No more flu

This is going to be short tonight.

My flu is FINALLY gone. Finally. And Jeremiah is just fine, too. Whatever was the matter with him on Wednesday when he woke up from his nap disappeared as soon as Louis strapped him into his car seat to go see the dr. He was all smiles and laughs (until the examination of course) and did not have a fever or exhibit flu-like symptoms, but the dr. prescribed some medicine, just in case (and said I could take it too! But in a larger dosage of course). Today was the first day I have felt well since Tuesday. I'm so grateful that my brother babysat, without Lindsey, yesterday for me so I could get well! Not that I am happy that Lindsey was not there; I'm just trying to emphasize what a feat this was for Joe. Jeremiah worships his Uncle Joe, but Uncle Joe has never technically been left alone with him before. Yesterday Joe managed to not only diaper my son (a first), feed him lunch (only one container of stage 2 but what can you do) and PUT HIM DOWN FOR A NAP (I was worried about this one b/c Jeremiah hates the crib at my mom's house!) but they also had some other secret, hysterical adventures that I'm sure none of us will ever know about. My mom came home to find the two of them hanging out in the garage. Oh I wish I could have sneaked a peek. When it was time for Joe to leave for work my mom closed shop and took over. God bless my family. I felt so lazy staying in bed or on the couch all day, watching Juno a total of 3 times yesterday (but only being awake for one of those times) on HBO, among other things. But the day of rest was well worth it. Praise God I am well!

I also wanted to say hi to Theresa, Joe and Lindsey's friend from church and the mother of Levi, Jeremiah's co-ring bearer for the big day. Thanks for reading!

Anyway, my sweet husband just walked in with Subway so we are going to eat and call it a night =)

My lack of judgement...

I'm kicking myself right now. Or at least as well as I can when I'm battling the flu. Last night I had horrible body aches, an upset stomach (but didn't throw up) and a fever. I woke up with a normal temperature and a body that, miraculously, felt whole and new. I decided to keep my playdate at Disneyland with Michelle and her son today. Boy, what a mistake.

We didn't even make it on one ride. We were just about to climb in the submarines to go on Finding Nemo, and I had to run out of line (with Jeremiah; I wasn't thinking enough to think to leave him with Michelle; although two 14 month olds is a ton of work with only two hands!), ran to the bathroom and got sick. Jer was in his stroller at the time, and even though we were in the disabled handicapped stall, he was still closer to me than I would have liked. On the way to the restroom, I ran into my brother's good friend (son of my mom's best friend) whom I haven't seen in years, and his adorable 3 1/2 year old son (whom I'd never met before). He must have thought I was nuts, pretty much just saying hi and bye to him while he was trying to get a "catch up" in.

Needless to say, we left Disneyland afterwards. I was well enough to go take my picture for my pass (since the line was out the door when I arrived- thankfully no line when I went back), and made it home in one piece, feeling better after my little incident. However, about an hour ago, Jeremiah woke up from a nap, screaming like a banshee, doubled over in pain. Louis just took him to the doctor's and I pray to God that he is able to be seen before they close. Otherwise- to the hospital. Jeremiah must have passed his stomach bug (see prior entry) onto me, and when I passed it back to him today he got it in a much stronger form. All this could have possibly been prevented had we stayed home today rather than go to Disneyland, and I could have gotten sick in the comfort of my own home, with him in his crib rather than two feet away. Although he might have gotten sick anyway because I can't resist kissing him all day long. I swear to God that if I hadn't felt one million percent better this morning and on my way to Disney that we, without a doubt would NOT have gone. now its all a mess and I feel like the worst (sick) mother in the world

My poor lil guy

Poor Jeremiah hasn't been feeling too well since Friday. At first he was constipated, and somehow that turned into the complete opposite of constipation, if you catch my drift. He's pretty much been confined to the BRAT diet (bannanas, rice, apples and toast) since Saturday night and banned from his beloved milk, which seems to irritate his tummy more. Yesterday he was miserable for the first half of the day, but perked up after his second nap in time to go to my parent's house for dinner. Today he seems to feel fine, but still has some minor issues after eating. We've had to resort to force feeding him some pedialite and water with a medicine dropper because he flat out refuses to drink it by himself, in his sippy or a regular cup. I feel badly for him, but what can you do? The last thing I want is for him to wind up in the hospital, dehydrated and attached to an IV. I hate IVs. It hurt worse than my epidural when I was giving birth to him. I don't want him to have to go through that. So...we shall continue to pin him down and squirt yucky liquid into his mouth while he's crying =(

