The Cars Bed!

Jack LOVES his new Cars bed that Grandma Tutu got him! The first couple of nights were scary for me because I thought for sure he was going to roll right off, but he's been very good about not falling out! He also likes to pretend that all of his toys are sports cars now. He makes a "vroom" sound and moves them around like a car, whether it's a lego, a stuffed animal, or a plastic elephant. They are all sports cars to Jack.

The other day, we took Jack to the park down the street from my house. Kevin and Jack had a blast on the slides and swings. When we got home though, we found another one of Jack's fish had gone to fishy heaven. So, all in all, we lost two of Jack's fourteen fish.

I have an interview next week as a tour guide at a local brewery here. Oh how I hope I get it! It would be weekends only and very low stress. I'm still applying at other places just in case though.

Alright, here's the pics from Jack in his new bed and from the park. xoxo

Viva Jack!

I didn't get too many pictures of Jack when I was in Reno the other week, but I did snag two. The two little girls are my friend Kari's two daughters. Stacy, who is older, is two and Kari's other daughter, Trinity, just turned 1. Jack loves sisters! The one with him sleeping was right before our trip. He's such a ham.

My Baby is All Grown Up....

Yesterday we went to Cost Plus World Market to pick up a welcome mat. Jack decided to test out his vocals the entire time we were there. I kept reminding him to use his "indoor scream" but oh no, that didn't work for Jack. So I thought if I stuffed his mouth full of fish crackers he would knock off the screaming. Well, that did work. I'm walking around the store for over an hour with Jack in the cart and as I look at the ground I notice there is a fish cracker. I look behind me and guess what my angel pie did... he left a trail of fish crackers throughout the store! Isn't that nice that he didn't want mommy to get lost? That led to us having to go through the store again picking up the trail. On the plus side, I had three different people come up to me and tell me how adorable my baby was, even when he was screaming.

Afterwards we hit Trader Joes followed by a trip to the park with Pip, Will, Laura & Jess. We met up with Laura's friend, Jenny, and her two children, Anna & Edward. Yes, that's right, her son's name is Edward! She said it had nothing to do with the Twilight books, but it still made me giddy. Anna is Pippa's age and the two girls played forever on this spinny thing. Edward is about the same age as Jack and Will, so the three boys played together on the slides. Jack has never gone down a slide before without help, but he saw Will climb the steps alone and throw himself down the slide all alone, and as soon as Babycakes saw that, he was off doing the same thing! He even would push Edward to the side to cut in front of him. He also kicked Edward in the head and made him cry. It was an accident and I felt terrible about it, but Jack was too busy climbing stairs again to notice.

In other news, we lost one of the fish in the move. I mean, we didn't lose him like "Where'd he go?!", I mean like he died. 1 out of 14 fish isn't bad, but it still broke my heart that one didn't survive. We had a lovely funeral for him in the toilet. Jack even said "Bu-Bye!" and waved at him as he was sent to fish heaven. This is exactly the reason we can't get a cat. I can barely keep it together when we lose a fish!

I still have made no progress on the garage at our old house. A part of me wants to just let Kevin go over there and toss it all, and another part of me is curious on what is over there. Sigh, my weekend sounds fantastic already.

Still Moving!

You never know how much crap you own until you have to move. I have to give myself some credit though... When I was living in Reno, I owned three times the amount of stuff I do now. Kevin has really inspired me to throw things away, give things away, sell things. I still own too much stuff, but it's getting better.

Since we only moved a mile from our old house, we decided to skip the $30 Uhaul (plus gas and milage) and just move our stuff in the truck and Jeep. We started on Saturday, it's Wednesday now, and we still aren't done. We still have the fish tank, my dresser, the patio swing, and about 25 boxes in the garage still to move. The tank, dresser, and swing will be quick and easy. It's those darn boxes in the garage that I dread going through. If you had seen how much stuff I owned before when I lived in Sparks, you would be very impressed with me getting it down to 25 boxes. But Kevin insists that I go through them before we move them. (Cringe!)

