Christmas Tree is Finally Up

We finally got our xmas tree up. We bought it from Walmart..yes its a fake and a prelit one but I think it looks pretty. Katherine picked out the angel..she had so much fun decorating it. She is so excited about having a tree this year (we have never had before since it was just me and her). Kyle thinks it neat when we turn the lights on..he will say "the light, the light" and point at the tree. He hasn't tried to knock any ornaments off yet but he has come close. We tell him no touch. Lauren did a funny thing. While we were decorating she managed to scoot over to where the presents were, pick her present and unwrap the side of it. Guess she couldn't wait.

A Little Bit of Everything

Manicure:
On Saturday I went to get my nails done (no i don't have fake ones...its mine i just like them to be shaped every month or so b/c I can't file or paint); anyways, I let my nails breathe every now and then so I didn't want any color. Well I hadn't ever had them buffed but this time they did and know what? My nails still look shiny. I know its only Tuesday but they have kept looking nice even after washing my hands 30 times a day, washing dishes every night, changing diapers, showers, laundry, and Lord knows what else I've put them through. I think every time I decide to go without color I will ask for my nails to be buffed. We'll see how long they maintain their shininess.

Big Brother Love:
Kyle has finally recognized Lauren as a person..or at least a sibling. Over Thanksgiving weekend he decided he wanted to start giving hugs...he went up to Lauren, held his arms out and said hug. It was so cute. So we put Lauren in his arms and after about 2 seconds he pushes her away, and then wanted another hug. This process went on for five times. Then later on he did it again and has been doing it everyday throughout the day. He will sometimes just do it once or do it several times. He also started blowing kisses. My heart melted when he did it. I put him to bed yesterday evening and out of the blue he said hug and after I gave him a hug he blew me a kiss. I had no idea he was capable of doing this. I am looking forward to more surprises.

Arguing Over Nothing:
Yesterday I had set out the hamburger meat and Italian sausage to make manicotti. Micau had to go to Houston for business and he calls me around 3 to tell me his is on his way back. I tell him whats for dinner. He said he didn't feel like manicotti..so I said I thought about pork chops but wasn't in the mood for them however I would make them if thats what he wanted. He wouldn't give me a straight answer and I was getting frustrated. I said fine just get something on the way home and hung up. I was really upset. Well, Katherine didn't want pork chops; she wanted the manicotti. Frustrated, I decide to make both. So I spend all this time making both, prepping only to realize I had no spaghetti sauce. I usually have like 4 jars on hand b/c you never know when you need a quick meal. I call Micau back and ask him to pick up some sauce on the way home; I told him I was making both meals to make everyone happy. I could tell by his voice that something was wrong; he said he would talk to me about it later. Fine. By the time he gets home the pork chop dinner is ready but the manicotti hasn't been started and it takes an hour to make. So I bake it 45 min and everyone sits down to eat the pork chops (Micau got home about 6). After dinner the kids take a bath. I go in the room to talk to him but all he says is nothing is wrong. Fine. I go to the gym to workout and decide to let it go. I don't care anymore; I don't want to be angry. I go home 45 min later only to be locked out. I bang on the door 3 times; finally I yell if no one opens up I'm leaving. Katherine comes to unlock the door; I pissed again. I don't talk to Micau; I go to bed angry. At about 1 I hear Kyle, but must of been my imagination because he was still asleep. Go back to bed. At 1.30 Katherine has a bad dream and put her back to bed only for Lauren to wake up and have to feed her and put her back to bed. At 3 am, Micau and I talk. I get to sleep around 4 I think. So today I was tired. It was a useless and energy waste to be angry over nothing. Ah well. Such is life. All is better now because we had make up cuddling (baby has sex radar).

