Sunday, November 22, 2009

Our Happy Family


We took our last family Christmas portraits as a family of 3 tonight!

Wednesday, November 18, 2009

Two more weeks!

Two weeks from today my baby turns two years old. TWO. This Saturday we are having his birthday party, in order to avoid having it Thanksgiving weekend like we did last year. So far all I have left to do are order his balloons, purchase the plates and forks, and some kid-friendly snacks. By popular demand, we're having our taco man come back and serve his outstanding all-you-can-eat, made to order carne asada and chicken tacos, with all the fixings, so I don't have to worry about preparing any major food =) Since my picky booger won't go anywhere near a piece of cake, we're getting him a piece of his favorite pan dulce (Mexican sweet bread) to enjoy while everyone else devours his Mickey Mouse Clubhouse birthday cake. I can't wait!

After his party, it is time to start getting ready for Thanksgiving, since once again I will be hosting. You might think I"m just a little bit crazy, trying to cram everything in on top of Jeremiah's birthday, at the beginning of my third trimester of pregnancy, but in all honesty I LOVE hosting parties. And having Thanksgiving at our house prevents us from having to run around, having dinner with my side of the family and dessert w/ Louis's side. This way, everyone is together and we don't have to go anywhere but to our kitchen. Last year, Louis flat-out refused to touch the raw turkey, making me wash it and put it in the roasting pan and oven all by myself. I was PISSED. The darn bird was heavy and slippery, plus I was freaking out about making my very first turkey. My husband doesn't get grossed out by much, but apparently an in-tact, plucked, raw bird is too much for him to handle. This year, however, I"m not putting up with such nonsense, and using the baby as an excuse for not being able to lift anything heavy (although, Jeremiah is much heavier than our turkey!), he agreed to help me out, provided that I'm the one that de-guts the turkey and he doesn't have to see any of those guts.

On Saturday after Jeremiah's party, my dad is helping Louis put together Jeremiah's twin bed, because on Sunday night we're going to have Round One in his big boy bed- just bedtime to start; once he gets more comfortable with sleeping in there (hopefully in a week) then we will have naptime in there as well, and the crib will be moved to the baby's room.

Sunday, November 8, 2009

Another Week Ahead....

Here we go again, another week where Louis is going to be gone for most of it =( His destination this week: Somewhere outside of Sacramento (Elk Ridge?) He leaves tomorrow night, and will be home Wed. or Thurs. (his meeting on Thursday is TBA). Last week he was gone overnight to San Diego, which was fairly manageable. I just hope this week doesn't drag on; it's double hard to have him gone when Jeremiah and I are scrounging for things to do!

Yesterday my wonderful parents took Jeremiah overnight so Louis and I could have some much-needed time to ourselves! I can't even remember the last time we went out on a date together, probably back in August when we went away overnight for our anniversary. It was time. I spent the afternoon making my registry at Target, then we went to dinner at Marie Callendars and saw "The Men Who Stare At Goats." Don't waste your money on that movie! It was as stupid as the title. But we still had fun just enjoying each other's company =) I thought I was going to sleep til 10 this morning, but no I was up at 8:30 (the time I wake up when Louis lets me "sleep in.") We just got back from a delicious breakfast at Arthur's (best diner breakfast ever!!), and in an hour I leave to go pick up my lil man. I sure missed him!

Progress in the baby's room are coming along quite nicely. The paint is on the walls, the carpet and crown molding installed. The shutters are going to be delayed a little bit, because we desperately need new windows in the kids rooms first. There is no point installing shutters only to take them off later when we replace the windows. But first we need to get a second car before any window work takes place. We've done really well with only having one car for the last six months (or more? I can't remember how long we've been a one car family!) but it's definitely time to get a second vehicle. We're not looking for something fancy; just something functional to get Louis to and from where he needs to go, since he's not working from home as much any more. Something inexpensive on Craigslist until we decide to splurge on something bigger, and until we're we're ready to have a car payment again. Since the Matrix was completely paid off earlier this year, we have thoroughly enjoyed not having that monthly expense. Right now we're looking at pick up trucks.

As soon as the finishing touches get put on the crown molding (painting over nails, cleaning up smudges) we're going to move Jeremiah's crib into the baby's room, which means that we will be transitioning Jeremiah into his big boy bed. Something I'm NOT looking forward to! Jeremiah LOVES his crib... never climbed out or anything. But I don't see a point in purchasing a second crib when he will be ready to be out out of his crib no later than June (when he will be 2 1/2 years old). Not worth it. Plus, I want him to have plenty of time to adjust to his new bed before his sister is born. I read that making the transition 3 months before the sibling is born is ideal. So... probably T minus one week until he makes the switch!