So on Saturday all of us bridesmaids went shopping for our dresses for my brother and Lindsey's wedding. I have to say that I am very pleased with the dress. The original plan was for all 7 of us to have our own dress in the same color, but with 7 girls of various sizes and shapes, and not a huge array of "must have" choices, you're bound to have girls that want the same dress. So rather than duking it out, the six regular bridesmaids paired up to choose the same dress (3 dresses for 6 girls) and the maid of honor, who didn't like any of our choices anyway, has her own dress. I wound up hitting it off with Lindsey's friend Stephanie (who, I didn't realize at the time, was the only other mother in the group!) and we chose a very cute dress. We were trying to decide between two dresses, and wound up choosing the cheaper one of the two because we couldn't pick which one we liked best. Lindsey thinks the other dress makes my butt look good... but my husband thinks it looks good all the time =) It did have a really cute "butt ruffle" as Lindsey calls it... but the way I look at it, the less $$ I have to spend on my dress, the more $$ I have for presents for her showers. (I tend to go a little nuts shopping for showers). Or to put towards the shower I'm throwing her. So it evens out in the long run =)

On Wednesday Jeremiah and I have a playdate at Disneyland with Michelle and Braden. Yay! I swear I've been counting down to going back since I arrived at home from our trip last week. And scouring the weather reports like crazy (sunny!!!). As far as I remember, we don't have anything else too exciting going on this week, but next Wednesday we're going back to Disneyland with my friend Melissa. We used to work at Target together and she has a pass, too =). It seems like Wednesdays are going to be our Disneyland days for some reason. Then on Friday, Jeremiah and I are going to Phoenix for the weekend with my grandma. My cousins Mike and Stacy are throwing their daughter Cheyenne's 5th birthday party at their home for a change, rather than driving out here like they always do (all the relatives from both sides live here). We are staying until Sunday. I've never been to their house in Phoenix before and am looking forward to the weekend away... but not to the drive. I honestly have no clue how Jeremiah will handle 5-6 hours in the car. We've never been on the road that long. But I guess it will be an indicator of how our flight to Washington, DC will be in April! And he'll be sitting on our lap then... oh boy.

Anyway, it's Monday. That means the Bachelor and the Secret Life are on. Goodnight!

Friday!

The weekend is here! Even though I don't work (I don't consider helping my mom "work" since it's just for a few hours a week and I like it!) I still get excited for the weekend. Louis and I usually go out to eat at least once and, even though he doesn't take Saturdays off, we usually see more of each other on the weekends than during the week. Tonight I'm going to be ambitious and make some spaghetti. I bought a jar of vodka sauce from Trader Joe's when I went for all my pregnancy snacks, and I'm going to cook that with some ground turkey and pasta. Should be yummy... I rarely (and I mean rarely) cook a big meal like this anymore. Louis's arrival every night is so unpredictable- as early as 6 or as late as 11:00. I don't even bother because I don't want to cook late at night or have food just sit around growing gooey and yucky. We'll eat light for dinner during the week and either go out to dinner on the weekends, or I'll cook. I love to cook! I can't wait for him to start working from home in a few weeks with his new job =) Then it will be yummy dinner every night! And hopefully Jeremiah will finally be off of baby food and can partake in the meals as well. He refuses to eat anything that isn't pureed baby food other than bread products and cheese. Picky, picky.

This weekend's going to be a busy one. Tomorrow afternoon I am going to David's Bridal with my wonderful soon-to-be sister to go bridesmaids dress shopping! OOOOH boy! Lindsey, it just dawned on me that your wedding is four months from today! Four months! We need to set a date for your lingere shower =) Anyway, so that's tomorrow afternoon, and on Sunday we're going to my parent's house for dinner.

Not much else is new between Wednesday and now. Have a great weekend, everyone!