The entire move when it is all said and done will be about 20 trips in the truck, and 10 trips in the Jeep. Total gas has cost less then $14 which is nice. But then we had to pay for mailbox keys at the post office because the dingle berry who lived here before us didn't leave the keys. That's $40 out the door which really bugs me. Just when I think we are saving a few dollars, we have to spend it on something like mailbox keys. $40? Really Mr. Post Office? That seems a bit steep to me. And it's non-refundable which is lame. It's actually a bunch of profanity words, but this is a kiddy blog so I'll keep it as PG as I can.

Kevin bought me a washer and dryer. Yay! Nothing says "I love you" more then new appliances. They are Kenmore, which is my favorite brand, and from Sears. I had no luck on craigslist trying to find a washer and dryer, so my man just went out and bought them for me. He sold his iMac and used some of the money to buy me my new washer and dryer. I'm saving up for a fancy Dyson vacuum cleaner next. Jack's Great Aunt Liz has one and raved all about it, so now I want one. Not until I pay some more bills down and actually save up for it though.

Jack is doing so much better and is all done with being sick. He loves the new house so much because he can run from his room to the living room, to the dining room and kitchen, and around in circles, and I don't have to worry about him falling down stairs and breaking his neck. We got a nice dining room table and chairs on craigslist for $50 (yay for restaurants going out of business!) and went to Target & Walmart to buy some new home decor. Jack now can eat at the table with us for dinner instead of sitting at his kid table and us at the bar table. Our couch and over sized chair are disgusting, so we got nice covers to gussy them up. I'm really starting to feel like this new place is home.

Tomorrow we will finish moving. I will be going through all of my boxes (cringe again!) and then tomorrow night I plan on leaving Jack with Kevin so I can thoroughly clean that house. I look forward to this week being over and done with. Yawn....

Chow

Kevin works as a graphic/web designer for Gusto! which is a magazine here in Central Oregon that is all about local food and restaurants. When he got the job, they gave him a welcome basket full of gift certificates to the best restaurants in Bend (over $400 worth!). We have given several away, and still have a a stack of gift certificates to go through. This morning, we decided to celebrate our move by going to breakfast.

What a mistake that thought was!

We get to this awesome place called Chow. It's very nice and everything they serve is organic and natural. All of their food is also from local farmers like the cheese and eggs (www.chowbend.com). So, we get seated and order up some coffee. From the moment we get there, Jack is throwing a fit. He's throwing things, hitting, pulling my hair, etc. The waiter (who I think was the best waiter in all of Oregon) brought over blueberry bread for Jack and played with him. Jack pulled out the blueberries and ate them, then threw another fit. I took him outside for a few minutes to calm down. Once he felt better, we came back inside. Then he threw another fit so Kevin took him outside. About 10 minutes later, Kevin calls me telling me to pack up. Our food hadn't even arrived yet! I could hear my sweet angel in the background screaming bloody murder. So, I tell the waiter that we don't want to disturb the other patrons any further and asked if he could have our stuff to go. He was so awesome. He got everything taken care of for me, and didn't even charge us the full amount.

Once we got home, we scarfed down out food. Jack threw his portion at me. If you live in Bend or come visit, you must go to Chow on Newport Ave. They have the best service EVER, and their food was freaking awesome.

Ok, so at noon we needed to go to our new house to sign our lease. We head over and for the 35 minutes we were there Jack is screaming and hitting and having a fit. I don't think an elephant tranquilizer would have stopped that boy. So, we signed everything, paid the monies, and we were out of there. The realtor who manages the place was so sweet and nice. I really think this place is going to be great for us. We found out it doesn't have a/c. But I've only lived in two places that have had a/c in my entire 26 years of life, so it's not a big deal to me. Plus, Bend doesn't really get too hot in the summer anyway.

I took Jack to his room and he is napping now. It took all of 2 minutes for him to fall asleep. Kevin and I are going to pack up the truck with light things and I'm going to head over and start moving in. Why isn't Kevin doing the work, you ask? Oh, he just caught what I had last week. Perfect timing, eh?

Home Sweet Home

A sick Jack at Grandma Lisa's.

