubby going she hasn't slept since 9. He has been up with a crying, fussy, irritated baby. So I get up to take care of her (after taking another allergy pill) and she stays awake until 3 am. I swear this child doesn't like to sleep. LOL. Anyways, my poor hubby wakes up at 7.30 to leave for work at 8.15 (running late) and tired of his a$$ because he hasn't gotten much sleep. Most men I know wouldn't do this, especially with being a sham, so I just have to say what a great guy and daddy. Thank you honey. Love ya.

Eating Out

Does anyone else have this problem? I just for my own sake wanted to know how much we are spending on fast food. So I went over the past two month bank statements to see. I was shocked by how much we had spent. So I looked at this month and although it is so much better than last month...it is still a pretty large number. I am like, we can't afford this..how on earth did we end up spending this much? My fiancee says its easy when you just spend 10 here and 10 there. So we made an agreement for the rest of this month forward that we will stick to the menu planning I do and try to follow that. We also agreed on a budget amount of how much we can spend on entertainment (which includes eating out). We are not to deviate from this. I am hopeful, but I know that my fiancee loves to eat out, especially when he is stressed and right now he has been very stressed. So I am hoping I can be the resourceful one and say no but the truth is i love eating out too. I am however, more health concious since i am trying to lose my baby weight so we shall see. Wish us luck.

chuzzle and heat

Has anyone played this game yet? It has these cute little furry creatures that you line up to get rid of. They even make noise when they get zapped. It is very mindless but addicting. My family is trying to beat each other on the score and levels. My daughter absolutely loves this game.
At 8.30 am today it is 85. The high is supposed to be around 103 and our humidity is going to be like 70%. I live in Texas and the funny thing about the weather is just how freaking hot it gets (90s at christmas) and the humidity. We don't have seasons..we have cool, hot and very hot. There is no such thing as going outside to enjoy the day unless you are at Lake Travis or in a swimming pool otherwise you would just die from a heat stroke. I wish we could get some nice springtime weather. I want to take the kids to the park but by the time it is cool enough (around 7 or 8) it is too late..bedtime for the kiddos. Aw, well just another day of pool time i guess.

Tantrum

Yes my 9 yr old threw a tantrum this morning over something stupid. Her father calls this morning and asks her to go to gattiland (which she has gone for the past two sundays in a row). Well today we had plans. He talks to her and says bye. She gets all excited and i'm like i don't think so. I call him back and say we have plans...on top of that it isn't even his weekend (i'm nice and usually let him see her whenever he wants which is typically only for 2 hrs on sundays). So she gets all upset and says how angry she is at the fact that she can't go and how mean i am and she doesn't want to be my child. Then she starts hitting her bed posts screaming "I want my daddy." I felt like saying all your daddy wants to do is party w/his latest bimbo girlfriend. After letting her rant for thirty minutes i tell her to stop crying and do her chores (laundry) or get a spanking...after ten min of how unfair i am she does her chores. Two hours later and she is telling her best friend how much fun they are going to have the barbecue.
This whole thing could have been avoided if the dumbnut had talked to me prior instead of her and doing all this at last minute. I just love having exes.

This Week

I have a 5 week old who doesn't seem to want to sleep at night. Ever been so tired that you fall asleep sitting up? This is my week. I hate it when people tell me to sleep when baby sleeps. UGH. You try doing that with a 2o month old and a 9 year old who keeps complaining about how bored she is and how she is being treated like a slave. I feel so sorry for you. Yeah okay whatever. This is my week. Hopefully next week will be better.