Wednesday, May 6, 2009
Goodbye to Diapers??????
I never thought I would get excited about pee-pee! Tonight, Maura who just turned 2 announced to her Daddy, her 3 sisters, and me that she was going to sit on the big girl potty. We all laughed at how adorable she was......and then turned our attention back to American Idol. A few minutes later, she emerged with no pants and no diaper on her cute little dimpled bottom insisting "I pee. I pee." She was so excited, clapping for herself and grinning from ear to ear. Out of curiosity (and to make her happy), I went to check the potty seat as I have done a million times and all the while expecting to see the bottom as dry as a bone. But, what to my wondering eyes did appear......yellow liquid! Could it possibly be that my baby peed on the potty with no coaxing and no assistance? I felt like I just hit the lottery. My mind was racing with the prospect of seeing my last of 4 children exit diapers! Wow, what will I do with my new found wealth? As I was making grandiose plans for our new-found family wealth, my 2 year old little potty genius says "uh-oh. Mommy". I walk to the dining room only to find her bare bottom positioned perfectly over the heating/ air vent and clear liquid running from her leg into the vent. Okay....maybe we have a little more work to do before we can say goodbye to diapers for good!
Sunday, May 3, 2009
Happy to Be Poor!
Of course I am up late/ early A.M. paying bills! I never go to bed before 1 am so why not get depressed and pay bills. So, just as I am finishing up and stressing over the deductions about to come out of my checkbook, I see a story on-line about Warren Buffett. Warren Buffett's company Berkshire Hathaway owns Geico. Based on my line of work, I am always interested in how insurance companies are performing. I also am aware that Geico lost their number 1 spot in Auto Insurance sales to a competitor recently. So, I bite at the catchy title and read on......Buffett gave a speech at Berkshire Fest (sounds like a place where women would burn their bras!) that was doom and gloom telling everyone interested (accounting geeks like me!) that operating profit fell and the company's book value declined 6% during the first quarter! The company's stock has fallen 39% since 2007 and profit fell 62% last year alone. Might not sound like much but take your annual salary and multiply it by 62%.....now pretend your employer tells you to give that amount back (come on, just play along with me here)! All of the sudden, paying my mortgage and car payments doesn't sound so bad! Now, I am sure that Mr. Buffett is still a very, very rich man! But, it sure sucks to be him right now! At least when you start out with $0 in the stock market (like me), the most you can lose is $0 (Wow! Being poor has its advantages)...imagine Berkshire Hathaway with $25billion that is highly dependent upon the stock market. For some reason, I am no longer depressed and can go to bed resting easy on the reality that I have nothing to lose in the stock market right now (tomorrow I will admit that my 401k is taking an ass-kicking....but for tonight, just let me have this small taste of victory). Warren Buffett ain't got nothin' on me right now! Sleep tight!
Monday, April 27, 2009
Why Don't I Have a Grandma?
Morgan was sitting at the kitchen island talking and talking about some little imaginary friend. She told me that the friend was at the park alone with no Mommy and no Daddy. She told her friend "now, that's not a very good idea". She says that she called the little girl's Grandma using her cell phone (wonder who is paying for those minutes?....I mean, I think the child should be at least 10 before she has a cell phone). According to Morgan, the Grandma came, picked the little girl up, and took her home. Morgan thought for a minute and looked me straight in the eye and said "All my friends have Grandma's. Why don't I have a Grandma?"
Now....I know that am old enough to understand that life is not fair but I am still sitting here (several hours later) thinking about this whole conversation. Why should I (or anyone for that matter) even have to explain to a 3 year-old why some children have 2 Grandma's and she has none. Sometimes life is so very ridiculously NOT FAIR !!!
Now....I know that am old enough to understand that life is not fair but I am still sitting here (several hours later) thinking about this whole conversation. Why should I (or anyone for that matter) even have to explain to a 3 year-old why some children have 2 Grandma's and she has none. Sometimes life is so very ridiculously NOT FAIR !!!
Saturday, April 25, 2009
Family Photo and Taking of the Pacifier
We attempted to have photos taken for only the 2nd time ever at a studio this week. It was truly a reminder of why I NEVER take my kids for professional photos. They are very scary little people with an agenda of their own!