Yesterday at 6am, I woke up and was full of energy. Jack was still sleeping with Mary's cat, Frank (I wish I took a picture, it was so sweet!), so I decided to start packing up the car. I finished getting everything packed up around 7am, so I decided to relax while Jack was still asleep. Around 8am, that boy still hadn't woken up so I had to wake him up myself. He was grouchy at me for that one! I got him cleaned up, packed him in the car, and we headed out. We stopped and got gas, coffee (bad idea, by the way), and popped into Salon Moxie to say bye to Grandma Lisa. At 9am we hit the road and we were off.

Jack fell asleep in the back right away. With being so sick, he was a very tired boy. I drove beyond slow which meant every single car, including old minivans and beater cars, passed me. I didn't care, I just wanted to get home. On the way, I had to pee like, a million times, and a million is not an exaggeration. Between Reno and Bend there are like, 2 rest stops, and since public bathrooms gross me out anyway, I decided to just be one with mother nature. I'm sure she didn't appreciate what I did to her.

Just past Klamath Falls is tons of forest. Snap! I had to pee again. In the mean time, Jack was being a good sport and not pooping too much. Then he made a sad face. Then he barfed all over the car. I think it's a tradition with us now. So, I pull over into the forest. Before I do anything, I had to pee so I go squat under a tree. Low and behold, I didn't realize the entire freeway could see me from a different angle then the one I was facing. No wonder so many truckers honked at me. And I thought I just had a pretty face, looks like I have a pretty butt, too.

So, I go over to Jack to clean him up and as I get started, I notice a funky smell. Not only did he puke a huge amount all over himself, the car seat, and my car, but the case of diarrhea hit him and there was green poo everywhere. And by everywhere, I mean every inch of the carseat, his butt, dripping over the sides, ok, you get the point. It took about half an hour to clean him and everything. By the time we got home, Kevin couldn't even breath at how bad we and the car smelled. He was so good to us though. He took care of Jack while I showered, helped bath Jack and get him cleaned up, and even unloaded the Jeep for me.

I took the truck over to Albertsons to pick up some ginger ale and say hi to Antoinette. Then I went over to Nick's house to pick up some boxes he and Laura saved for me. Jess was over there and they were having quite the little Reese party without me. As I loaded the boxes into the bed of the truck, the three of them stood in the doorway of the garage and Nick heckled "UNCLEAN!" at me the entire time. It's ok though, I licked the handle to his car door without him knowing. Ok, I didn't, but I sure thought it!

Jack and I are taking it super easy today. Just packing some stuff and doing laundry. I can't wait to have everything moved and done with. I hate the suspense of waiting!

OMG!

I took this from Lisa's blog. How cute is my baby!!!!???

Typhoid Jack

Well, my vacation to Reno was a bust. In fact, I didn't even make it to California to see my family like I wanted to. Aside from Mary getting sick, Jack got sick, too. Luckily, his wasn't serious and the worst of it is over. He has major diaper rash from diarrhea, but once we get home I will be able to give him plenty of warm milk baths and A&D for his little bottom.

So, I got to spend Sunday night at the hospital here in Reno. Mary was out at her Grandmas celebrating her birthday while Jack and I were at her place watching tv. Everything was going fine until around noon time. I all of sudden felt awful and threw up. Over the course of 9 hours, I just threw up over and over and over. Then I had some other things happen which are really, really, gross, so I won't go into details about that, but just know that I owe Mary new carpet. At around 8pm, I was laying in Mary's bathtub unable to stop barfing and other things out of the other end of my body. My arms went numb, and then my vision went dark, like I was going through a tunnel. When I woke up, the shower water was still warm, and I thought I was about to die. Jack was in the bathroom with me crying his eyes out. I climbed out of the tub and into Mary's bedroom and called 911. My hands, arms, and chest went completely numb making it near impossible to call. My legs and hands were frozen shut, like I had rigamortis or something. Thank goodness the 911 operator was able to trace where I was calling from to send an ambulance. I could barely communicate to her what was happening because my mouth was locked up. When the ambulance showed up, I was buck naked on the floor shaking uncontrollably, and other things going on uncontrollably (again, gross stuff). The fire department had to break into Mary's house (I owe her a new fence by the way). The female fire fighter covered me with a blanket and then sent up the EMTs which were guys. Jack then took the blanket off and I was in all my glory for 6 people. Jack always knows how to make light of a scary situation. They get me down the stairs and into the ambulance. At this point I wasn't sure where Jack was. I think a fire fighter had him. I heard them say they had a car seat in the ambulance and they were taking him with me, but then Mary showed up. They asked if she could take Jack until Lisa could come get him, and I told them yes. Then they took me to the hospital. They gave me a ton of tests, an EKG test, 7 blood samples (or maybe 9? I lost count...) 7 bags of sodium water (which they couldn't find a vein since I was so dehydrated, and had to use the ones in my hands twice), shots galore (including one in my tummy to prevent blood clotting) and dozens of other stuff that I don't remember. My white cell count was through the roof and my pulse was weak for a good 12 hours. I kept appologising to everyone because I felt so stupid for being in the hospital over the Hershey Squirts. They all told me I would have died if I didn't come in, so that made me feel tons better.