Thanksgiving Weekend

We left Wednesday evening to go to Beeville..we stayed with Micau's parents instead of mine because they have a roomier house. Katherine wanted to help with the turkey but we didn't get there until 9.00 pm and she was just so tired that she just wanted to take a shower and go to sleep. The trip down wasn't too bad..we were stuck in traffic about halfway through Austin all the way down to San Marcos. There were alot of accidents during the day and I felt bad for people going North (I think that's to Dallas) because it was a standstill from 2 pm until Lord knows when. We left at 5.30 and I was looking traffic heading North was just bad...it was stuck from where we live all the way down to 183 (about 10-15 miles..maybe more). So anyways once we got through everything it wasn't too bad. Kyle and Lauren slept for half of the trip, then woke up and we had to stop to change them, go potty, get drinks. Of course for the rest of the trip Kyle and Lauren took turns on crying and sometimes tried to outdo each other on the screaming. Lauren got really loud for about 30 min and fell asleep about 10 min before we got to the house. Go figure.
Micau's parents had dinner at about 12 (i helped prepare some things)...Thanksgiving is the big thing in his family..his Grandmother, Aunt and Uncle come. Francis (his bro my ex) was there and brought his friend William. So a pretty good crowd. I had a small plate of food because we had to go to my Aunt's house for Thanksgiving 2. We waited for his son and exwife to come because they were going to stop by for a bit except her family had dinner late and they didn't get over until 3. He visited with his son for about 30 min and then we headed over to my family's. Luckily they had just sat down to eat. It was my parents, my aunt and uncle, my nephew (living with my parents right now), and a few of my aunt's friends. Micau and the boys watched the game and I visited with the gals. We stayed until about 6.30. Katherine went to spend the night at parents so she could visit with her cousin since they don't get to see other much and they are the same age. We got back to Micau's parents house and played two games of Mexican Train. His family is very competitive and it is so funny to see his dad get upset and curse everyone with whom he gets upset with. We left on Friday at about 9 and got back into Austin about 1.00. We had to stop in San Marcos to eat (20 min wait at the IHOP) and traffic was a bit heavy. We took a nap and then just had an easy night.
Micau had to work on Saturday and I did most of our xmas shopping yesterday. I wrote in my online moms group a few weeks ago that I thought 200 was alot to spend on one child...should have kept my mouth shut. With xmas presents and stocking stuffers I have spend about 200 on Katie and 50 on each Kyle and Lauren. As you all know I bought Micau an early gift an XBox but I wanted him to have presents to open so I bought him a couple of things...not counting the xbox I have spent about 250 on him. Then of course there is family. So far we have spent 600.00 on presents. I still have 5 more people to buy gifts for so that will probably be another 200. Ugh. I didn't even think we had that kind of money...good thing we had put some in Savings and cut back on our eating out. So next time I won't rush in to say how ridiculous I think 200 on a person is.

Cleaning/Katies Party

We celebrated Katherine's 10th birthday yesterday (its actually on Friday). We had her party at Austin Park and Pizza because of their twilight special. She invited 30 kids but only 8 showed..we were actually expecting about 15-20. It was alot of fun for her; they played bumper boats, did the rock wall, lazer tag, but mostly played video/arcade games. I was really tired so Micau played liason; kept an eye on the kiddos. She got some good gifts. I will post some pics as soon as we get them downloaded.
Today I have spent most of the day cleaning. It took me all morning. I wanted the place clean since we are going out of town; I wanted to come back to a nice clean apartment. I just bought Kaboom last time I went grocery shopping. It worked great in the shower/tub...only a few squeezes to complete the whole bathroom. It works well and makes the bathroom smell nice. I also just bought a wonder mop. I have been using the Swifter; I love it but it doesn't get some of the tough messes off your floor. This thing is great. Love it. Easy to squeeze the excess water out and very lightweight. Same with my new Dyson (micau's xmas present to me). We were in bad need of a new vacuum cleaner so he bought me this. Its great. Helps my allergies alot and its easy to clean.
Okay gotta get ready to go visit the family.