My sitter and husband took the kids on Tuesday. My theory was that if I was not there, they would not want to hang on me. I was just trying to get a good photo of the kids for once! We found this lady who takes photos in her home. Of course, I did not realize the place was 50 minutes from our house until the night before the photo. What the heck was I thinking? Another instance where my once perfect ability to pre-plan was completely destroyed by my rotting Mommy-brain. So, the car ride alone became a journey.
My husband calls me about 20 minutes into the appointment and I could hear the baby screaming in the background like a wild woman. She would only have her picture taken while being held by the sitter. She would not sit with the other kids alone. She was hysterical and screaming like something out of a horror movie! It was HILARIOUS....mostly, because I wasn't there and he finally got to deal with one of her little 2 year old ridiculous temper-tantrums. So, we ended up with like 5 photos of my kids AND the sitter. That would make for an interesting picture to send out to our family, ya think?
The photographer was very nice and offered for us to come back on Saturday and try a family photo in the hope that the little demon would sit still and cooperate. I am just impressed that the lady was not too freakin' frightened and actually invited us back. I mean, I personally would have just offered the photos for free in exchange for never hearing from our family again!
So, we go back on Saturday....all dressed up again, 50 minute drive, and get into the studio. The baby started off as an angel. Then, the FIREWORKS, I attempt to pry the pacifier from one of the twins' (Mackenzie) mouth. She was not having it. We finally convinced her to hold it by her side for about 2 seconds with a random suck in between flashes of the camera. Then, she just threw herself on the floor and went into full screaming demon mode. The baby followed right behind.....there was no turning back from there. Lucky for the kids, we got one photo where everyone was staring at the camera and somewhat smiling. I was prepared to take a picture of their little screaming butt's and plaster that on a freakin' card to our family. Then everyone can see what little monsters they can be! Ya know...since they are always so cute when everyone else is around.
So, we get in the van and at that moment I decided.....the pacifiers are hisssssssssstttttttttoooooorrrrrrryyyyyyyy!!!!!!!!! I told Mackenzie to enjoy the ninny (pacifier) on the way home and at nap time because when she woke up, it was going "bye, bye". She looked me dead in the face and said "no". I figured, I would ignore her because ultimately, I WAS going to win! I used the nap time to rest up knowing that the evening was going to be a complete, total b*tch of a night!
So, upon waking up, I removed the ninny from Mackenzie's jaws and she went into a hysterical fit........throwing herself on the ground, screaming like she just lost a limb, and foaming at the mouth. This went on for about 25 minutes (yes...25 minutes!) until her shirt was covered in snot and was wet from tears (ok...mostly from slobber and spit)...but from her drama, she would have you believe they were tears.
Mackenzie finally decided that life might go on and started playing with the other kids. I was even starting to think that there might be life beyond ninnies! YEAH RIGHT! Well, we had an encore performance......not once, not twice, not three times, but 4 flippin' times! Each time, she screamed and threw herself around for no less than 20 minutes. Unfreakin' believable! I just ignored her each time. I mean, I was already too deep into this mission to abort it at that point. There was no turning back now. She finally settled and went to bed. My biggest fear was that she would find some random ninny and be hiding in a corner sucking on it. But, she made it through the night. Amazingly, we went until 12noon the next day before she asked for it. This time when I told her that the ninny was gone, she just looked right at me and said "Okay".
Funny though because when I went to get the baby up from a nap, Mackenzie was eyeing her ninny like it was a million-dollar lotto prize. We decided to allow the baby to keep hers a bit longer but only at naps and nighttime. So, I started out to the living room with the baby and then realized Mackenzie was missing. I swear, I think my little ninny-junkie was back there trying to figure out how to score herself a ninny-fix! She threw one heck of a fit as I drug her little butt out to the living room. And, into another tantrum we went. So, being the good mom I am.....I decided to videotape it all so that she could see how ridiculous she looks some day! Of course, the minute I hit the record button, she stopped dead in her tracks, gave me the biggest smile and started performing. I swear, I am going tomorrow to have a video camera surgically implanted into my forehead!