While in the hospital, I was well taken care of. I went through 6 nurses and 5 doctors, all which were wonderful. Everyone was really nice and helpful. My friend Connie, who works there as a respiratory therapist, came to visit me several times, as did Mary. Connie bought me a coloring book and crayons, chapstick, and other things to make me feel better. Mary, who is the best florist West of the Mississippi, had balloons and flowers sent to me (hmmm, I wonder who made my awesome arrangement? =) ). My friend Jessica O. brought flowers and a Cosmo, and reminded me that I was too pretty to be sick. Nessa works as a nurse at St. Marys so she couldn't come by, but she called me half a dozen times to check on me. My friends are so amazing. 

Lisa, Jay, and Stevi all took such great care of Jack while I was in the hospital. They dealt with baby poo galore, and now all three of them are sick, too. They even had to miss work thanks to me. I just hope it doesn't get any worst for them. I feel just terrible about it.

Sweet Pippa was sick on Thursday, and Nick called into work today sick. My family has nick-named Jack "Typhoid Jack" since everyone he comes in contact with gets sick. I hardly think we can blame Nick and Pippa being sick on Jack though, as Pip got sick before Jack and we weren't even in the same state as her, plus, we caught it from Mary who caught it from Nessa who caught it from a patient at St. Marys. So really, I'd like to get the name of that patient and send them my medical bill and the bill for Mary's fence, oh, and a bill for lost wages for Lisa and Jay. I'd also like to be reimbursed for the emotional stress I was put through. 

I would love to come back home to Bend today, but everyone tells me I need to rest. Plus, Kevin would be furious if I drove home less then a day after being discharged from the hospital. So, I am planning on coming home tomorrow. I can not wait for this entire ordeal to be over. Nothing rocks more then everyone knowing you've been hospitalized for the rah-rahs, and then giving it to everyone and their mother. Two things are for sure though: 1. I will never take clean underwear and brushing my teeth for granted again and 2. I can now fit into my size 5 jeans again! Sweet!

Baby Update

Well, Jack woke up this morning as perky as a turkey. Everything was going fine, so I called Lisa so I could bring Jack over. As I was getting him ready to take to Lisa's, he got sick all over again, and had major diarrhea. So, I called Lisa and told her that he wasn't going to come over. After getting Jack in the shower (his butt is too raw and red for wipes) he cuddled up on the couch in my arms and fell asleep to Monsters Inc. He's sleeping right now, which is all that boy should do. I'm going to see how he does this afternoon and if he feels up to going over to Lisa's for a few minutes I'll take him over. I just don't want to push him or make him worst. It's just not easy being a tot.

Whoe, That's One Sick Baby

PICTURES CARE OF LISA!

Today Jack spent the day with Lisa, Jay, and Stevi. They took him to the mall to get pictures done at Kiddi Kandids. OMG! My baby should be a model! Wait til you see them! They are so cute!!! But, while they were there and I was here hanging out with my sick friend Mary, I get a text from Lisa that Jack is sick. I call Lisa and we figure he just was playing too much and got exhausted from it, that is, until I get a call from Lisa that Jack is throwing up again and asking for me by name. As soon as Lisa told me he was throwing up in the mall, I had to go get him. Not that I didn't think Lisa could handle a sick baby, but that's really not her job to deal with. So, off to the mall Mary and I went.

