Picture of the Day

Serene from Serene is my name, not my life! doing a little linky today about a picture that describes your life. These two are some that I've snapped the past few days that make me happy.

He really is my Superman!

And yesterday morning, I walked into the living room to find the sweet scene.
Love that my boys love each other so much.

So if you wanna join the fun, post a pic that describes your life today,
then head over to Serene's and post the link!


p.s. the heating element in the dryer was fine, so we had to buy a new (to us) dryer today. I'm just glad to be able to wash the Hulk's pants finally. You know. The one who's still potty-training. Yuck.

To lay on the altar

The divine Stephanie posted the most fantastic video today about invisibility in motherhood. It brought me to tears. And yesterday, the master word-crafter Terresa wrote something that spoke to me. It was a beautiful and honest reflection on motherhood. About the sacrifices we make. They've got me thinkin'.

I am feeling particularly sacrificial today. I've been pregnant for 36 weeks.  I am more exhausted than normal. My back hurts oh-so-much. I'm having a Braxton Hicks contraction right now. (Yes, I checked. They're BH, not the real thing. Whew.) I am sacrificing my body, and will soon sacrifice even more to bring this spirit into the world. Then the sacrifices will just continue as I give up sleep and ownership of my body for the little one.

But that's what we do.

We sacrifice sleep. A lot of sleep. Whether we're feeding a baby, or consoling a child with a bad dream, or just teaching a child that they can pull down their own pants, moms sacrifice sleep by bucketful. By the 10 gallon drum-full.

We sacrifice an organized dinner prep for the child who just can't get enough time with mom. We also sacrifice a clean kitchen, because toddlers aren't known for being the most efficient in the kitchen.

We sacrifice the last of the frozen Junior Mints to the kids asking for, "Just one, please!" (It's my own fault for not being sneaky enough.)

We lay these things and countless others upon the altar of motherhood, hoping that not only will they make a difference to our kids, but that they'll make a difference in us. If I'm giving up things that really matter to me, I'm changing what matters to me. And that changes me.

With any luck, I'll get to the point where those things don't feel like a sacrifice. Is it possible that I could see them as golden opportunities? Maybe instead of yelling to my son from my warm bed that he can pull his own pants down, I can get up and congratulate him for being so big. I can memorize his little face, so happy that he's done something so grown-up.

Maybe instead of kicking my kids out of the kitchen, I can teach them how to stir the noodles and roll out the dough. Maybe I can tell them how happy it makes me to have helpers, and how important it is for boys to know how to cook. Maybe they'll actually grow up learning a few things about the kitchen. (Hey, a mom can dream, right?!)

Maybe instead of reluctantly handing over the Junior Mints...........I can be sneakier about sneaking them. Or maybe I can be thankful for the kids who keep me from consuming the extra 50 calories. And I can teach them about sharing even the things we love a lot, because that's what you do in a family.

Maybe instead of looking for ways I can be selfish, this mom thing will teach me to rejoice in selflessness. It's only in losing myself that I'll find myself.

Hopefully I'll find someone worth keeping around.

Actual conversation

via cell phone

Superman: Hey babe. Do you have $300,000?
Wonder Woman: Umm, no......
S: Because Brady (co-worker) and I have it all figured out. It would take $300,000 to make me happy.
WW: Money can't buy happiness, love.
S: I know. But it will buy a boat. Brady and I are gonna be pirates in the Caribbean. But we need a boat.



WW: Oh. Well, then........but being a pirate is a lot of work. And you don't like "work."
S: We're just gonna loot. We aren't going to take over other ships or anything.
WW: Looting is still a lot of work, though.
S: Well, most of the governments down there are too weak to stop us --
WW: Oh, I'm not even addressing the legal aspect of it --
S: Brady's gonna be the Captain. I'll just get the spoils. But we have to come up with that 300 grand.
WW: I see. I'll get right on that.
S: 'Cuz we wanna have cruises and stuff where people get to have actual pirate adventures. Sail the seas, sword fight, loot towns....
WW: That's actually not a bad idea. The kids and I could be some of the "innocent" towns people who get looted every other night.
S: Yeah, we'd have to move to Florida or Jamaica or something.
WW: I could probably handle that. I'll start brainstorming fund raisers for us.
S: Thanks, babe. Let me know how it goes.
WW: Yeah, I'll get right on that. Love you.
S: Love you, too. See you in a few hours. Bye.

