The Fabulous Mrs. C

Registry.....

Today we are going to register for the baby.  I have 2 showers that are coming up, so I figured I'd get it out of the way before people start asking me about it.  I have such mixed feelings about this whole thing.  I don't like doing it.  I would rather have people get me something that they put thought into, not something I told them to get.  But, that argument is lost on everyone and no one wants to hear "whatever you get, I will love".  So, off we go today to make a list of what we'd like for the baby.

Which might result in Mr. C getting whacked over the head with the scanner gun.

I love my husband with all my heart, but I have SO been dreading this day.  He and I are very different when it comes to what we think this baby needs.  First of all, since this is the 4th time dealing with a newborn I kinda have an idea what is absolutely necessary and what we probably won't use.  He on the other hand, has never done this before and thinks that every baby item he sees is something we need.  :( 

So, if you hear of a woman going crazy in a Southern California Babies R Us and sending her husband to the hospital, please think of me and send some bail money..........

too much.....

Tonight I asked Mr. C to give Sharpay a shower while I finished up the dishes.  He did, and I heard him say once she was done "here's a towel, dry yourself off and bring me the lotion along with your pajamas".  And then he proceeded to get in the shower himself.  :)  The minute he stepped foot into his shower, I hear "MOMMMMMMMYYYYYYYYYYYYY"

Me: what do you need?

Sharpay: come here

Me: I can't right now, what do you need?

Sharpay: I peed on myself

At this point I'm trying to figure out HOW she peed on herself when she's IN the bathroom.  Checking to see if Mr. C was still in the shower (of course he was!), I went to take care of the mess myself.  Sure enough, she was standing in a puddle two steps from the toilet. 

Me: why didn't you pee on the toilet?

Sharpay: because I didn't know I needed to pee

*sigh*

So, I put her back into the shower and left her there to wash up again until Mr. C got out of his shower.  I told him what happened and sent him back in there to get her out of the shower.  He handed her a towel and said "dry off and then bring me the lotion and your pajamas".  He walked out into the living room and right behind him comes Sharpay, still dripping wet. 

Mr. C: why are you all wet?

Sharpay: cuz

Mr. C: I handed you a towel, what did you do with it?

Sharpay: Put it down on the floor

Mr. C: well go get it and DRY OFF! 

:)

Happy Wednesday! 

Thankful......

Is it wrong to send your kids to bed early so you can eat dessert without interruptions?  :)  I was craving brownies sooooooooo badly, so I made some tonight and put the kids to bed so I could eat them in peace.  I'll give them some tomorrow for their movie night dessert, but I just needed the quiet tonight. :)

Today I had to really think about what I was thankful for.  That sounds awful, but this week has been pretty hard and it was difficult to switch gears and find something good amongst all the havoc that's been raining down on this household.  But, I managed to get over the "woe is me" attitude and find something good. :)

It actually came home with Sharpay today from school.  I went to pick her up and she went running past me screaming about her "gift".  I followed her to her classroom and found her holding a construction paper flower in a pot.  Along with a Mother's Day card.  Which she wanted me to read right now.  I tried explaining that we should wait until Sunday, but that wasn't working for her.  So I opened the card and inside was "I love you Mommy" written in her handwriting, and then a paragraph about what she liked about me (as told to the teacher).  The first sentence was "I like when we clean up the house".  I have a feeling she was referring to this incident from last week, which made me smile.    I am so lucky to have a child that doesn't look at housework as a "chore", but as something fun to look forward to.  And I am thankful that I am not passing along the same terrible housecleaning habits that I was given as a child.  It's one thing I struggle with daily to overcome (STILL!) and I'm so happy that my kids don't have that same issue. 

And you can bet that once I picked up the other two kids, I let them know that if they finished their night time routine and ate dinner nicely that they'd get to wash the floors again like they did last week.  You would have thought I had told them we were headed to Chuck E Cheese's with the excited screams that came from the back seat.  I think Belle may have even clapped.

My children are so weird.  :)

Happy Thursday!!! 

Feeling OH so not fabulous.......

