Lex is TWO!

Lex and her huge, ugly cake. I foolishly let her pick it out at the store and this is the one she HAD to have. Pretty sure we have enough for a month of birthdays. Good grief! But she loved it, so I am not going to complain too much!

Lex and her American Girl Bitty Baby. She got such cute things this year!

Again I am incline to ask how the crap that happened, but since I have not yet figured out how to make it stop, I figure it is pointless to figure out "how" it happens. I can still recall clear as day 2 years ago when she was born. The past 2 years have been a riot. This child has more energy than any kid I know and has used it in ways I never thought imaginable. The last week for example was filled with a ton of baby powder and a carpet full of diaper rash ointment. Ahhhhhh and she wasn't even two yet. This past year she also got tubes in her ears after 7 double ear infections in just about a years time, I decided it was time to act, and not a moment too soon. The ENT had her tested by an audiologist and she was suffering from mild hearing loss! Since the tubes she has improved 200%. She speaks a ton more, has pretty much a whole new vocabulary and speech patten. She is becoming quite the jabberwakey.

Alexandra loves the color blue and trains (or cho-cho's as she calls them), I am thinking her big brother has rubbed off on her a bit here. Of course to be fair you should know that at this point, not only is blue, blue, but so are purple and green and sometimes red too. She does know pink and white. And like to wear blue pants. Meaning her jeans. She also loves water, if you suddenly hear water running Lex is most likely sitting in a sink somewhere, fully clothed. And if you are really lucky she is brushing her teeth with YOUR toothbrush NOT hers! Mmmmmm good! And for all the good it does me calling her Lex, she refers to her self as "Ali".

Two is going to be interesting for us all. She is stubborn as the day is long. No idea where she got that (wink, wink). Independent as all get out....again no clue where that may have come from. And takes a leap before thinking twice. She throws a fine tantrum, complete with the laying on the floor kicking and screaming. I admire her spunk, and stand behind to catch her when and if she falls and to clean up the mess in her wake. Which can be extensive. But she is the most wonderfully annoying, mess making, whirl wind of a child! She wakes each morning happy and excited for the day, despite the fact that her father and I both HATE mornings, she makes them much more bearable. She is always eager to start her day, and if we do not get her out of her room as quickly as she would like, you will usually find curled up in the rocking chair (now her cute arm chair from Gran) reading a book. She has turned into a snuggle bug. And loves to curl up with her Daddy! Without a doubt she is a Daddy's Girl. And that is just fine with me.

So here is to TWO, baby girl. Give it hell! Like I would have to encourage that in the slightest. I am sure we will butt heads, but I love you no matter what. Now, let go clean up the 90 pieces of food Aunt Keanne and Uncle Pete gave you......(I am getting the twins drums for their 1st bday and 70000000000 piece lego sets for every birthday there after!:) )

(okay I tried like 6 times to change the spacing and layout on this one! I give up!!!)

We might not even make it to TWO!

Yesterday was a ton of baby powder, today it was the tube of water resistant butt cream all over the carpet. So a little over an hour later, it is clean and I need a stiff drink.....too bad I don't generally do that! At this rate she may not make it to TWO (one week from today) and neither of us are going to survive it! Wish me luck, lots and lots of luck. And maybe a bottle of rum and a good book!

This one is for Sonja....

Sonja asked for a new picture of the twins, and here it is. This one is from Christmas morning and they are at my house with my cute Mom. And just in case you don't know....Andrew (Tank)is on the left and Cooper (Tiny) is on the right, and they are styling their spiffy Christmas Eve jammies. The boys are now just about nine months old (on Feb 5th) and they are awesome. They stay with us 3 days a week, and we have loved watching them grow. Andrew is a roller. Steam Roller. HA! He can travel for miles one roll at a time. I think he is considering pulling him self up on things (at which point life as I know it will come crashing (possibly literally) down.) Cooper is alot like Nathan was, more thoughtful and spends a lot of time just soaking it all in. I have a new view on life as a mom of twins, and I feel for those mom's. I will admit that there are days, when they go home and I am just pooped! But I wouldn't trade it for anything!

Two is Gonna be TROUBLE!

This is what her room looked like today when she got up from her nap.Clearly she was a busy little bugbite before she let us know she was awake. And yes, that is a little puddle of pee in the upper left hand corner! You can see her diaper wadded up under the blanket in the middle of the picture amongst the wet wipes and the baby powder.

Alex will be 2 next week. And I am dreading every second of her as a two year old. I fully admit I was spoiled with Nathan. Two with him was fun and dare I say mellow. He was a talkitive little dude and never really got into trouble. There is a reason I had him first, because he was such a gem I thought, sure why not have another. This one is such and angel the next one will be too. So wrong. Don't get me wrong, I would not trade her for the moon. And the more I get to know both of them, the more I wonder how a parent can walk away from their child. But she will spend her days CLIMBING on every nerve I have. I really hope she is getting this all out of her system now or we might really be in trouble when she gets older! I guess I should call my mom and apologize again.