We show up and the poor guy is pale and warm as can be. So, I scoop him up and we head out. First stop: Whole Foods. Yeah, I needed dinner. Second stop: The store. We got him crackers and Pedialite, and a few other things to settle his tummy. The pedialite and medicine he could hold down, but any food got thrown right up. I'm just grateful Mary has nephews and puke on her carpet doesn't make her angry! She was so sweet and helped me take care of Jack. Then, Babycakes got some severe diarrhea. You know the kind where only a shower can cure? Three showers later, that passes. So, Jack didn't fall asleep until 10:30pm. It also took watching Monsters Inc. 3 times just to keep him happy and calm. He's asleep right now next to me in a little ball like a kitten. My poor sweet boy, it just breaks my heart.

Hopefully tomorrow he feels better so he can see Grandma & Grandpa, and Aunt Stevi. We are heading to California on Monday morning. If he gets worst, I'm just going to take him to Urgent Care. I am not going on vacation again for a long time. It's just too hard on Jack, and it's too hard on me.

Babyless

Last night I had some serious baby-mama-drama. My friend, Mary, is super sick, so I went to stay at my friend Jessica O's house so Mary could rest baby-free. I got to Jessica's place around 8pm where she lives with her boyfriend and their other roommate. Well, Jack was not happy about that. First, their dog licked his face and he got really irritated with that. Then, my laptop died while he was watching Monster's Inc, and my charger is a three prong, and the outlets in Jessica's house are all two prong because it is an older home. So, Jack couldn't watch his Monsters (I didn't have the DVD on me, it was saved on my laptop). Jack cried forever! I felt so bad because everyone had to go to work in the morning, and my baby is screaming at the top of his lungs. I decided that being at Jessica's wasn't going to work, so I packed our things and was going to bring babycakes to Lisa's house, but after talking to Mary, she convinced me to come back to her house and that she'd be ok with Jack's crying. 

Around midnight, he finally went to sleep on her couch. He was so much happier here. I feel so bad because Jessica and her boyfriend went to a lot of trouble to accommodate us. The only plus side is I'm sure I've discouraged then from ever having a baby after last night's tirade.

But poor Mary. Since the day I got here she's been so sick with food poisoning. She had to call into work Thursday, leave work early Friday, and today she only has a 4 hour shift so I think she's going to just do it and get it over with. But she had to cancel her party tonight and I feel so bad for her. I know she really wanted to do it but when you are sick, you are sick. And booze, mini dresses, and dancing just aren't appealing when you are sick. So, I'm going to go over to my friend Connie's house so Mary can rest today and then we'll see how she feels tonight. If she wants to go to dinner we'll take her, or if she's too sick we may just drug her up. =)

But where is Jack?! He went over to Grandma's house this morning. I dropped him off around 10am and about half an hour later, Lisa texts me asking me where I put the car seat. Oops! I left it in my car! So, I drove back to her house and do you know what my baby did? He looked at me, gave me a fish kiss, and ran off to go play. It's like I'm yesterday's news! I'm glad he's doing better today though. Lisa is going to give him a hair cut and take him to get his pictures taken. Then Jack will spend the night there and spend tomorrow with her, Grandpa Jay, and Aunt Stevi. She promised to take lots of pictures of his adventures for me. 

Well, I'm going to go shower and head over to Connie's. I'm meeting her new baby, Braedon, for the first time. I love babies!!!! If they weren't so expensive, I'd put Octo-mom to shame. 

Wow, Reno is Really Brown!

Jack and I have made it safely to Reno. The drive on Wednesday was full of clear blue skies so it only took 8.5 hours to get here and that included one long rest stop at Honey Lake. Between Bend and Reno is a lot of desert and creepy trailers, so if you ever make the journey, pray your car doesn't break down.

Jack was a total angel the entire ride down. He just sat there looking outside, and then talking, and napping. I couldn't believe we made the entire trip without him having a frisky attack. I'm so proud of my tot. So, we got in around 5pm Wednesday night. We picked up Port of Subs for dinner (they made my sandwich all wrong and I didn't realize it until I got back to Mary's), and just watched a little tv. We are staying at my friend Mary's house which Jack loves because a) he loves Mary and b) she has a cat. Poor Franklin the Cat, he does not like being called a dog very much.