Undefeated

Katherine's soccer team won today 6-1. They closed the season undefeated...their soccer coach was so happy. She was happy. Today was a good day. Here are some pics.

Blah

I feel like I am not contributing to the family. You know what I did today? I went to Bible Study and cleaned the kitchen. I rocked the baby to sleep while Kyle was in his room for two hours (he refused to take a nap). I put the baby down. I played with Kyle for a little bit while watching Ugly Betty. Then Katie came home...she took Kyle outside to play. So the baby is asleep..the two big kids are playing outside and I just finished a game of cubis. Some day. I don't feel like I do much. Micau says I keep the house tidy and do the laundry, save us money because the little ones are home and not at daycare which would end up costing us money. I just feel like I'm not contributing much. I feel bored; there are like 5 books I haven't read yet and my cross stitching but I feel like once I get started the baby is going to wake up and I'm going have to stop. I just feel blah. By the way I'm on my period so maybe thats why. I feel bloated and blah. Ugh. Can't wait for tommorrow to start...maybe I will feel better emotionally.

Video Games

***Before I start I just want to say that I am saddened at the loss of a friend. I have been sad and unsure of my decision. I just want to say that I am very sorry for al l the drama that has happened and I accept full responsibility for my actions; I cannot undue what I did or said. With that said, I think that is was best that we parted ways and I feel this loss very strongly.*****

I went to Target today to do some shopping for stocking stuffers, not really expecting to get a gift. As I am walking in there is a line of people on the side of the store that have been camping out. Not understanding this I go in minding my own. I found some great stocking stuffers in their one dollar bins for Kyle and Katie. I look around for more stuff and found baby einstein cds for just 5.99 so I buy one for Lauren and one for Kyle. I got Katie the Pink Panther (on sale for 13.99). As I look, I notice that the XBOX360 is on sale (399.99 and get a 50 gift card) and so is the Gears of War (59.99 plus 10 gift card). Not knowing what the normal price I pay for my stuff and walk down to the Best Buy. They too have a ton of people (longer line than Target) outside camping out. So I ask the gentleman who is answering my questions about the XBOX360 (which is the exact same price at Target b/c it is a set price) what is going on. He said that people are awaiting the PS3. I think this is dumb. To wait in line for any toy/gadget/game whatever is ridiculous to me. I dont' get it. Somebody please explain this to me. According to the guy, there are only a number of PS3s being sold and everyone wants one. I asked if the 360 price is going to come down then and he said no. Target sales ends tonight because the PS3 comes out tomorrow. So I went ahead and got if for Micau and now I have $70 on a Target gift card to buy xmas presents with. Of course I just spent a whole bunch of money on this stupid thing so he better play it. LOL.

Vent

I am upset today because I have to make a decision about staying friends with someone. I'm not sure how to go about telling someone that you no longer want to be friends. Its not that I don't want to know how she is doing or how things are...its just that well there is alot of negativity right now. At what point do you decide to stop being friends with someone? What is a good reason? This isn't easy for me to do or to decide. Its very hard indeed. But when it comes down to this person not agreeing with how you raise your children or are questioning if you are a good a parent...then should that mean that you shouldn't stay in contact? And what is the definition of a good parent anyways? Don't we all have our off days when we make bad decisions..or maybe not the best decision?
I don't think what I did was bad or incorrect...I know there are probably parents out there who may disagree. But for a friend to totally question whether or not you should keep your children or have them removed or have someone intervene without even telling you how they feel and to be nice to you as if nothing happened or was said kind of irks me. I have been supportive I think. I feel truly backstabbed, especially with all the crap we have had to go through because of some trouble caused by an ex and his girlfriend.
This has been bugging me this morning. It isn't a decision I have come to lightly. With all due respect to my friend I will of course discuss the situation with her. But I hate brooding over this and I don't question my parenting skills..I know I am not going to win mother of the year award but I know I am not a horrible mom or a terrible person. I am a decent human being. I am a good mother...I do the best I can. I don't feel like I should have to defend that. So as of right now I am letting this matter go and handing it over to God. No more brooding...no more being upset. I am washing my hands of it.