So what do you think? If I set up a PayPal account, would you donate to the Make Superman a Pirate fund?

Tuesday Confessional

I may have dragged my sewing machine out to the living room so I could watch The Bachelor whilst finishing my crib skirt last night. Didn't think I'd like or watch this season......don't know why I doubted! And I may or may not have have done the Carlton dance after finishing said crib skirt.

I had the worst night's sleep in years last night. It was so bad that when Spiderman came in at 6 wanting to crawl into bed with me, I put a pillow on the floor and told him to sleep there. (He never does that, and normally I would've enjoyed a little cuddling.) And bless his heart, he just said "Okay!" and laid down on the floor.

I'm vastly under prepared when it comes to clothes for this baby!! Especially for the first 6 months. I have like 3 sleepers. And 6 onesies. I need to hit the clearance racks harder or start taking donations. Maybe I'll beg for a shower.

My dryer stopped heating clothes yesterday. I still have damp towels sitting in there. I keep restarting it, hoping it was just a fluke.

I may or may not he having contractions right now. I really don't know. When do they go from Braxton-Hicks to the real thing?

Mama Bird

Nesting is kind of a strange phenomenon, no? What is it about being a few weeks from welcoming a new child that makes women want to completely deep clean and/or redecorate their homes? Is it your body's way of staying active and conditioning for the act of delivery? Is it because you know that in a few weeks, you won't have time to do anything but hold the baby, nurse and sleep?

In the past week, I (with Superman's help) have:

Painted the baby's room
Painted the crib (after we bought new screws)
Changed the curtains in the boys' room
Scrubbed the ceiling of the shower (while taking a shower)
Cleaned walls and doors with Clorox wipes (Tell me those aren't the best thing ever)
Bought myself a new bedspread
Improvised a new bedskirt to match
Made plans for new curtains to match the bedspread
Washed burp rags and bibs
Sorted through 3 bags of baby clothes
Organized baby's drawers
Started a baby blanket
Started baby's curtains
Started a matching crib skirt

Those last three are particularly surprising to me since I don't sew. But I've seen my mom make curtains, and a crib skirt can't be that hard, right? I'm not going to make it ruffly -- it'll just hang straight. The baby blanket is just two pieces of fleece sewn together and a fray cut at the edge. I found some fabric remnants today for SUPER cheap that really have me excited, too. The only problem is that I have NO IDEA what I'm doing. But I'm so anxious to get it done that I'm just gonna do it. I found a crib skirt tutorial that I'm gonna follow, then I'll do the curtains and blankets.

My nest is going to be so pretty!

Buggin'

Just a few things that are really buggin' me right now:

That song Fireflies. I know lots of people like it. I can't stand it.

The fact that not all the shows I want to see are on Hulu.

I only have one pair of pants that fit now. (Outside of sweats.)

That Glee isn't even in reruns right now.

The fact that I am not an expert (or even amateur) seamstress.

Hearing Taylor Swift on the radio. Love her lyrics, but I H.A.T.E. her voice.

The fact that our tax return hasn't come in yet. Doesn't Uncle Sam know I nesting?!

Conundrum. Where do I feel the least guilt?

Superman and I have a bit of a dilemma.

This weekend is our stake conference. That means tonight is stake temple night. We'd like to go.

Tonight is also a wedding reception for a friend from back home. I'd like to go.

They are at the exact same time and about an hours' drive apart.

Superman feels like it's more important to go to the temple. And he's not a huge fan of receptions.

While I think going to the temple is important, my friend sought my address out from me and I'd feel really guilty for not being there. There's not a whole lot of people from "back home" out here and I'd just feel guilty. Plus, she's a sweetheart and I'd love to be there.

It seems like a good compromise would be Superman and I splitting up -- he'd go to the temple, I'd go to the reception. But I know that the only people I'll know at the reception are the bride's family, and they're going to be a little busy. I don't want to just sit there by myself. Especially with my 8.5 month pregnant belly.

But then I feel guilty for making Superman miss the temple just so I don't feel stupid. But she's only gonna get married once (presumably) and we have stake temple night twice a year. AND we already went to ward temple night this month. (Not saying we met our quota or anything, I'm just sayin'.)

So I don't know what to do.

Then I find out that it's supposed to snow throughout the day and night. Maybe an hour's drive is a bad idea?

If we go to the reception, we could take the kids. And a friend up north has bags of baby clothes to give me. I've already told her we'd pick it up tonight.