We Made It!!!

Yes folks, Jeremiah and I finally made it to Disneyland today! I am (almost) the proud first-time owner of a Disneyland pass. Almost? How does that work? Well, it just so happens that when I went to pay for my pass today, I realized that my poor debit card was sitting at home, by my computer, having just paid some bills online. However, thanks to miraculously having enough cash on me to purchase a two-fer ticket (where you visit one park one day and go to the other park for free next time, within a month) and some new policies (which I still don't understand completely), I am able to put the $ I paid for my two-fer ticket towards my season pass when I return to go to California Adventure. The only loss from today was the $ I paid for parking. Had I been able to pay for my season pass today, the $12 (yes $12- it costs more to park your car at Disney than to watch a movie!) I paid for parking would have gone towards my parking pass. Now I have to pay for it again. A small price for absentmindedness.

I woke up around 6:00 this morning, after Jeremiah's first morning sippy (where he goes back to bed for another hour or so) and scoured the weather reports on the news and online. It appeared that the rain that was supposed to come around noon was going to hold off until 3:00 minimum. I really (and I mean REALLY) wanted to get out of the house today (and go to Disneyland!) so I decided to arrive at Disneyland around an hour before it opened (which was 10:00) so that I'd have enough time to purchase my pass and get a few hours in before possible sprinkles hit. It couldn't have worked out better. We had less than 5 minutes of rain the whole time I was there, and when I decided that we did enough Disneyland for the day, it was still warm and semi-cloudy. The gush of rain has yet to fall. God is Good!!

Needless to say, Jeremiah and I had a wonderful time today. The only difficult part about braving Disneyland by yourself with a 13 1/2 month old is getting on and off the merry go round. I was rather leery of having Jeremiah sit by himself on it, even if I was holding him while I stood, so we had to ride together. It was quite difficult to get on and off the darn horse but I did. Twice. The crowds weren't horrible; we went on tons of rides, some twice. The only ride we didn't make it on that I wanted to was Nemo; the line was nearly half an hour long by the time we made it over there. I really feel that Jeremiah and I made up for all the lost time between us from the past few weeks of chaos and sadness. We were with each other the whole day, and if he wasn't in his stroller he was in my arms. I love that little guy so much. We had a ball. His favorite ride this time was Dumbo and his favorite character was Tigger. I can't wait to take him back; Michelle and I might take the boys next week. If not... well I'm going to take Jeremiah myself again! I really want to make the most out of the slower season before it gets crowded with spring breakers and summer vacationers. Besides, I"m definitely not a fan of going to theme parks in extreme heat conditions. This weather was perfect. Enjoy some photos of today!

Dumbo

TeacupsJer Jer and Mommy
Tigger

Jeremiah made some new friends

Will We EVER Make It??? =(

I swear, it must not be in the cards for Jeremiah and I to make it to Disneyland and get a pass. This will be the third week in a row that I have planned on taking him and it most likely will not happen. Two weeks ago I was going to go with Michelle and Braden, but then Braden got sick and I found out I was pregnant. Last Friday.... well you know what happened. I was planning on taking Jeremiah tomorrow or Thursday until I saw the weather report for Wednesday -RAIN. For the rest of the week. When I saw the weather report on Monday I planned on taking him today, until my mom reminded me that I had my doctor's appointment today. I'm hoping the rain will let up by Friday... if it doesn't I'm going to go nuts! I need some sort of positive distraction right now. Marissa was going to meet up with us at Downtown Disney to have lunch when she got off of work on Thursday, but now we're going to have to move our lunch to somewhere else. Unless it's pouring, and I can't take Jeremiah out at all.

I've missed my son terribly lately. Between his weekend at my parent's house last weekend and various doctors appointments left and right, I feel like I've barely seen him. He learned how to say "grandma" (Amma!) and "grandpa" (Abba!) last weekend. Very loudly and very strongly, and directed at the right people. All we have to do is pull into their driveway now and he starts shouting those names from the rooftops. My lil guy is growing up. And just tonight he figured out how to fill his drippy cup with water in the bathtub and watch it drip out (although most of it tips out). Tomorrow I want to teach him how to color. He's at that wonderful age where he's like a sponge and I can't wait to put my teaching skills to good use on him. He absolutely adores it when I sing the ABC song, and this song where I count to 20 to the tune of "Brother John." They're tied with the Itsy Bitsy spider for his favorite. Now if only he would sit still for a story... at least he loves to go through big board books on his own.