Dentist Office

Katherine had a dental appointment today to put some sealant on a tooth that had a teeny weeny cavity. They had to numb part of her face in order to do this. I had the two little ones with me. Do you think they were good? no. Kyle woke up at 5 am today and slept for about 30 min before we got there. He was trying to get into everything and everytime I tell him no he screamed or threw himself on the ground. Lauren is teething and fussy. She cried off and on throughout the visit. I took them back out to the lobby so he could play in the kid zone but no he wasn't happy with that. He finally calmed down to eat his gold fish for awhile. It took about an hour but it sure did feel longer than that. I just had a really bad morning. So I met Micau for lunch and Katherine had a hard time just eating on one side. She got to miss school for the rest of the day. As soon as we got home I put Kyle in his room so he could either nap or have some down time. After about an hour Lauren finally went to sleep.

Scrubbie Face

I forgot to mention this in my wedding post. I had my hair and makeup done (i usually don't wear makeup so I felt I should let a professional do it). As you can see my hair was curled. Well when I went to take a shower that evening it took three washes of my hair to get all the freaking gunk out and my face was so red and raw from having to have washed it about 2 or 3 times trying to scrub all the makeup off. I still had some masacara on when i got out so i just left it for the morning. I don't get how women who wear makeup everyday do it. Micau said most women have cold cream to remove makeup..thank god I don't spend a ton of money on this stuff every year. So that is my little story.

Wedding Day

Well everyone showed up on time but we got to the church about 5 min. late and Micau and I forgot our camera. So the only camera was my moms and about 1/2 of the pics didn't come out very well. Micau said it wouldn't have mattered if we had ours because we wouldn't have been able to take any pics ourselves; we had to be in the pics. We also forgot to take a picture of just Micau and I. So all of the pictures we have are with family members. That's okay. We don't need great pics..we will always have the memories. The ceremony was actually about 20 minutes...everybody behaved very well; you could only hear the baby about 1/2 the time. She was noisy sometimes. Kyle wouldn't stand still to be in the photos. He just wanted to play. At the restraunt we did well. I had a cold and I hadn't taken any medicine so I wasn't feeling very well. There were 18 people who came to the wedding/luncheon. Micau's mom said that the church is cute and quaint and the pastor seemed nice. I was surprised because I thought she would be put off by a female pastor but she wasn't. Also, my parents thought the ceremony was lovely. Surprised that nobody cried. I almost did when I was saying my vows but didn't. I think I was thinking that I paid so much for my makeup that I didn't want to ruin it. Everybody went back home from the restraunt. Micau and I went home to take care of the kiddos. I thought Katie would like some alone time with me so I took her to go see the Santa Clause 3. It was cute. A movie about love. Couldn't have picked a better day for it. Then we came home and I made dinner. I went to bed about 8.30 pm because I was just not feeling well.
Presents. We opened presents when we got home from lunch. We got two crockpots..so we are taking one back. A group of my friends got me a Target gift card, we got a wedding xmas ornament, my mom and my aunt got us Walmart gift cards, Katie got a Target gift card, and Micau's parents gave us some money. Thats always nice. All in all it was a pretty good day. Just wish I didn't feel so bad.