If we go to the temple, we'd need a sitter. I could probably get a girl from the ward to do it. But the last time she babysat for us was ward temple night, and refused payment since we were going to the temple. (Which I admire.) We haven't had the chance to go out since then and actually pay her, so I'd feel bad asking her to babysit again while we go to the temple, knowing she'd refuse payment again. Plus, tomorrow night is the adult session. Honestly, I'd rather Superman and I attend that together than the temple, meaning: I'd rather have a babysitter for tomorrow than tonight.

Quite the conundrum.

So...........what should I do? What would you do?

fruit from the random tree

Sometimes, I wish I didn't have such a strict moral compass. Specifically when it comes to movies. There are always a ton of movies I'd love to see if they weren't rated R. Precious, Up in the Air, The Brothers......and the list goes on.

I'm still waiting to see The Blind Side and Invictus. Both hold celebrity crushes for me -- Sandra Bullock and Matt Damon. And I wanna see Sherlock Holmes, too.

~~~~~~

The other day I awoke from a catnap on the couch to the sound of the front door closing. The Hulk was just coming in. I said, "Hulk, please don't open the door. It's too cold."

"But I wanna eat snow," he told me.

Today I saw some kind of red mark near his mouth and asked if he had an owie. "Yeah, the bad guys punched me right der so I gotta owie."

~~~~~~

Spiderman saw some "Chuck E. Cheese" string cheese in the store today. He started singing the "where a kid can be a kid" theme song. Then he said, "Mom, maybe we should go to Chuck E. Cheese since I'm a kid."

Pretty sound logic, I suppose.

~~~~~~

I can not eat enough food lately. I've done a pretty good job with my weight gain this pregnancy. (Not that I was trying. I ate what I wanted, when I wanted, and it's worked out pretty well.) But the last week or so........GIMME GIMME GIMME!!!!! I eat and snack all day. I have a feeling that this last 6 weeks will more than make up for the minimal weight gain in the previous 34.

~~~~~~

Project Runway started. That show makes me happy. It also makes me think I could be friends with Heidi Klum.

~~~~~~

We'll be getting our tax return in a few weeks and are hoping to do something about our flooring. We have this disgusting brown carpet circa 1991 and have been trying to get rid of it ever since we moved it. At first we were thinking laminate, then possibly new carpet. But we have hardwood floors underneath, and now we're thinking we should just refinish them. They aren't wonderfully handcrafted works of art, but they are hardwood floors.

Have you refinished floors? Did you do it yourself? Was it easy? Was it cheap? Would you do it in bedrooms?

~~~~~~

Ironic happenstance of the day: Playlist.com had a feature available for months where you could download your playlist to Windows Media Player. My phone is able to take playlists from Windows Media Player and put them on my phone. By the time I discovered what I could do, we no longer had Windows on our computer. Today I called a friend to see if I could temporarily put my playlist on her computer so I could put it on my phone. She said sure. I checked with Playlist.com just to be sure........

And they no longer have that feature available.