As far as everything else... I can tell that this pain just isn't going to go away as quickly as I thought it would (or thought it did). I thought I was over it... until I got to the doctor's office today, and realized that the nurse I was on the phone with all day on Friday didn't put it in my charts what happened and I had to tell my OB why I was back after only a week, and stop the nurse that weighed me and took my vitals from double checking my due date. Between that and being locked up in a waiting room full of pregnant women (half of them being teenage girls confirming a pregnancy or receiving prenatal care), I almost started crying several times. However I was able to hold it in until I got home. I'm going to have to be careful to control my emotions and my temper. I can tell I'm getting rather snappy with Louis, going off for the smallest things. I let the person in the drive-through at McDonalds have it tonight (granted they were really rude to me first!) and I think they got a silent revenge on me by not putting the lid on my soda on properly, and half of my soda wound up in my lap on the drive home.

Anyway, Louis is on his way home. We're going to cuddle up and watch a movie. Anything to distract me right now is a blessing. By the way... even though I didn't cast a vote for Obama today, I felt really proud that he is our president when I was listening to/watching the coverage today. I can't wait to see those girls grow up the next few years and see what God has in store for this country. Goodnight!

With apologies

To those faithful readers who do check in every day, I'm sorry I haven't been around much this past week. I have had a lot on my plate lately with helping my mom out at her shop, Jeremiah, pregnancy... and something else. I'm not broadcasting this all over Myspace or Facebook, but since I did mention on here that I was pregnant, I guess I have to announce that I had a miscarriage on Friday. No, it's not something I really want to talk about, but Louis and I are both doing alright (emotionally, or as alright as to be expected- we've come to terms with it but it's still sad) and I am doing okay physically, pending a trip to see my OB tomorrow. We are also looking forward to trying again sometime in the near future. Thank you to all of our family and friends who knew what was going on and were praying for us. We know that God has a plan for our family and feel very confident that our family is not done growing yet.

So, since I obviously didn't make it to Disneyland on Friday, (God had his hand in that one, too- I don't know what I would have done if I were alone at Disneyland with Jeremiah when my miscarriage happened!) I am going to try and take him one day this week. Rain is in the forecast for Wednesday and Thursday, but my mom thinks that it's not supposed to rain until the evening on Wed. Hopefully I will get our trip in during the morning; if not then Friday. And on Saturday, I have the pleasure of going bridesmaids dress shopping with my soon-to-be sister, Lindsey! All 7 of us bridesmaids are meeting with Lindsey at Davids Bridal to fight for (er.... graciously choose!) which dress we each want to wear for the wedding. All of us get to wear whatever dress we want, as long as it's floor length and in her choice of color, preferably with each of us wearing a different dress. Lindsey is truly a girl after my own heart- I had 8 bridesmaids, she had 7.

To be honest... I'm not really in the mood to blog tonight; I just noticed that I had a request for an update and I'm more than happy to oblige. Louis and I just got back from treating my parents and brother to dinner in honor of my dad's birthday (Happy birthday, dad!) at this wonderful Japanese restraunt, and as soon as I can pry him in from his cave, we are going to watch "The Secret Life of the American Teenager." Yes, he is still anxious to watch it every week, despite what he said before the season premire. Check back soon, and perhaps I will include some pictures! Those are highly overdue. Goodnight!

It's Back!

American Idol was Jeremiah's favorite show last year. There were a few nights towards the end of the season (pre-crying it out days) where he would be up around 9:30 pm and would NOT go back to bed. An hour of watching American Idol on our projector did the trick! He was mesmerized; he LOVED the music, and went to sleep peacefully afterwards. Tonight is the premire and I"m watching it as I write this. I'm not personally a fan of the whole audition process; I like it when the competition gets serious, maybe around the final 8 or so.