Wedding Pics

Children

I think I'm going to stop telling people that we want to have 2 more kids. They look at us weird or their tone of voice changes. Its weird and uncomfortable. What is wrong with having more children..if you can afford them? I know that we don't get to travel or take vacations; and right now we are doing okay..bills getting paid and we even have a little in savings now. Insurance we are looking into. So if in three or four years we are in the right place to have a two more..why not? Is it socially unacceptable to have a large family? Its not like we are going to be living off the government; heck we can't even get WIC right now because Micau makes too much money and we have three kids. (Thats a whole different issue). Anyway, its frustrating to know that people look down on you when you have a big family...when I tell my parents they say why more? Don't you have enough? And a few racially inappropriate commments. Even Micau's parents (they have 5 kids) are like why more? I guess its because nobody expects us to last. They figure that we won't stay together. As for friends...I don't understand why not. I may have a shady past and right now i have 3 different dads; but is that any reason to put me down when I have changed my life around. I wish people wouldn't judge...I don't. Besides this is Texas..aren't we supposed to have large families? LMAO.

Shaving

Why is it we feel that we have to shave? Why can't we walk around hairy and looking like gorillas; I guess because it is kinda gross. I noticed the other day (monday) that I had not shaved in like forever. How could I tell you ask? Because my legs had hair on them that was equivalent to a gorilla. How could I not notice this? Because I have two babies (yes i'm calling him a baby because he is acting like) or a terrible two toddler, an unhappy sick baby, and a moody 10 year old. Although things are better today; the past few days have been hard. I noticed my hairy legs in the shower; only also to discover my hairy armpits and bikini area (yes I shave or rather Nair there). I was just hairy all over. I check my eyebrows..i have a unibrow and hair growing where it shouldn't. I think I even saw some ear hair. Gross. So needless to say I shaved and Nair. Today...guess what. I am all prickly. So know what I'm going to do? Thats right. I'm not going to shave until Sat. morning. I think I like going two weeks without shaving. Well it won't be that long but I think with the onset of winter I will go two or three weeks without shaving. Wait this is TX, can't do that because everybody will look at me like a freak. Oh wait..been there done that already. Ha Ha.

Wedding Dress Drama

On Saturday I pick up my dress. Well, somehow from the store to the car the bottom front got some tire dirt on it. Well I went to a cleaners and they said they can't spot clean the area; no cleaners can. I was upset because it is very noticable. I get home and try the dress on to see how bad it looks..its bad..even Micau notices the stain without me pointing it out. I told him the cleaners said they can't do it because if they put it through it'll ruin the dress. He said there has to be a place that does it. He opens the phone book and calls around and finds two places that say bring it in, let us take a look see and we'll let you know. Well this morning/afternoon I take it over to another cleaner and they owner says they can do it and it'll be ready by Thursday evening. It is going to cost $65 to get it cleaned. Yikes. But I guess its worth it.

Pictures

some pics from halloween and the fall festival we went to.

Clothes that Fit

So last night we went shopping for something for me to change into after the wedding to eat in. There weren't too many dresses and most of the skirts were in black. I have a ton of black skirts already; I just can't fit into them. This was at Kohls. So we go next door to Lane Bryant (which I've always referred to as one of the "fat peoples store." They too didn't have too many skirts/dresses. However I saw this cute top..perfect after wedding top..its really cute. But none of the skirts I tried on looked good with it..so I tried on a pair of jeans. Looks great except the shirt is a little thin and I feel too fat to wear it. One of the ladies that works there suggested wearing this thing (forgot the name of it) that you wear under the jeans and it pulls in your stomach..apparently alot of overweight people wear these. So I try it. It works. Fat rolls are hidden. I really love my outfit and for once I have a pair of jeans that I really like since having Lauren. It really boosted my self image a little...its nice having clothes that fit and look nice on you instead of trying to fit into stuff and always feeling fat. I guess I can't call it the fat people store anymore; I'm really glad that there are places like this out there for people/women who are overweight for whatever the reason. The women in the store were so helpful and friendly; the only problem was the price. They are bit expensive but I like what I got.