Of course.

~~~~~~

My kitchen floor needs to be mopped sumpin' fierce. But I can't bring myself to do it because I know it'll need it within 24 hours anyway. The dogs stay outside in the middy backyard all day and then come in at night. They track mud and dirt everywhere. So what's the point of mopping?

Happy, happy, award award!

{I can never come up with good titles}

The awesome M-Cat at That's What She Said got a blog award this week and graciously passed it on to anyone who wanted it. I, being a fan of hers and also without any blog fodder, decided to snag the award and follow the instructions. I am to list the 10 things that make me the most happy and then pass the award on to 10 bloggers.



The ten things that make me the most happy:

10. My mattress. For my first two pregnancies, we had a cheap mattress that was hard as a rock. It was torture. But we have a nice pillow top mattress now and it's been heavenly. When we got back from our Christmas vacation and I laid down in my bed, I nearly cried because it felt so good. I have had very little back pain this time, and I know it's because of that mattress. (I particularly love it when everything's been freshly laundered in lavender vanilla softeners.)

9. Tax returns. We're taking care of the crib, getting a glider, painting the nursery, getting a new car seat for Spiderman, getting contacts for me, and about a million other small things with our tax return, and it makes me very happy. We're also hoping to do something about our floors -- hopefully refinish the hardwoods beneath our {disgusting} carpet. Yay for over paying Uncle Sam!!

8. Reality TV. I know it's not everyone's cup of tea. (Particularly Superman's.) But I lurve it, for the most part. American Idol, SYTYCD, Project Runway, the Bachelor, Keeping up the with Kardashians, Tough Love, Designed to Sell......and the list goes on. I just can't get enough. I love the drama......as long as it stays far away from me in real life.

7. Music. Music makes me so happy. I can't tell you how many times I've moped around the house in the morning, looking for some motivation to get going, then turned on some good music and suddenly found myself happy to do the dishes. (Well, "happy" may be a bit of an exaggeration. "Not loathing" is probably a more accurate term.) That playlist over there ---> is definitely for me more than you. But you are welcome to enjoy it! I promise that it holds more than gLee music!

6. Modern medicine. Thanks to this stuff, I am able to face the birth of my children without any real reason to be afraid. (I'm actually excited this time!) Also, it's already kept my babies alive. My blood type is O- and Supeman is O+. If any of my children are Rh+, my body sees them as a foreign antibody that needs to be destroyed. But thanks to modern medicine, I get a shot in the middle of my pregnancy and no longer have to worry about it.

5. Friends. I don't know what I'd do without friends to vent with and laugh with, blog with and talk with. They definitely are a big part of me maintaining my sanity. Which makes everyone happy.

4. My baby girl. She'll be here in just six weeks. She's a mover and a shaker and I just can't wait to meet her. I love feeling her move and guessing which body part I can feel. Superman and I are still trying to come up with a name........I don't know why I'm being so finnicky! We like Aubrey, but it's still a little more popular than I'd like. But there's no convincing Superman of Eliza or Lila or Maggie or Elliana.......so she honestly might get to name herself!

3. My boys. There are several times a day when I am positively infatuated with my boys. Seeing them run around in underoos or Spiderman and Star Wars costumes. Hearing their imaginations come alive as they play with Legos. All of the hilarious things they say all the time. The hugs. Oh, the hugs. Spiderman in particular hugs me at least 15 times a day and says he loves me. And the Hulk gets so excited about expressive about everything and is such a teaser. "Mom, I love you a little..................and A LOT!!!"

2. My best friend, Superman. He is the yin to my yang in so many ways, and I'm grateful for that. (Most of the time!) I love that makes me laugh every day. I love that he is a man of integrity. He is an exceptional father. He makes a real effort to help me around the house, which I sincerely appreciate. And he is the least selfish person I know. He is such an example to me.

1. My religion and my testimony of Jesus Christ. Without the binding covenants I've made, my relationship with my family would be pointless. I'm so thankful that these relationships will continue to grow after this life. And my Savior has made it all possible. Without his Atonement, I'd be without hope.

And now to pass it on!

1. That Girl @ Pensievity. Love her voice and perspective. And this post.

2. Terresa @ the Chocolate Chip Waffle. A fantastic writer and poet who sucks the marrow out of life. This post is a work of art.

3. Motherboard @ Crazyland. She's hilarious, honest, and insightful. Love this post.
4. Serene is my name, not my life! A new friend I've found and absolutely adore. This makes me laugh.
5. Cynthia @ Creative Chaos. Her blog is the perfect balance of family, crafts, humor, reflections....I think she's great. Good stuff right here.
6. Steph @ Diapers and Divinity. Her title says it all: motherhood and finding God in it. Love her. So glad she shared this.
7. Rachel Sue @ Trapped Between a Scream and a Hug. She's a "real life" friend who's become a much closer friend through blogging. She's in the trenches of motherbood and doing a great job. (I tried to find a recent fave, but I love them all. Reviews, actual convos, randomness -- it's all good!)
8. Shellie. Also known as Shell. This girl cracks me up. And she has such a way with words.
9. Carolyn @ Fruit of the Carolyn. Another new friend I'm loving, even though I'm jealous of her new decorating opportunities.

10. And at the risk of this looking like a total cop out...........I pick you! If you're reading this and commenting, chances are I'm reading you and find value in what you have to say. But I didn't want to just say "I give it to everyone" because there are some really great blogs I read that deserve to have other people know about them. So if you need some blog fodder, or want to share your favorite blogs, or just need an excuse to list the things making you happy, feel free to grab the award! I'd love to hear any and all of those things from you!