Tuesday, November 3, 2009

Need a quick laugh?

Today Jeremiah spouted out four new words: Fishie, Jesus, owie, and "Oh shit!" I know he picked the first three up from us... not quite sure who to blame for that last phrase! The last time he said it (three times total) was when I was getting him out of time out today. Smart kid. And he said "owie" after he dropped a bottle of body wash on his wee wee during bath time tonight.

Even on the longest and crappiest of days, my kid never fails to amuse me.

Monday, November 2, 2009

Sometimes you just need a good steak...

As much as I love being pregnant, and feeling (and seeing!) my little girl kick kick kick all day and night, I have to say that there are are a few things I am looking forward to once she is born- and somewhere near the top of that list is no longer being hungry 24 hours a day! I'm not just talking about "hmmm, I"d like a snack," I'm talking about full blown hunger. No matter how much I eat at a meal, I'm ready for more less than an hour later. It's disgusting. Having leftover Halloween candy laying around (as well as the stock pile of clearanced candy that we bought yesterday for Jeremiah's upcoming birthday party), hasn't helped, either. I have been pretty darn good about the amount of "empty calories" that I have been consuming, however chocolate has been calling my name lately. Along with ice cream. I have done everything short of massive bribery to get Louis to fetch me ice cream at 11:00 p.m. from the market. Yet when I finally have him convinced (or annoyed and wanting to shut me up, I'm not sure!) enough to get out of his pajamas, put on some clothes and go get me some Ben Jerry's Cherry Garcia, I take pity on him, hand him back the pajamas and hide the car keys. Today, however, steak was calling my name- big time.

The only problem, is, I can't cook a decent steak to save my life. And I keep forgetting that! I can bake chicken tenderloins, roast a chicken, and bake pork chops like there's no tomorrow. Steak, however... not my forte. And I'm always disappointed with the results once it is on my plate! It doesn't help that I lost my taste for our favorite steak restraunt, Steak Corral, since I got pregnant. Which is very sad, because where else can you get a FANTASTIC $7 steak dinner with all the trimmings on this side of Las Vegas? I love the salad, baked potato and cheese toast that come with the meal, but I just can't get into their steak anymore =( And you don't go to a steak house (especially with the word Steak in the restraunt's name) and order, say, chicken. Or even a hamburger.

The steak I made for dinner tonight was equally disappointing. Oh, and the stereotype that men know how to make the perfect steak does NOT apply to my husband, so handing him the responsibility of giving me my beef is pointless. He can BBQ carne asada, no problem. A regular steak on the other hand? He's as clueless as I am. I'm sad. And still hungry! If anyone has any tips for making a great steak on the stove would be greatly appreciated =)

In other news....
Operation Baby Room Remodel began last Friday! So far her room is painted (Sleeping Beauty Pink walls and dark brown ceiling), we have the crown moldings ready to be installed, and the carpet is being delivered tomorrow (and installed by our painter's friend once the crown molding is installed). We still need to choose and order shutters, and a new light fixture for the ceiling. We are doing a complete transformation of her room because of what poor condition the tenants that lived in our house before us kept that room. Their teenage son slept in there, and we found gum and wax all over the carpet (which is only about 5 years old, by the way), and since the house is OLD, it needed a good sprucing up as it is. We decided to do it up now while nobody is living in there since it would be easier now than having to move the baby out temporarily. Plus, we didn't have the finances to do more than throw a new coat of paint on Jeremiah's walls when we moved in here, so we decided to go all out this time =) Jeremiah is getting new shutters on his windows, too.

Speaking of my boy, one month from today he turns the big T-W-O! He had a lot of fun on Halloween, first at Sydney's first birthday party and then going trick or treating with Marissa and I. He loves wearing his costume, and kept wanting me to sing the "trick or treat" song from Little Einsteins over and over again. I love him =)

Louis goes to San Diego on Wednesday overnight, and most likely elsewhere for 3-4 nights next week. Yeah I'm not looking forward to that... Please keep me in your prayers that I don't wind up with the massive cold and sore throat that he has had since Friday! He's slowly getting better, and I've been doing everything possible to avoid getting his germs, but sleeping on the couch got really old (and uncomfortable) for me after one night. I'm crossing my fingers that the tickle I"m getting in my throat doesn't turn into anything. I hate being sick... especially when there is nothing I can take for it.