Weeked recap

We had a nice family weekend here. On Saturday we all went over to the Green Thumb Festival at one of the local parks. They have all kinds of beautiful plants for sale that we didn't buy because of course we're hoping to be building soon and why plant out your yard only to have a bobcat run it over? But it was a gorgeous day and D got all kinds of free junk from the exhibit booths, so that was fun. On Sunday we went to the beach for the afternoon. M & D got to play in the surf n' sand while Baby A napped on my lap. Again, another picture perfect Florida Spring day, and there won't be too many comfortable ones left, so we might as well enjoy them now.

This week is crazy busy again - D has a dentist appt. today after school, tennis tomorrow, meet with the Builder on Wednesday and then M is out of town Thurs. & Fri. I spent the morning making enough food to get us through until Friday - I hate cooking on busy nights and never cook when M is gone. But, we've got meatloaf, grilled chicken, mashed potatoes and pasta. So we should be OK and I won't have to touch the stove again all week. Yippeee!! I really should look into one of those "Dinner Done" places.

M will be home late tonight, so I'm thinking I'll have time to work on some crafty projects that I've been trying to get to -- organizing up our family photos, working on a needlework project I've got going or maybe making some pretty ribbon bookmarks. Either that or fall asleep on the couch watching TV.

Where's the truck?

I feel like I got hit and dragged by a semi. BabyA was in rare form last night -- up from 11:00 - 12:30 and then again from 3:00 - 4:00. I actually fell asleep on a chair in their room and scared the cupcakes out of D when she woke up around 4:30 to get a drink of water. A tired Mama was not what she expected to find lurking in her room.

Too tired to cook dinner even, so now have to start my campaign for getting some tasty take-out.

Happy weekend to all!

April showers

Builder finally did show up yesterday, with apologies, about an hour late. Happily, the Measuring went well and he said "this is going to be easier than I thought!" We'll see if "easier" translates into "less expensive." He brought one of the designers with him, George, to get an eyeful so they can do some initial planning. We're meeting with everyone next Wednesday to get a prelim estimate and decide if we're going to move forward. Oh yes, yes, yes. I think we're going to do it!!!

Today Baby A had his 9-month appt. and he is doing well, except for some low hemoglobin numbers, ie low iron. We have to step up the meat/egg portion of his diet and give him some supplements as well. We go back in a month to be re-tested. Doc wasn't concerned, said it was normal at this age, but just wanted to make sure we can reverse the trend. In other news, he pee-pee'd into his little bag like a champ -- he's certainly not dehydrated!

We're off to a dual Baby Shower for two dear friends this afternoon, D is taking a half-day so she can see her playgroup friends again. Should be fun. And the cupcakes? DELICIOUS! I went with half plain - half raspberry frosting. Even M liked them. Hopefully my Mom Friends will too.

Waiting....

Am I getting stood up? The Builder guys were supposed to be here 45 minutes ago to do some prelim measuring. I'm still waiting... . If this were a real date I'd have blown him off by now and put on my comfy pants and settled down to watch some telly. Hm. Good Builders are hard to find. But I thought we had a connection. Oh well - his loss if he shows up during Baby A's lunch - he'll have to do a lot of talking to himself.

In the meantime I'm making delish chocolate cupcakes for D's playgroup/baby shower tomorrow. I'm trying to decide between plain buttercream frosting, coconut b'cream or raspberry b'cream. Probably because there are wee kids involved I'll go with plain, but I may fancy up and make some of the flavored kind for the grown ups. Have you ever noticed that with cupcakes, the kids either eat the cake or the frosting, but rarely both? At what age do you start eating them both? As far I remember, I've always eaten both, and probably started licking the bowl/spoon as soon as I could walk.

Dare to dream

We had a meeting this week with a design/build firm and, well, it looks like they may be "the one." There was a good connection, we felt comfortable, we could talk easily, everyone was upfront about their pasts.... it was a great first date. And, instead of a "we'll call soon" we actually have a second date... er, meeting... set up for next Wednesday for them to do some preliminary measurements. If all goes well we'll be signing to make it official in about 3-4 weeks!! Hurray! And not a minute too soon as Baby A and D have reached the beginning of the end of the room-sharing period of their lives. Baby A has been waking up starting around 2:45 until about 4:30 every morning- YAWN!! - and things are just too cramped in there. If they'd both been the same sex, or if the age difference wasn't quite as great, maybe we could squeeze by for a few more years, but it really isn't fair to them right now, especially D who would love to have friends over to play -- if they had a place to go.