Yesterday morning I met up with Lisa for brunch at Mimi's Cafe. Jack hit the waitress which mortified me. She was so nice about it though. Afterwards I said goodbye to my baby so Lisa could spend the day with him, and I could catch up on some rest. Lisa took him over to Aunt Liz's house (that's Lisa's sister, making her Jack's Great Aunt) and babycakes had a ball with his 2nd cousins, Willow & Sage. Sage is 2.5 and I think Willow is 4 or 5. After some hardcore play time, Jack went to the park and watched Aunt Stevi at softball practice.

Today it's a mommy-tot day. We are going to go to lunch and dinner with some old friends. I'm starting to feel a little sick, so I think we will call it an early night tonight since tomorrow is Mary's birthday bash and I need to be feeling better for that. For her 24th birthday I had a horrible allergic reaction to being pregnant (which landed me in the ER the morning of her birthday party!) and for her 25th birthday I left early because I was so exhausted from lack of sleep. Lets hope I can survive her 26th without any incident. =)

Simple as 3.141592...

Jack and I are just finishing packing our things. I always over pack and I don't know why. It drives me insane that I am like that. Anyway, we are going to stop to get gas, some snacks for the car, and a big coffee for The Mom. I expect we will be on the road by 10am, or at least that is my goal. I still have some things in the dryer we're waiting for and I may just leave them behind.

So, I didn't get the job that I had two interviews for. I totally cried yesterday and felt like a total reject. Then I came to the conclusion that I am PMSing and I got over it. I'll keep looking and I'm sure I'll find something that fits my needs. Who knows, maybe the guy they hire will be a total loser and they'll offer it to me after all. That happened once when I interviewed for a runner job in Florida. They turned me down, and then two weeks later called me and offered me the job because their original person was a flake. Nothing rocks more then knowing you are number 2 in life! Ugh...

Well, dryer is almost done, Babycakes has his travel pants on, so it looks like we are ready to go. See you all soon!!!!

Only One More Day!

Jack and I are packing our bags and getting ready to leave for Reno tomorrow. I'd like to leave as early as possible, so I'm thinking we'll make it to Reno around 5pm. If there is snow on the mountain though, that'll set me back a little. And if there are any storms, I'm not even going to try to go to Reno. So, we'll see how tomorrow pans out!

In other news, Jack is back to being a delight. He slept all night last night. Then this morning when he came into our room, he gave me a back massage for half an hour (really he's just kicking my back but it feels like a massage). He's now sitting quietly playing while I get ready for my 2nd interview today at 1pm. I really, really want this job and hope I get it.

Here's some pics of my prince charming. Look how long his hair is! I'm debating on whether or not to cut it. It's so soft and he smells so good, just like a baby should.

Baby For Sale: Starting Price, 99 Cents! No Reserve!

I am listing Jack on eBay today. Ok, not really. For one, that's illegal, and secondly, he's my baby and I love him more then anything. However, starting from last night until right this moment, he's been an absolute pill! Perhaps I should start at the beginning. See, this whole cranky baby thing started the moment my water broke... whoe, wait a minute, I didn't mean that beginning! Ok, lets start from last night:

Jack's bedtime is usually 7pm - 8pm. With losing an hour to day light saving, we tried to put Jack to bed at 7:30pm, which was really 6:30pm in Jack's mind. Well, he was not having that. So, I brought back down to relax with me. I dozed off on the couch and at around 8:30pm, he was still awake, so I decided to take him to bed officially. I cuddled him, rocked him, rubbed his back, belly, and head, nothing would make that boy stop crying. So, I put him in his bed and figured he'd cry it out and fall asleep after 10 minutes. HA! 40 minutes later he is still screaming bloody murder, so I go back up there and am sitting in the middle of the hall swaying him. Kevin comes up and takes Jack from me so I can get some sleep because I've been sick with the flu. 30 minutes go by and Jack is still upset crying. So, Kevin brings him back upstairs and puts him in his bed where he finally falls asleep.