Beyond Emma and Nephi

Tonight I was perusing a baby name book and came across something I found somewhat strange. The book had a section on cultural names. Among the cultures I found Native American, Puritan, African America, Muslim, Hindu, Jewish and Mormon. That's right. There was a section dedicated to names among the Mormon culture. Specifically "Utah Mormons."

I now give you the section from my book. Be prepared -- it's not what you might expect.

"Utah Mormons are known to create unique or uncommon names in a variety of ways, often combing parents' or grandparents' first names. So, Lewis and Amanda might result in Le'Anda. They also appreciate extremely unusual spelling variations, such as Kellee, Katlynn, Leee, and Alysoon. Could it be the Mormons started the surname as first name trend? It seems they've been doing this for decades; we found Bowden, Doerr, and Rainey amongst surnames used for males. Mormons also love French sound prefixes ("La" or "De") and wouldn't hesitate to completely concost a name: LaJune or DeBekka. Creativity is the name of the game for Mormon parents," Jeanine Cox in The Perfect Name.

Odd, right?

Now, I'll grant you that I'm not a "Utah Mormon." In any sense of the word. I grew up in Kansas but have lived in the Beehive State for the past 6.5 years. So maybe I haven't been here long enough for me to see any of these naming trends. And I'll admit that I know a Katlynn and a Carden, who carries his mother's maiden name.

But "Leee?" "Le'Anda?" Seriously? And not one mention of "Nephi" or "Emma?"

Is this like a ploygamist tradition that's been misnamed as a Mormon tradition?

Have you ever heard of "Utah Mormons" with names like that?

There are no words.

If you would, dear readers, hearken back to 4 weeks ago. The Monday before Christmas......

I had just finished the ward Christmas program the day before. I could finally focus on preparing for our trip to Kansas and Missouri for the holidays. The plan was to run errands on Monday, do laundry and pack on Tuesday, and clean the house on Wednesday. We planned to leave Wednesday night was Superman was done with work and drive through the night.

But Monday morning as I was about my normal internetting, I decided to check the weather for the trip. Just two days before, weather.com had said a storm was supposed to hit on Christmas, but the weather looked okay on the days preceding Christmas.

That changed on Monday.

Suddenly, the storm was going to be over the Rockies on Wednesday and Thursday. I called Superman to inform him of the unfortunate news, left a message, then went to run errands.

At 2:30 in the afternoon, I got a call from the Caped Wonder. He informed me that I suddenly had a big to do list, because we were going to leave as soon as he got home from work that night. In 2.5 hours. He didn't have the time off, but he was going to get the company laptop and wire in to the network to do a few hours of work each day.

{raises eyebrows, stupefied)

I pulled myself together after a minute and said, "Okay." I raced home and started packing like a mad woman. All of our luggage is stored in the kid's closets, and some of it holds baby clothes. (We are in sad need of storage bins and places to put them.) I dump out clothes, and start filling the suitcases with our own clothes. I stuffed all the laundry I hadn't had time to do into a trash bag to wash at my parents' house. I started to make a list of the last minute things I had to remember: return library books, take the trash out, etc.

At 3:30, Superman called back. He wasn't able to get the laptop, so we wouldn't be leaving that night. We probably wouldn't be going at all.

{raises eyebrows, stupefied}

"Umm.........okay. Let me process."

So I stopped the crazy packing and did the dishes. Got on the computer for a while to wind down. Tried really hard not to cry.

Then at 4:45, Superman called again. He had the laptop. I was to leave right away to take the dogs to the boarders' house. Superman would come home and finish packing, then we'd leave when I got back.

{raises eyebrows, stupefied}

"Wait. YOU'RE going to pack? You? Pack? I'm not so sure about this plan, sweetheart......."

"It's the only way. But you have to leave right now."

Of course it took me 30 minutes to get out the door once I got myself, the kids, and the dogs all loaded. By then I was in the throws of rush hour traffic. It took me 45 minutes to make a 20 minute drive. I dropped the dogs off, then called Superman to help him pack. I hadn't even made a real list yet.

"Uhh, remember the phone chargers. And the camera. And the camera charger. They're all next to the computer. The kids need church shoes. Get my shampoo, conditioner and razor. Take out the trash. Look for the library books. Remember the Christmas presents in the bedroom. Did you get the DVD players from that guy?"

I got home and helped him scramble to get everything together. We couldn't find all of the library materials and tore the house apart looking for them. (It was already messy, and we made it so much worse. I HATED leaving the house like that. Well, I hated the idea of returning to the house like that.)

But we were on the road by 8.

About an hour into the drive, the kids were both asleep. I was driving and asked Superman to hook up the DVD players so we could listen to music.

(Did I mention that our car was without a sound system? The radio won't turn on, and so we can't even listen to CDs.)

He pulled out the DVD players, only to discover that in our hurry to leave, the people we were borrowing them from didn't have time to check everything in the case.

There were no power cords. We had no forms of entertainment.

Yes, we have some music on our phones, but neither of us have car chargers. So the phones had to be used sparingly. Grrreat. Just great.

But we pushed on. We made great time. We were in Denver in 7 hours, when it ususally takes about 8 to get there. Superman and I were taking turns driving, and doing pretty well.

About an hour east of Denver, I started to hear a soft high-pitched noise. It gradually got louder, and lower pitched. I could feel that something was wrong with the car. Luckily I was right next to an exit, so I pulled off.

We had a flat tire.