In addition to the addition, we'll be fixing up the yard as well (I'm all about putting in a pool right now!) and so we'll have a fully functional house -- soon-ish.

Baby A Update: He's getting mobile. He'll "walk" all over the house holding onto our fingers. He'll scoot on his butt. He'll roll like a fiend across the room. No crawling yet though. He has the top half down pat, but hasn't quite figured out what the legs are for. It's also quite funny to seem him butt-scoot in the tub - where he immediately heads for the faucet. He loves to stick his hands under it and make it splash up on his face. He doesn't mind it a bit. But you really have to watch him and be careful or he'll have his whole head under there in a second. He doesn't mind that either.

Our only plans this weekend are to have lunch with my sister Debbie on Sunday. Other than that, we're enjoying some downtime and hopefully will be able to get outside to enjoy the beautiful weather. Hope you have a nice weekend too!

Fear

I found out late yesterday about the shootings at VT. Normally it wouldn't take all day for me to hear about such things, but I had a sick dog, cranky baby and a ton of post-Spring Break errands to run so was online less than usual. I'm glad I caught up at the end of the day, when there was less speculation about what was happening, but my heart goes out to those poor people who lost loved ones and the students who will live with the fear and horror of that day for a long time.

As a mom, as a parent, you can't help wonder what if it happened to your child or at your kid's school? I don't even like to think about it, but who knows what kind of sick "person" preys on others like that. D's school, which is pretty locked-down, is relatively safe but the kids are still out on an open playground during the day -- isn't it a crazy world that you might not want your kid to be outside on a playground because someone could open fire on them? I'm sure it's just the sudden (re)heightened awareness of how vulnerable we are to the crazies, but right now it's on my mind.

And in a few days I'm sure we'll all be treated to one of Rosie O'Donnell's crackpot conspiracy theories about this incident. I've stopped watching the Martha show in the mornings because The View comes on right after and just seeing Rosie's face during the promo spots turns me off.

Hug your family today!

Fashion victim

For those that are wondering, yes, I'm still wearing the cute black skirt and I've got really awesome shoes to go with. The problem is the top -- first, I can't wear sleeveless because my arms are too flabby -- looks like I've got half-filled water bottles attached to them. Second, either the tops are too fitted (Boobs! Baby Nursing Bra! Breast pads! Flabby leftover tummy! All these things mean nothing too fitted!) or too sheer. Even the one I did end up with is too sheer, but it at least has sleeves to hide my bra straps and ginormous fat arms. I'm sooo disgusted with myself that I went out and got a half-gallon of Triple Threat Edy's Slow Churned and I'm going to eat it one cup at a time until I feel better about myself.

Only 3-1/2 months of nursing to go. I can't wait. I want to wear cute tank tops again, without some ugly stretchy nursing bra poking out. And don't even get me started on the situation with my underwear. Granny panty city, baby.

Oh and by the way, It's Great To Be a Florida Gator!!

Who's that girl?

Today I had to go to the Mall to return some stuff I bought in my Quest for An Easter Outfit. I also had to get some new shoes because all I have anymore are clogs and flip flops and one lonely pair of brown loafers. I have a really specific idea of how I'd like to look in my head, but unfortunately the clothes in the stores these days aren't what I'm looking for. I tried on about 50 blouses today (while BabyA wailed and whined and wiggled in his stroller) and not a single on looked like "me." "Me" is all about t-shirts and polo shirts and cotton sweaters and the occassional cashmere and, in the winter, turtlenecks. The blouses in the stores are all about rayon and nylon and wrap-styling and things so sheer they look like pantyhose and fitted things, or else blouse-y, peasant-y things. I can't even find a decent twin set.

It's very depressing. I wish that I were more like the girl in my head -- the one who's makeup is always perfect and who's hair is always brushed and neat and who has a closet full of outfits for every occassion. Sigh.