Anyway, today I had my first official prenatal appointment. I met my new OB/GYN and I love her to pieces! She's so patient, takes her time to let me think about questions rather than rushing me in and out, and was a heck of a lot gentler with the initial internal examination than my other OB! She changed my due date by one day to September 4th. So far it's looking like our baby could be sharing a birthday with several people. My friend Ashmi's birthday is September 4th; my grandma Arlene's birthday was September 7, grandma Sally's birthday is Sept. 14, and my brother's birthday (and parent's anniversary!) is Sept. 15. Somewhere in the midst of all this is my uncle Ken's birthday, Lindsey's mother's birthday, and I believe her father shares Joe's birthday as well. All I had done today was the internal examination (pap), but I go back in 4 weeks to hopefully hear the heartbeat. My dr. didn't even try to listen for it today; I believe at 6.5 weeks it is still too early.

I'm still hungry (more like famished!) nearly all day long. I don't want to use pregnancy as an excuse to eat like a pig, so I've been making sure I'm just eating regular meals with a few small snacks and plenty of fluids. I'm way hungrier this time around than I was with Jeremiah. Tomorrow I'm going to Trader Joe's to stock up on lots of yummy (and healthy) pregnancy snacks.

And on Friday... I'm getting my very first Disneyland pass! I was debating on whether or not to get it any more once I found out I was pregnant, but it dawned on me that this will be my last time to get one for a while. I don't want to take a newborn to Disneyland with a two year old (next year!), and not only will walking around Disneyland provide me with lots of exersize, it will be a good way for Jeremiah and I to have some really good quality time before he becomes a big brother. And bond even more with his buddy, Braden! I'm so glad Michelle has a pass as well; we're going to have the most awesome playdates. Louis refuses to get a pass... and is pretty against me getting one, but I'm putting my foot down on it =)

Anyway, back to American Idol. Goodnight and thanks for reading!

September 5, 2009

That's right, Jeremiah is going to be a big brother- I'm PREGNANT! I'm so excited I can hardly stand it. I found out on Wednesday night(the 8th), and even though it has been a work in progress for a while, it was still somewhat of a surprise to find out that indeed, I was pregnant. I took a test on New Years day and it came up negative, but when a week went by and still nothing was happening, I figured I'd better test again. I was praying it was positive because, of course, I wanted another child, but also because I was hoping that my sudden chocolate obsession was normal. I wanted choclate 24/7. I was even dreaming of chocolate, believe it or not. I polished off a piece of molten chocolate cake last Saturday in a matter of minutes, and scarfed down an entire half-pound box of Sees candy, by myself, in less than an hour. I didn't have food cravings like this with Jeremiah. Now that I know I'm pregnant, I'm staying away from the chocolate- because, no matter how much I may want it, I want tons of post-pregnancy baggage even less.

That's not the only thing that is different with my pregnancy this time around. My reaction alone to seeing the positive pregnancy test was a big one. When I found out I was expecting Jeremiah, I yelled out a big "OH SHIT!" upon reading the pregnancy test, even though it was a work in progress as well. I was scared out of my mind finding out that we were indeed going to be parents and my life was about to change forever. I was up until 4 a.m. that night, panicking and worrying, and didn't even feel the least bit excited until the following day when we got a doctor's pregnancy confirmation and estimated due date. This time? I'm surprised Louis's friend, who was working in our garage when I took my test, didn't hear my screams of joy. Louis wasn't home at the time, so I ran into Jeremiah's room, screaming in elation, and telling him over and over "you're going to be a big brother!" Poor guy must have thought I was nuts. I was so excited that it was a miracle that Jeremiah was fed, bathed and put to bed without a hitch. Louis didn't come home until a few hours later, and when he did, his cousin Monique was with him, wanting a little bit of girl time with me. Ironically enough, she mentioned that night that she thought we should start trying for another kid so they would be close in age. I bit my tongue- hard! Finally, she left and I had Louis go find the "present" that Jeremiah and I bought him at Target on our pillow- the positive test. Just like when I told him I was preggers with Jeremiah, he was THRILLED and instantly swept me off my feet. We told the family the following day. I purchased a "Big Brother" shirt for Jeremiah at Babies r Us and let our moms read it and try to figure it out. Needless to say, everyone's excited. Our kiddos are going to be 21 months apart!