You may or may not remember that we bought four new tires on Memorial Day. And now one of them had the wire mesh poking through. Because we didn't get the alignment fixed.

So. We took EVERYTHING out of the trunk and started to change the tire at 4 am. But the lug nuts had been air-ratcheted on and we could not get them off. Seriously. We were about to break the tools.

So we loaded everything back into the trunk and decided to try to drive to the closest town which was 15 miles away. We only made it about 100 feet on the freeway before we realized that was not going to happen.

Luckily Superman has a new phone and was able to call a towing company. An hour later, the guy shows up and air-ratchets the lug nuts off for us, then leaves Superman to change the tire. And only charged us $150!! Yeah. I couldn't believe it cost that much and he didn't even change the tire for us. Jerk.

At this point, we realized that our plans were going to have to change. We were no longer on schedule to make it to my parents' house in time for Superman to wire in for work and be available for his phone call.

We went to the closest "big" town (not a whole lot of those in eastern Colorado) and found the Napa Auto Parts. It was conveniently next to a hotel that offered free Wi Fi. We pulled into the hotel parking lot and knocked on the lobby door, but no one answered. (It was about 6 am.) We drove to another hotel we had seen, but they didn't say anything about free Wi Fi. I should mention that I used the term "hotel" loosely. I think the correct term would be "motel," actually. Or "creepy place where only desperate truckers and hookers frequent" would probably work, too.

"I think we should go back to the other hotel. We know they have Wi Fi, and maybe they'll feel bad for making us wait and give us a discounted rate," I said to Superman.

"What kind of bubble gum and fairy world do you live in? No one's going to do that for us," Superman said. (He may or may not have been a little short on patience at this point.)

"Well, you never know. . ."

We went back to the hotel and parked outside of the lobby. About 30 minutes later, we saw someone in the lobby. Superman went inside, and told them what we needed -- just a room for a few hours, not overnight. Enough time to repair the tire and get a few hours of work in. The lady said she'd see how long we ended up staying and figure out what to charge us from there.

So by 7 am we were in our room.

Our room. Oh, how I regret not taking pictures of that room!!!

Have you ever seen Vacancy? Superman and I watched it on FX around Halloween. It's the one with Luke Wilson and Kate Beckinsale where the hotel owner is trying to kill them.

I'm pretty sure they used our motel room as the set for that movie.

Nasty 70s wood paneling. A lamp missing a light bulb. Rust in the bathtub. The bathroom floor slanted at a 30 degree angle. The frosted glass bathroom window was painted shut. The overhead light fixture was gone -- just open wires above the bed. The door had a chain lock, the dead bolt, the door handle lock, and some kind of loop made out of thick wire that was bolted to the door jam and looped around the door handle.

CREE. PY.

We kept the blinds open.

Napa Auto Parts opened at 8, so I went to get the tire fixed while Superman worked and the boys watched cartoons. (They loved our "little house," by the way. Thought it was the funnest thing ever.)

Napa only had one tire in the entire store that fit our car. They changed it quickly, but told us that the other front tire was just as bad. It would not survive another 8 hours on the road. They couldn't replace it for me, but there was another Napa store about 20 miles away that had one tire in our size.

By noon, Superman had worked about 6 hours and we were ready to get back on the road. When he went to check out, the lady told him not to worry about it. She didn't charge us a dime. (Sometimes bubble gum and fairies make their presence known! Or God grants one of his tender mercies. Whatever you prefer to call it.)

20 miles down the freeway, we saw the other Napa store next to "The I-70 Diner." Superman wryly asked me if I thought they had free Wi Fi in the store so he could get a little more work done while they changed the tire. I told him probably not, but maybe the diner had it. (Again, with the sarcasm.) But as we drove by the diner, we saw the words "Free Wi Fi" painted on the windows.

Seriously.

So Superman stayed there for 45 minutes while they replaced our other tire and the boys and I got a healthy lunch of Red Viens and Cheetos from the gas station.

By 2:30 we were back on the road. It started to get foggy as we drove further east, but that was the worst of the weather we saw. We got to Wichita around 9 pm, and it was just starting to drizzle.

As we related our harrowing tale to my family, my grandma asked if we were going to get the alignment fixed this time. We said that we'd like to, but we just spent $300 dollars we hadn't originally planned on and would probably wait till we returned home to fix the alignment. She graciously offered to pay for it for us if we'd find a place to get it done the next day. We graciously accepted her offer.

And do you know how much she ended up paying for our alignment to be fixed?

FORTY-FIVE DOLLARS.

Did you know it was so cheap to get your tires re-aligned?

I was actually kind of mad when I found out how cheap it was. That $45 would've saved us $300. At least. We'd been getting poorer gas milage with the bad tires, so who knows how much money we actually would've saved.

Anyway...........the rest of the trip went smoothly enough. We made it to Superman's parents' house in SW Missouri a good 24 hours before the storm hit. We had a great time. All the cousins played together marvelously. (We had 7, 5 y/o and under.) It was just a fantastic few days. Then we drove back to my parent's house and had another great few days. My boys had the best time with their grandparents -- they're finally to the age where they remember them from previous visits. It was just so great.

The trip back was miraculously uneventful. The kids did spectacularly well for a 15 hour drive with no movies. They played with their Christmas presents, napped, and fought occasionally, but really not more than usual. We left Wichita around 6 am and made it home by 8 pm (with the time change.)