I'm tired.  Like, really, really, really tired.  I don't think it's related to the child growing inside me as much as it is related to the stress of the children who live OUTSIDE of me in this house.  I think they wake up each morning plotting how to drain as much out of me as possible by the end of the day.  And it's not like I see them ALL DAY LONG.  The only one I saw this morning before work was Sharpay, and Dash and Belle were only here for 2 hours before it was bedtime!  What does this say about my parenting skills?  :)

Dash does in fact have strep throat, as confirmed yesterday by his doctor, and not only that but the issue with his hands is ALSO related to the strep.  I have never in my  life heard of that, but apparently if left untreated, strep causes all sorts of havoc on your body.  I'm so glad that I filled out the information update form for him the last time we were at the drs office and they DIDN'T spend 4 days trying to call me at a phone number that I haven't had since 1999.  Which, of course, is exactly what happened and why it took me 6 days to find out that my child had strep throat and why his hands started looking like a snake that was shedding its skin.  Oh, and in addition to the cracking/peeling of the skin?  He also got what is basically strep-related arthritis in his hands as well.  Just another lovely symptom of the sickness that was the reason for his hands swelling and his inability to move his fingers by the end of the day.  He's on meds now and will be able to return to school tomorrow, but I feel so bad sending him with his hands looking like they do.  Luckily he's a strong kid that can handle any teasing/comments that might come his way.  Because if *I* was a third grader, I don't think I'd be able to NOT comment on the freakish nature of his hands right now.  :( 

Happy Tuesday!

 

 

ugh.....

Somebody please put me out of my misery.  I would gladly accept that right about now.  This weekend was both fabulous and sucky....all at the same time. 

A recap:

Friday night- went to a going away "happy hour" for a co-worker.  Mr. C had Belle and Dash, I had Sharpay.  I didn't stay very long, but it was nice to visit outside of work.  Afterwards, I rushed home, cooked a really good dinner that took WAY longer than I had prepared for so Mr. C was rushing to eat before he ran out the door to chaperone/pick up Jasmine from a birthday party.  I rushed the kids through dinner so that I could get them to my parent's house for movie night/sleepover.  Ran through Wal-Mart to get allergy pills and Breathe Right strips for Mr. C and dishwashing liquid so I could do the dishes.  Did NOT write any of that down- 3 things, not too hard right?  Wrong.  Got all the way home and THEN realized I forgot to pick up the dishwashing liquid.  Filthy dirty kitchen...w.aiting one more day.  :(

Saturday- Got up to fix breakfast for Mr. C and Jasmine who were off to a choir field trip for the day.  Was FULLY prepared to get the house spotless in the 4 hours that I had before I had to go to my mom's house, but instead went back to bed and woke up just in time to get ready to leave.  Filthy dirty kitchen....still waiting.  Went to my mom's house and picked up the kids and left to go to a friend's house for dinner.  The plan was to hang out, have dinner, let the kids play and wear themselves out and go home in time to get the house clean before Mr. C got home.  While at the friend's house, Dash comes and shows me his hands which looked like......I don't even know.  Disgusting is the only word that could explain it.  He has mild eczema on his hands and they peel all the time, but this was so extreme that I was scared to touch him.  They had cracked and started to bleed and they were hard as a ROCK.  But it was mainly just his thumbs, the rest of his hands were just peeling and a little dry.  We put some neosporin and band-aids on his hands which he did NOT appreciate and then I realized it was 9:30pm and there was NO WAY I was getting the house cleaned up that night.  We went home and put all the kids to bed, Mr. C was already home and fast asleep on the couch.  Filthy dirty kitchen....STILL waiting.

Sunday- Got up and got Dash and Belle ready to go to their dad's house.  Checked out Dash's hands which looked better, so I made him put some strong lotion on them.  But he could bend them, so I wasn't too concerned, I figured it was just really dry skin from the weather we've been having.  Planned on getting the house clean before leaving for the day, but lounged around being lazy instead.  Got myself and Sharpay ready to leave and dropped her off wtih my dad for the day and my mom and I went to a Pampered Chef party.  Where I ordered some REALLY fun stuff that I can't WAIT to get!  Got back from that, ran to Wal Mart AGAIN to get dishwasher soap and then went to Costco since it was on my way home.  Sharpay was already at home with Mr. C, so I came home and got dinner ready.  Dash and Belle came home and when Dash walked in the door he says "mom, look at my hands now".  They had gotten 100 times worse!  The whole surface of his hands were cracked and more places were either bleeding or red and raw and he couldn't bend them at all.  As disgusting as it was on Saturday night, it was triple that just then.  I sent him to the shower since he had dirt all in the cracks of his palms and called the drs. office.  They agreed that since sitting at Urgent Care was probably not the best choice, he could wait until today to come in.  Since it's an issue that he's been dealing with his whole life, this was just an extreme case of it, they weren't as worried as I was.  So, after dinner, I coated his hands with Neosporin again and put some cotton gloves on him and sent him to bed.  After all that excitement, I was again way too wiped out to do much of anything excpet sit on the couch.  Filthy dirty kitchen....UGH.  Now it was worse. 