Top Chef

I really liked this show last season. The people on it were great and I loved the themes/cookoffs the chefs had to do. Plus, it was all about the cooking and just a hint of drama. That is what I liked about the show. This season seems to be more about the drama and less about the cooking. Plus, the new host is this ultra skinny model/actress who dresses way to slutty. In the second episode she was showing alot of leg, belly and boob and the guest judge kept staring at her butt and boobs. In was way obvious. Last nights episode, the chefs had to cook TGIF items for a firehouse..which means firemen. She wears this jean shirt which is so low cut I wouldn't be surprised if you were able to see a nipple and doesn't go past her belly button. The skirt was tight and was a hip hugger skirt (not that there is anything wrong with hip huggers..i am a big fan) but not when you aren't wearing a long shirt. Anyways, it showed alot of leg. Is this really the image Bravo TV wants to portray. I should think not. I am really disappointed with the new host and don't really care for how she hosts the show either. No its not because I am jealous..I just don't like her. I wonder what happened to the host from last season and wish they would bring her back.

Micau's son

Micau's son shaved his head...well not really shaved but cut off all his hair into a buzz cut. Last month he turned 16 and decided he just wanted to cut his hair. It was long. Everybody wanted him to cut it..I don't think any of us wanted him to go totally the other way. Him mom said that he wanted to completely shave his head but because of the neighborhood they live in they didn't want anyone to think he was a skinhead. So he has fuzz on his head. It is very different and takes some getting used to. I'm just used to his hair being so long and now there is nothing. It just seems funny.
I think I mentioned this already but he loves rowing. He had a rowing rigata last weekend and this weekend his gets to go to Chattanooga (sp?). He is very excited about. The rigata wasn't much fun because we didnt' get to see him go in..we saw him come out. He barely waved to his mom..she wanted a hug from him but all he wanted to do was go be with his teammates. What is it about 16 where they just hate to have any form of affection or affiliation with parents? She mentioned that he has been extra moody lately..must be hormones. Anyway I wanted to go to the rigata to show my support and I thought it might help in letting him know that we care about him and love him.
I am really happy that he decided to go to the wedding. Micau is happy also. We didn't think he was going to go but decided he didn't want to feel guilty about it later in life (or rather his mom doesn't want him to). I think it is more of her forcing him to go but we'll take it. We just want him there.
Wow this turned out longer than I thought it would.

Halloween/Kyle's Birthday

Katie dressed up as a harmony angel, kyle was a pirate who didn't want to wear his hat, and Lauren was cute cheerleader (UT). It actually was chilly this year..about 70 with a wind blowing. We went over to Katie's best frined house to go trick o treating. This is the 4th year that she and her best friend have been together for Halloween. We went for about an hour...they got a ton of candy. Lauren was done about half way through (she started getting fussy) and Kyle was done about 3/4 of the way through. The funny thing is that he didn't say trick o treat until after we were in the car on the way home. All in all it was a good night.
We didn't really do much for Kyle's birthday since he was turning two and quite honestly I don't know anyone with a toddler except for my online mom group and they all live in different states. He had his checkup yesterday and the doc said that there is a shortage on the hep vaccine so he didn't get one; he did get a flu shot which he cried and he had to get his finger pricked. He didn't take it very well. He kept kicking the lady and screaming and moving his body around. It was very difficult trying to hold his legs and arms (he kept trying to grab her arm and move it away from him). After it was done he didn't want to walk out; he wanted to be carried which I couldn't do because of Lauren. By the time I got him in the car seat he was glaring and screaming at me; he was totally pissed. It's all good because I stopped at Sonic on the way home and we shared a strawberry ice cream sundae. That made him happy. I made him sugar cookies and we sang him happy birthday (he doesn't eat cake yet) but he didn't eat the cookie either. Today he smashed one with his toy hammer. My friend in Idaho sent him two pairs of pjs and a mini vac, another friend in CT got him a walmart gift card, and we got him a tool bench set and a Thomas the Tank Train light, and his "real" dad got him a Tonka bulldozer remote control. It was made for 3 yr olds but Kyle likes to push the buttons. He hasn't broken it yet.