~~~~~~~~~~

Everytime we drive back home, Superman says that he's never making the trip again. I always tell him that, yes, we will. But........I didn't say that this time. I told him he might be right.

Ironically, we debated taking our 1993 Ford Explorer on the trip in case the weather got bad. But it only gets like 17 mpg, and our Accent gets at least 32 mpg on the highway. So we let that make our decision. But in reality, the Accent was getting like 25 mpg, and we had to spend $300 get get new tires and pay the stupid guy to take our lug nuts off. It would've been cheaper to take the Explorer.

Live and learn, eh?

So the moral of the story is: GET YOUR ALIGNMENT FIXED. And pack a few days before the trip. And keep your house clean so you don't come home to a disgusting house if you have to leave in a hurry. (Which I've actually done this week. "Maintaining" is so much easier than cleaning!)

Also, any sacrifice is worth it to make memories with your family.

Inquiring minds want to know.......

When do you replace a crib?

Superman and I are trying to decide whether replacing our crib is a necessity or not. The one we have has been used for about 4 years straight. (We put it away about 6 months ago.) But we received it used from a family member. So it's probably 7 years old or so. It's missing a few screws, but it's a lot easier and cheaper to replace screws than an entire crib.

However.........cribs always seem to have safety issues. They're recalled all the time. The one we have has a side that you can raise and lower.........do new cribs still have that? Or has that been deemed unsafe?

And if we were to buy a new crib, I'm not sure if we should buy a brand new one, or get a better deal by buying a used one. Although what's the difference between buying a used one and using the one we already have? We'll probably have one more child after this one, so buying a new one has some merit.........I just don't know.

What would you do?

so I guess people are choosing a word......

I have no idea what my "word" for 2010 would be.

Probably something like "survive."

Or "savor."


But I know what my word for today is: MAINTAIN.


Superman was the best husband ever this weekend and we totally cleaned the house. We deep cleaned all the bedrooms, took boxes to DI, and even cleaned off the desk! We moved the twin bed back to the big bedroom that the boys are officially sharing. We were going to set up the crib in the baby's room, but decided to wait. We might get a new one, and we're probably going to paint (yay!) before we set it up.

So right now, my house practically sparkles. I need to do a load of laundry and some dishes, but that's about all the work my house even needs right now. It's glorious.

So for today: MAINTAIN.


p.s. I had never heard the song "Aubrey" by Bread. I youtubed it last night. Quite coincidental that it talks about her dancing!!

.r.a.n.d.o.m.