2:30am: Jack wakes up screaming. Kevin gets up and puts him back to bed. 4:30am: Jack wakes up screaming. I go in there and lie in his bed with him. For 2 hours he cried and fussed. He didn't want food or drink, or to cuddle, or toys. He just wanted to scream. I checked him all over to make sure he wasn't injured, so whatever had him sad really was effecting him. Around 6:30am, Kevin comes in and takes over soothing Jack while I try to get some sleep (Ha! Again!).

So, Jack dozes off on Kevin's chest, but at 7:30am, Kevin had to get up to go to work, which meant he had to wake Jack, which meant Jack was screaming and crying again. Joy.

9:10am: Jack has his orthopedic appointment. We go in to this really, really nice place for it. I mean, you could eat off the carpet it was so clean. While I'm trying to fill out paperwork, Babycakes his screaming because I won't let him pound on the windows. Finally they get us to the room. The nurse brings in this huge treasure chest full of toys for Jack to play with. Yeah, he picks one up and throws it at her face. This kid hates nurses (no offence Aunt Jessica!). After I apologise a million times and the nurse leaves wanting to strangle my baby, Jack has another fit because I won't let him touch the tools in the room that are on the counter. After 20 minutes of waiting, Dr. Ryan comes in. He does a bunch of tests on Babycakes, measures him all over, moves him around, a lot "hmmms", a lot of "ahaaaaas". Basically, Jack has pigeon toes and bow legs! Yeah, I know that, Doc! Well, he explained that "larger children, especially boys, are pigeon toes and bow legged". He said although Jack is really big, he's proportionate to his height and is very healthy, so losing weight would be a very bad thing for him. However, his weight is part of the problem. It's like a damned if you do, damned if you don't type of thing. The Doc told me a bunch of other stuff like his shin bones are growing at a curve which are also part of the problem. He says at this point, braces or surgery are not a good idea as many of the children grow out of this. However, he wants to see Jack in 6 months so he can see whether or not he will grow out of it naturally. He doesn't want to do anything drastic unless he's certain it's needed. So, in 6 months we will go back for more measurements and x-rays to see how he's doing.

Now, as we're getting ready to leave the doctor's office, Jack is refusing to wear his pants. This kid hit me, fought me, kicked me, did everything to not wear pants. Since I felt white trash enough from the whole "throwing a toy at the nurse and screaming at the doctor" incident, I just wanted to get out of there so I strapped him into his stroller and bolted. Of course I didn't make it to the car without at least one person telling me he needed pants. Thanks, like I didn't know that already.

Once we left, Jack calmed down, so I thought it was safe to go to Whole Foods to pick up food for dinner tonight. Boy was I wrong. First, I had to get pants on the boy. I had to bribe him with a Hershey's Kiss to get that accomplished. Then, as we are shopping around, Jack is grabbing things off isles and throwing them. I got him a snack which he threw on the floor. Then he screamed at the produce man. That's when I gave up and went to check out. The mom in front of us had a boy Jack's age who was sitting quietly and helping her put the items on the belt. The little boy behind us didn't even need to be strapped into a shopping cart as he stayed with his mommy the entire time. My baby? He was screaming. Nice. Oh, so to try to get him to calm down, I give him my car keys. Can I be any dumber? He not only opens the trunk, but then sets off the panic alarm. And I'm sitting there like an idiot pushing a million buttons trying to get it to go off.

After I got him in the car, he fell asleep. I wasn't about to wake him up when we got home, so ran a few errands that I could do drive-thru's with such as the bank, post office, getting a chai tea, etc. We just got home and I put him in his room where he fell back asleep. Oh joy!

And as much as I would love to go take a nap right now, I need to start packing up my house. Jack and I leave Wednesday for Reno, and by the time we get back, we move.

These pictures are of Jack the other day when he was in a much better mood. He likes to play peek-a-boo behind our new TV (don't ask why it's on the floor cause I don't want to go there). If you look closely, you can see his little fingers and butt!

Oodles of Fun!

Jack had an awesome play date the other day with Pip and Will. I fell asleep on the couch, so my mom watched the three kids while Laura was out running errands. The kids played hard and it wiped Jack out.

Baby Reese should be here sometime next month. Laura is so cute pregnant! She's all belly! Can't wait to find out what the name is and to see the little guy. Anyway, hope you enjoy the pics!