My sitter and husband took the kids on Tuesday. My theory was that if I was not there, they would not want to hang on me. I was just trying to get a good photo of the kids for once! We found this lady who takes photos in her home. Of course, I did not realize the place was 50 minutes from our house until the night before the photo. What the heck was I thinking? Another instance where my once perfect ability to pre-plan was completely destroyed by my rotting Mommy-brain. So, the car ride alone became a journey.
My husband calls me about 20 minutes into the appointment and I could hear the baby screaming in the background like a wild woman. She would only have her picture taken while being held by the sitter. She would not sit with the other kids alone. She was hysterical and screaming like something out of a horror movie! It was HILARIOUS....mostly, because I wasn't there and he finally got to deal with one of her little 2 year old ridiculous temper-tantrums. So, we ended up with like 5 photos of my kids AND the sitter. That would make for an interesting picture to send out to our family, ya think?
The photographer was very nice and offered for us to come back on Saturday and try a family photo in the hope that the little demon would sit still and cooperate. I am just impressed that the lady was not too freakin' frightened and actually invited us back. I mean, I personally would have just offered the photos for free in exchange for never hearing from our family again!
So, we go back on Saturday....all dressed up again, 50 minute drive, and get into the studio. The baby started off as an angel. Then, the FIREWORKS, I attempt to pry the pacifier from one of the twins' (Mackenzie) mouth. She was not having it. We finally convinced her to hold it by her side for about 2 seconds with a random suck in between flashes of the camera. Then, she just threw herself on the floor and went into full screaming demon mode. The baby followed right behind.....there was no turning back from there. Lucky for the kids, we got one photo where everyone was staring at the camera and somewhat smiling. I was prepared to take a picture of their little screaming butt's and plaster that on a freakin' card to our family. Then everyone can see what little monsters they can be! Ya know...since they are always so cute when everyone else is around.
So, we get in the van and at that moment I decided.....the pacifiers are hisssssssssstttttttttoooooorrrrrrryyyyyyyy!!!!!!!!! I told Mackenzie to enjoy the ninny (pacifier) on the way home and at nap time because when she woke up, it was going "bye, bye". She looked me dead in the face and said "no". I figured, I would ignore her because ultimately, I WAS going to win! I used the nap time to rest up knowing that the evening was going to be a complete, total b*tch of a night!
So, upon waking up, I removed the ninny from Mackenzie's jaws and she went into a hysterical fit........throwing herself on the ground, screaming like she just lost a limb, and foaming at the mouth. This went on for about 25 minutes (yes...25 minutes!) until her shirt was covered in snot and was wet from tears (ok...mostly from slobber and spit)...but from her drama, she would have you believe they were tears.
Mackenzie finally decided that life might go on and started playing with the other kids. I was even starting to think that there might be life beyond ninnies! YEAH RIGHT! Well, we had an encore performance......not once, not twice, not three times, but 4 flippin' times! Each time, she screamed and threw herself around for no less than 20 minutes. Unfreakin' believable! I just ignored her each time. I mean, I was already too deep into this mission to abort it at that point. There was no turning back now. She finally settled and went to bed. My biggest fear was that she would find some random ninny and be hiding in a corner sucking on it. But, she made it through the night. Amazingly, we went until 12noon the next day before she asked for it. This time when I told her that the ninny was gone, she just looked right at me and said "Okay".
Funny though because when I went to get the baby up from a nap, Mackenzie was eyeing her ninny like it was a million-dollar lotto prize. We decided to allow the baby to keep hers a bit longer but only at naps and nighttime. So, I started out to the living room with the baby and then realized Mackenzie was missing. I swear, I think my little ninny-junkie was back there trying to figure out how to score herself a ninny-fix! She threw one heck of a fit as I drug her little butt out to the living room. And, into another tantrum we went. So, being the good mom I am.....I decided to videotape it all so that she could see how ridiculous she looks some day! Of course, the minute I hit the record button, she stopped dead in her tracks, gave me the biggest smile and started performing. I swear, I am going tomorrow to have a video camera surgically implanted into my forehead!
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