My sweet Spiderman gave me my first big mommy compliment today. After nearly bringing him to tears because he didn't want to trace the letter "C," I made a small cup of hot chocolate for him. (After he traced the letter, of course.) As he gave me one of his precious hugs he said, "I love you Mom. You're the best mom ever. Because you do the things that make me happy and I love you!"

~~~~~~~~~~

Superman and I may have decided on a name for this little dancer in my tummy. We like Aubrey. It's about the only name we can compromise on. It's cute, not out-dated, and not overwhelmingly popular. But it's not set in stone, so don't start your embroidery yet.

And yes, she's a dancer. Holy cow is she a dancer. I'm not just talking the occasional rolling of the elbow across my swollen abdomen. I'm talking sustained 5 minute periods of movement all over. And sometimes it's really fast, like she's doing a little Beyonce-groovin'. "All the little babies! All the little babies!"

But it's cool. I could handle having a little dancer. We need some balance in the Force at the aMayzing household. (Dialogue I'm overhearing at this moment: "You need to force him! I'm the storm trooper with two guns that flies and is the Anakin color!") Seriously. I'm ready for a dose of pink.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

I still need to take down all my Christmas decorations. But it's going to take SO MUCH WORK. It's one of those things that I'm putting off because I'm scared of how much time and effort it will take. I'll probably put it off till tomorrow when Superman's home and can provide the brute strength for me.

Yeah, that's a good idea. Why do today what I could put off till tomorrow?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I've haven't watched much TV this week, but I caught some of the Biggest Loser. Did anyone else see when Jillian made that typical "put everyone before myself" mom yell and scream and punch the daylights out of the punching bag? I CRACKED UP. I almost peed my pants I was laughing so hard. (Though peeing my pants isn't a huge feat for me these days.)

I love Jillian.

American Idol starts next week. Snarky Simon at his best, Ellen being her hilarious self.......I'm pumped.

And did Project Runway premiere last night? Gonna need to catch that one, too.

Did you know that there's a blog that talks about all these shows and more? It's blogthedayaway.com. I would probably talk about TV a lot more on my blog if I didn't have the forum to discuss everything. I lurve it.

(I didn't not receive any compensation for that plug. Just sharing with you out of the goodness of my heart.)

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The Hulk loves chocolate. He calls it "clocklate." We often have conversations along the lines of:

"Mom, I'm hungwee."
"It's almost lunch time. What would you like for lunch?"
"I don't want lunch! I want clocklate!"
"You could have some chocolate after lunch. Would you like macaroni and cheese for lunch?"
"No! I want water. And clocklate. Please oh please oh please?"

He is definitely his mother's son.

Making a list and checking it twice

{I'm having a hard time letting the holidays go}

My to do list as of right now:

~ Put away groceries
~ Do the dishes
~ Unpack clothes
~ Fold laundry from two weeks ago
~ Start laundry from the trip
~ Sort old/new toys
~ Clean my room
~ Clean boys' bedrooms
~ Put away Christmas
~ Move bed from Hulk's room to Spiderman's room
~ Put up crib
~ Mop kitchen
~ Cook dinner
~ Decide whether or not to watch the Bachelor this season
~ Blog {insert adjective synonymous with crazy, unbelievable, laughable, sad, nutso} story about getting home for the holidays
~ Pick name for baby girl

I think that about covers it for now. That list isn't necessarily in order of importance (I should probably cook dinner) but that's all running through my head right now. I started some of it this morning, like the laundry and sorting toys, but after two hours my back hurt so bad I had to sit down to do my hair and makeup. Then off to a doctor appointment, lunch with a friend while kids played, and grocery shopping.

I am beat.

I have a million things to do but can barely keep my eyes open.

It's like I'm 8 months pregnant or something. Sheesh.

Back to life. Back to reality.

It has been a whirlwind two weeks. The last time I posted, I thought I had about 3 days to prepare to visit our families in Kansas and Missouri. But plans changed suddenly -- we ended up leaving that night. (Details to follow in another post. Quite the story.)

Life's been crazy but SO GOOD since then. Surrounded by family........it just doesn't get better than this. We're leaving to drive 16 hours home tomorrow morning. I'm not ready. I'm ready for the trip, but I am not ready for this time to end. My kids haven't had enough time with their grandparents or cousins. I haven't either! But the time has come to an end.

Anyway.............I've missed you guys. And I've kinda missed my blog. It's been kinda nice to be too busy to blog. But I have no doubt that I'll be back to your regularly scheduled programming within a week. The trip out to my parent's house was particularly blog-worthy. So stay tuned for that.

Till then.......happy new year and good luck returning to reality!