Bad Blogger

Ok, so I've been a really bad blogger lately. I've been so caught up with finding a new house and job that I lost track of time.

So, first things first: We got the house! YAY! I paid the deposit on it yesterday and we move in March 22nd. It just got painted and the carpets are new. Oh I love new things! Now all we need to do is buy a washer and dryer. Probably something off craigslist. Since the house we are in is foreclosing, I e-mailed our landlords to see if they were interested in selling us their washer and dryer. We'll see how that pans out.

On another note, I had a job interview yesterday. It did not go so well. I think I might have been too bubbly or girly... I don't know. I mean, my resume rocks and I looked as professional as a lawyer would, but they just didn't seem impressed by me. I have a second interview though on Tuesday so here's hoping, right? Right. Sigh....

So, with the second interview being on Tuesday, that means I will be in Reno Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, and then off to California. If I get the job, it will be a short trip all together as the start date is the 19th. If I don't get the job, I'm going to spend a lot more time there wallowing in sorrow.

On to happier news though! We have had a wonderful visit with my mom this past month. She goes back to Hawaii on Sunday, which isn't happy news. We love having her here and I have encouraged her to stay, but I think this whole "snow" thing really bums her out, so she's heading back to the islands. Once Nick & Laura have their 3rd baby next month, she'll probably come back to visit in May.

Jack is an absolute delight. He has so much personality and character that it makes me beam with pride. He's so excited about his vacation next week because he gets to see The GrAunties, his Great Grandmas, his Grandma & Grandpas, and his Aunt Stevi! This boy will be loved and smooched so much that he won't know what to do with himself. The only thing that may cancel our trip is this snowy weather. I have 4-wheel drive, but I have a hard enough time as it is driving on an empty street in the middle of the day.

So, I will keep you all posted as things progress. Hope all of you are having a good month!

New House!

We applied for a new house today. We're fairly confident that we will get it as the landlord has called us twice to see if we would like to rent it. She is so nice and helpful, and we really think that this will be a good match for us. She also loves Jack and they basically became best friends when we viewed the house. The other house we viewed this weekend was not only smaller then a pea, but the landlord was crazy and money hungry. So, yeah, that didn't pan out so well.

The house we applied for is a 3 bedroom, 2 bath single story home. It's only $105 cheaper a month then what we are paying now, but because it is so much smaller, our utility bills will go down dramatically (we pay appx. $300/month now for utilities, and it looks like it will go down to about $150/month). It's only 3 minutes from where we live now in a new neighborhood, about 2 years old. Ever since we've lived in a brand new house, we've become spoiled and only want new homes or old homes with major upgrades. The house is close to a park and the train tracks, which to most of you sounds horrible, but for us, we love it. Our current house is only a few blocks from the tracks and we love hearing the train at night. It's so relaxing. We aren't so close that the ground will shake, but close enough to enjoy the choo choo chooing. Here's a link to the virtual tour so you can see what it looks like: http://www.visualtour.com/shownp.asp?T=1541954 The landlord is a real estate agent who only has a handful of rentals, which is way better then dealing with a property management company who is too busy to make repairs, etc. She also told me the house is 100% paid off so we don't have to worry about another foreclosure. It is a month-to-month lease, which is just the company policy. Works out well in case Kevin gets laid off or Robert Pattinson asks me to marry him and we run away to Paris together (see picture below of my future husband at the Oscars).

The neighborhood looks like a scene out of 1954. The houses are all designed to look retro-ish, which I love! I plan to get a ruffled apron and vacuum my new house in high heels, just like Grandma used to. I'm also going to start using phrases like, "Golly Gee Wilikers" and "That's boss!" I have my Nana's old cook book from 1963 that says a good wife will spend all day in the kitchen making her husband a soufflé for dinner. I better start learning how to make a soufflé or Kevin will have to deal with having a bad wife.

So, hopefully this house thing will work out. Like I said, we are 98% sure it's going to be ours and we'll be moving once I get back from Reno/California.

By the way, have you filled out your baby bracket yet? If not, here is the link: http://www.bracketmaker.com/tmenu.cfm?tid=307965