This morning- woke up and realized that State testing started this week for Dash and Belle, so there was no way he could miss school for the dr. appt.  Took them to school and went and talked to the teacher, explained that he could make it through testing if he used lotion to keep his hands soft and that I'd be picking him up as soon as testing was over to take him to the dr.  Luckily, after sleeping with Neosporin all night, his hands had gotten back to functional, so I knew an hour of testing would be okay.  Got home and FINALLY started cleaning the kitchen.  Along with doing two loads of laundry and trying to clean up the clean laundry that I'd done LAST week that was still waiting to be put away and cleaning up all the misc stuff sitting around that hadn't been put in it's proper place all weekend!   I'm so glad that I have the day off work today!  We've gone to a forced 4 day work week (not cool), but today it saved me.  If I had to worry about work on top of everything else.....they would have had to put me away for sure!!!!  :)

Oh- forgot the last straw- I called to make the dr. appt for Dash and about 20 minutes later they called me back to say that he did indeed have strep throat and I needed to pick up his prescription when I brought him in today.  Ummm, what????  I toook him in last TUESDAY afternoon because he wasn't feeling well and his throat was scratchy and the school nurse said strep throat was going around, so I had him checked out.  Nope, he's fine.  A little bit of post-nasal drip, but give him some Dimetapp cold/allergy and he'll be fine.  So, I did.  And now, a WEEK later, we find out he in fact DOES have strep throat?  And has been contagious for a WEEK?!?!?!?  SO not cool.  Now Mr. C's all freaked out (he's a bit of a hypochondriac) and Dash's dad is not too happy either.  Hey- I did what I was supposed to do, not my fault if test results take a week to come back and they DID do a test that day that was negative!  I'm not a mind reader!  :) 

*sigh*

So, in one hour I will be going to get Dash and take him to the dr. again and hopefully this hand issue turns out to just be a bad case of whatever it is that he has all the time and we can get some prescription lotion and move on.  And the strep throat?  I am DEFINITELY having her check him again while we are there.  :( 

Happy Monday!      

Thankful......

Today, I am thankful that my kids are still young enough that I can fool them into thinking washing the floors is a fun after dinner activity.

Give them a few towels that were headed for the washing machine anyway, dunk them in the bucket of water/floor cleaner and let them slide around the floor for about 15 minutes.  They had TONS of fun, and my floors got clean.  All without me ever touching a mop!  :) 

Sharpay did their bathroom floor since it was much smaller and more places for her to hold onto so she wouldn't fall.

With the way my back is feeling these days, this might be how my floors get clean until after the baby is born!  :)

Happy Thursday! 

Wordless Wednesday.....

So appropriate......

A while back I wrote a post about how Mr. C was not a nature person. The short version of that post is that Mr. C has what is called a "top of the food chain" rule that he lives by.  He does not go ANYWHERE where he might not be top of the food chain.  Not necessarily that he WON'T be, there just has to be a chance.  Hiking?  Nope- mountain lions and such.  Surfing?  Nope- sharks.  Camping?  Nope- bears.  So, basically he does not do anything outdoors. 

Which would be fine if we actually lived somewhere that there was the threat of any of these.  But we live by the beach.  in California.  Where there are no bears, sharks or mountain lions.  There ARE these things in places of California, but not where we live.  So, everyone naturally gives Mr. C a hard time about his rule and we tease him about it all the time.  For instance: he was planning a bonfire at the beach for Jasmine's birthday on Friday (yesterday) and I asked my dad if I could borrow his camping chairs and metal things that he uses to roast marshmallows when they go camping.  His response? 

why do you need them?  Where could you possibly be going?  Mr. C does not venture into the great unknown in the darkness of night where he could be eaten by something above him on the food chain, where a fire could be used to roast marshmallows.  ????