I went to the doctor's on Friday to start my bloodwork and paper work (medical history, etc.) I am using a different OB/GYN this time around, because the one we had before is in West Covina, and since we now live in Whittier, it is pointless to drive 30-40 min. each way for appointments and the delivery. We have a fantastic hospital just blocks from our house. In fact, I can see it from our yard, and that is where we are going to deliver Baby #2 (Whittier Presbyterian). I get to meet my OB on Tuesday when I go in for my physical. I heard that she's a woman (YAY! no more 85 year old man looking at me!!!) and is very, very sweet. She won't be delivering my baby because she works out of the other (crappier, from what the nurse told me) hospital in Whittier, but the nurse also said that the doctor who will deliver me also comes highly reccomended. The office I'm going to is the same office that I take Jeremiah for his pedi appointments. It's going to be a bit of a challenge to find a sitter for him during my appt's, since my mom is half an hour away and both Louis and his mother work late. I'm praying that Monique will be able to watch him during my appointments because her house is right down the street from the office.

Okay, before I completely bore you with my pregnancy excitement, I'm going to say that, once again, we will NOT be finding out the gender of our baby. I could go either way on the issue, but Louis loves being surprised. In all honesty, it was a lot of fun with Jeremiah, even though that motherly intuition told me towards the end that he was a boy. PRAY for a girl!!! I'd be happy with a son, but I would LOVE a daughter. Thanks for reading and sharing in our exciting news!!

Tune in tomorrow...

.... for a BIG post!

♥, Me!

New TV tonight, yeah!

Last summer there was nothing good on TV. Nothing. Thus, I resorted to watching two shows that, under normal circumstances, I would not waste my time with.

Show #1- The Bachelor(ette)

Previously I had not watched the show for more than an episode or two per season, usually right around the finale time. I thought it was pointless and lame. However, once all the good shows ended (American Idol, Survivor, Law and Order SVU), Marissa convinced me to watch the Bachelorette with her. I admit it, I was hooked. We even threw a party for the two of us the night of the finale. Tonight the show starts up again, with the guy pictured above (Jason, the rejected bachelor from this summer's "Bachelorette," my personal favorite!) as the new Bachelor. Marissa isn't able to come over tonight to watch the two hour premire with me, so she is coming over tomorrow night. Lemon herb roast chicken, mashed potatoes, broccoli, and a wonderful friend that I haven't seen since the beginning of December- should make for a great evening!

Show #2: "The Secret Life of the American Teenager"

Another show that, had there been no other options, I would not have previously wasted my time with. A high school drama involving a freshman getting pregnant after a one night stand, meeting a new guy and falling in love, having loser friends and a cheating father. Why would I, someone that has been out of college for nearly 8 years, and is happily married with a perfectly legitimate baby of my own, watch this? After one episode I was hooked. As was my husband, who happened to be in the room with me when I turned it on. (This was a major shock to me!) We spent the summer counting down to "Secret Life" night and now it's coming back again tonight. ABC Family was running a marathon yesterday of Season One, and Louis claims that this show was way lamer than he remembered and wants nothing to do with it now, but we'll see what happens =)

Tomorrow one of Louis's high school best friends is moving back out to southern California from Denver. The last time we saw him was 2 1/2 years ago when we went to Denver for Shiloh and Ryan's wedding. I believe that was the only time Louis has seen Mando since their graduation in 2000, because Mando joined the military not too long after graduation, and moved to Denver following his (less than honorable) discharge. He's beyond excited to have his friend back, and I believe all of their old group are going bar hopping on Friday night. That just means I get to have a girls night =)

My Son, My Sweetheart

This picture was taken by my father on Thanksgiving day. One of my favorites!!

Today my precious baby turned 13 months old. I can't believe that he is already one month into his second year of life. Like I said before, the change that has taken place between his first birthday and now is absolutely amazing. Besides talking all day long, he is also WALKING!! Not exclusively walking, but he has been walking more and more lately. Tonight he spent the evening walking across his entire bedroom to my arms and giving me a hug, over and over and over again. It's absolutely precious. The look of joy on his face when he reaches my arms and gives me a huge hug is the best feeling in the world. On Saturday he mastered standing up on his own in the middle of a room, without having to grab onto something. I believe he will be walking exclusively by next week. He is also starting (and I mean starting) to obey me when I tell him not to touch something. I can kind of see him thinking about what he is doing when I tell him "don't touch that." I praise him for making wise choices, and for the first time he isn't taking this positive reinforcement as permission to go back to doing exactly what he was doing. YAY!