New Blog

A new blog is born.......

I love my family blog, but I do not think it is the place to let out all my rants. I try to keep it PG and about the fam. So I started myself a new blog. One where I can write about all the crap that comes to mind. One that is an outlet for the little voice in my head.

I, recently, have found writing to be an outlet for me, which is kinda suprising. In the past writing has always been something I was forced to do. I would enjoy a good note or letter, but I was not one to have a diary or journal. That was like a high school project gone all wrong. So let me say my new blog is no work of literary genius. It is mearly my outlet. I am not generally a stickler for spelling or puncuation. And I am not going to start now. I would love to have you follow me, and if you are crazy enough to want to hear my thoughts on something, feel free to drop me an email and I may just take you up on it in a future post.

so here is the address to the new blog........

http://whateverrantings.blogspot.com/

And I am warning you, it really is all about me! (as frightening as that maybe)

Out of the Mouth of babes!

Nathan: "Mom, even when my heart stops beeping I will still love you."

Me: sniff, sniff.

file that under sweetest thing ever said to me!

I love the mind of my precious 5 year old!

Are you kidding me?

We have been planning a trip to Disneyland for about 6 months now. And the day is dawning fairly soon when we will board our plan and fly out of our muck and into the muck of Southern California. In final preparations for our trip, I purchased our tickets to mouseland. I was excited. I get an awesome deal. I mean steal of a deal! It was great. I decided to whip out my (said credit card) that I had not used in nearly a YEAR! I bought my tickets, got my confirmation from the mouse and was feeling pretty good. The I got another email. This one from (said credit card), telling me they had lowered my line of credit by a huge chunk! I admit to carrying a balance, but I have NEVER had a late payment or missed a payment. I bought my tickets online, and I try very hard to not use my checking account credit card when making online purchases. I would prefer if someone were to hack my information that they not have my main account info. I would really prefer my account not to be hacked at all, but I can watch my (said credit card) far more closely because we do not use it all that often. Anyway, it took (said credit card) less than 30 minutes to send me that email from the moment of my purchase. I am so not impressed. My balance has had the majority of the lowered balance available for over a year and certainly for the past 6 months, and now they choose to smack me. Something is fishy, and my (said credit card) will be payed off ASAP and left to sit in a drawer. I will not support a company that does not support me. I don't care if you are a grocery store, credit card company or car care center, if you treat me like crap, I will not grace you with my $$ or my time. That you can be sure of, maybe if we start by putting our collective foot down and not putting up with this crap, we will be not only better off financially, but also it is a tiny moral victory! Maybe then these mega-corporations will learn that they should be taking care of their customers more and their CEO's a little less.

Back to It!

What is "IT" you may be wondering. "IT" is all of that stuff that happens everyday, that during the past 2 lucious weeks of family, friends and holidays, that I have neither delt with nor even considered. Such as, making sure the kids really are in bed at a decent time, because the big one has to be up and in a decent mood for school in the morning. Realizing that at some point I really ought to take my Christmas tree down. I must admit I love the glow that the lights give in the darkness of the evenings, but really at this point, I think it is an 11 foot window blocker. And, since I am taking down the tree, I really ought to put away all the dishes from fancy family meals. And, I can no longer get away with leaving it all out becasue I am going to use it to make ________ for Christmas. The dishes and the counter must be conquered this week. All the new and exciting things we got for Christmas must be removed from the living room and found homes. Proper homes, not just shoved in a corner. I do not believe in out of sight as being properly put away. I would rather leave it out than throw it where it does not belong, hence my house looks like hell 90% of the time, becasue I have some difficulty getting other people who live here to see it my way! I also need to mail the Christmas cards, which will from now on be refered to as New Years cards. And, as soon as I buy stamps, I will do just that, mail them and change their official name. I also have to get Nathan registered for school times 2. Next years program at Learning Dynamics (did that today when I picked him up!) and for KINDERGARTEN tomorrow at the elementary school down the street. I just died a little as I typed that. I know, I know he must grow up, as my mom reminds me her baby is now thirty-two. But really, elementary school......I am so NOT ready for that! And last but not least on my list of things to return to normal schedule is the laundry. Greg had a week off from work, but now his dress shirts are starting to pile-up and our clothes and the kids clothes and the kitchen towels. At least I conquered all the stuff from St George. Including the king size sheets which are not only clean, but folded and put away. Gold star for me! All right if this stuff is ever going to get done, I better publish this and get on it....Lord knows there is no magical fairy going to be doing IT all for me. Ahhh, but a girl can dream!

Hello 2010!

Hello 2010,

I wanted to say hello and introduce myself. My name is Joey. I thought I would let you know that I am here and that I plan to make you a wonderful year. This year I am hoping for no real surprises! No babies (for me, but I will love others for them) and a whole lot of good times with my family and friends. Please keep me in mind, should you need someone interested in peace and joy, I would be more than happy to take care of those for you!

Thoughtful,
JMHW