So, yeah, it's a well-known rule that Mr. C has.  :)

Yesterday morning, Mr. C took his chair and iPod loaded with movies to the beach at 9:30am and claimed his spot at one of the few fire pits that we have left at this particular beach.  If you don't get there early, you don't get one. :)  He was there no more than 10 minutes when he calls and says "there's Coast Guard flying back and forth real close to the water and all kinds of news trucks are here.  What's going on?"  I look on the internet and see this headline under breaking news:

Shark attack off Solana Beach kills man

The Sheriff's Department reports one man is dead in an apparent shark attack near Fletcher Cove in Solana Beach. More details when we get them.

Seriously.  How much more fitting could this be?  We tease Mr. C ruthlessly about how he won't go to the beach and get in the water because of sharks (which do not happen off of our coast hardly EVER) and the ONE day he decides to go spend the day at the beach........it happens.

We have been permanently banned from ever saying anything about his top of the food chain rule again.  :)

FYI- the attack happened farther south than where we are, but they have advised people to stay out of the water at our beaches as well.  Not that anyone is listening, the surfers were out in full force this morning, but they have posted signs everywhere.  Scary stuff!

immature......

I am not mature enough to handle a teenager living in my house.  3 years ago, my oldest was 5.  He was a handful, but I still had years before he became a teen.  And he's a BOY.  My first experience with a girl teenager was not supposed to be for another 7 years from now!  But, 3 years ago I met Mr. C and "inherited" a 10 year old, who this Saturday will be a 13 year old.  And BOY, I am realizing now why people wait to have children until they are older.  It's so that when that child becomes a teenager, they are WELL into maturity and able to handle the madness.

I am not there yet.  I still had 7 years. 

I realize a lot of the struggle I have is also due to the fact that I am not the "mom".  Nor am I the "dad".  I'm this other person who does not really have a say so, but still has enough input to be an annoyance to a hormonal girl who just wants to be left alone.  Due largely to factors beyond my control, we don't have a "relationship" yet.  We kind of co-exist in the same household 2 days a week.  Hopefully one day that will change, but as of right now I am the enemy.   Along with all of the other adults in her life, of course. 

But again, I had 7 years.

Her mom is older than I am- I don' t know how much, but I'd say at least 7 years.    Mr. C is 13 years older than I am, so that puts him into WAY mature status as far as dealing with the madness.  But me?  I can barely handle my OWN PMS, much less someone else's!  I'm just not there.  Yet.

But give me 7 years.  When Belle hits 13, I'll be ready. 

I hope. 

six things....

I've been seeing this on other blogs, and now someone (Emily)  tagged ME!  ME!  That means someone is reading...... :)  I'm not floating out here anonymous anymore!  :)  Yippee!  I AM somebody!  :) :) :)

Just kidding. 

Let's see....I think it will be harder to find 6 people to tag than it will be to think of 6 random things about myself.  Although, I'm not that interesting, so it might take me a while to think. 

1. I live 10 minutes from the Pacific Ocean.  The only time I see the Pacific Ocean is from my car as I drive home from work.  I think that makes me lame.  ;)

2. I am trying very hard to make my family "green".  Meaning, eating healthy/organic and doing things that are good for the environment.  They do not like this very much.

3.  I am very scared of heights.  And things that go fast. 

4. I am secretly jealous of SAHMs.  Although I would be a very terrible one, I would love the opportunity.  Sadly, with 5 kids in southern CA, that is not my reality. 

5. My dream job (since I DO have to work) would be to drive the earth movers on a construction site. 

6. My right foot is half a size larger than my left.  Makes buying shoes EXTREMELY difficult. 

Man, that was more difficult than I thought!

Okay, 6 people......hmmmmm.  I'm trying to think who I haven't seen do this.  If I tag you and you've already done it, sorry!   

Liza's Eyeview

Will Blog For Shoes

Clappy Shoes

Who has Time to Scrapbook?

Just 3 of us

Pink Mommy

Whew.  Now for the rules......

1.  Link to the person who tagged you.

2.  Post the rules on your blog.

3.  Write six random things about yourself.

4.  Tag six random people at the end of your post by linking to their blogs.

5.  Let each person know they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their website.

6.  Let your tagger know when your entry is up.

Happy Monday!