Jeremiah is becoming extremely affectionate. He will be playing by himself, and then make his way over to me at breakneck speed, give me a hug and make all these love noises. He also is starting to enjoy a half an hour of cuddling and rocking when he wakes up from his naps. Speaking of naps, I hate to admit it but I think the days of him taking two naps are extremely numbered. He took a great two hour nap this morning but then refused to take his afternoon nap, playing, whining and eventually screaming in his crib for an hour (but not screaming for an hour). This isn't the first time this has happened. Oh well....

Tomorrow my parents are taking Jeremiah overnight so that Louis and I can have a date. I don't think we have had one since... September? I honestly don't even remember the last time we went out, just the two of us. I'm so looking forward to a night of great food and a great husband!!

Jeremiah's new TMX Elmo came in the mail today, a mere four days after I placed my call to Fisher Price. This one works like a charm, although Jeremiah doesn't seem all that interested in it yet. I posted the old one for free on Craigslist and gave it away to a woman whose foster daughter is in love with Elmo. The thank-you email I got from the mother after she gave the toy to her daughter was so touching. I love doing nice things for people!

Happy 2009!

Well, 2008 is officially over. Everything Jeremiah experienced last year were his firsts- first Valentines Day, first Easter, first time in the pool.... first birthday... now all of the main annual events are old hat. At least he will be older to enjoy everything more!

So, how did we ring in the new year here at my house? Louis and I were awakened at 12:01 a.m. thinking that someone was pounding on our door, when instead fireworks were going off everywhere in our neighborhood. People shoot off fireworks in our neighborhood all the time- for sporting events, Cinco de Mayo, the 4th of July (of course- craaaaazy night) and even when Obama was officially declared the winner of the election. Anyway, the evening wasn't nearly as festive as I had planned on it being. Louis was tired from starting training for his new (BIG!!!!!!) job that morning; I was tired from running around all day, cooking, cleaning and playing with my son. I made our favorite baked ziti with sausage and meatballs, and a layered lemon cake (courtesy of miss Betty Crocker). However, the ziti was waaaay too garlic-y. If I thought it was too garlic-y then it was definitely too garlic-y. Neither of us enjoyed it very much, to my disappointment. Then, we had neighbors knocking on our door from around 7-9:30, wanting to wish us a happy new year, which was nice but definitely took away the romantic ambiance I was hoping to have. We were planning on watching a movie until the countdown started on TV at 11:00, but wound up watching the latest DVD release of "Family Guy." On our laptop, in bed. Big mistake. We both were asleep by 10:30 and didn't wake up until those fireworks went off. Oh, well!

As for today- we went to Red Robin for lunch, and now Louis and Jeremiah are watching the game. Nothing else is really planned for today. I kind of wish we were at my grandma's house with my parents and a few other relatives, eating my mom's traditional New Years day bean soup, but I can understand how Louis wanted to spend the day at home, relaxing. Poor guy never gets to stay home and relax except on Sundays.

As for my car? Well, we had an opportunity a few weeks back to sell it (or rather, relinquish my loan to since it's not paid off yet) to one of Louis's customers. Last year we acquired a rather old (late 198o's) Mercedes and since then one of his customers was making noise about wanting to take over my car payments. I flat out refused at first, obviously, but after driving the car around for a few weeks while my Kia was having work done on it, I realized that it wasn't the piece of crap car I thought it was. In fact, it runs even better than my 3 year old Kia. So... bye bye Kia! We are now saving up for a larger vehicle. It's nice to have that car payment off of our shoulders. Louis's car will be paid off in a few months and then we won't have any car payments until we get our new car! With Louis's new job and not having my old payment we should be able to save up to flat-out pay off our new vehicle upfront hopefully by June.

That's all for now. Hope you all enjoyed your new year!