Bling

The girls got bling. But I'll get to that in a minute.

Our weekend started out with one goal. To find the girls some new sandals. A bunch of money later and we still don't have sandals. How is it that you can always find so much else you "need" to buy? Our trip started at our local outlet mall because we normally go to the Stride Rite there. One pair of sandals, but not in the girls' sizes of course. We hit up every single shoe store there and come up with nothing. But we walked by Claire's and Sam says she wants to get her ears pierced. She's been saying this for a year now - the first time I didn't like her reason for wanting them done and every time after that she's chickened out. Which I honestly believed would happen this time.

But nope, she hops up into that chair, picks out her earrings and is ready to go. Of course we would choose the day that they are down to one employee because somebody called in sick. So not only is she swamped, it also means that instead of doing the ear simultainously (I don't think I spelled that right), she has to do one ear after the other. I do have to give her credit though - she took her time doing this and didn't get flustered once with all the people waiting for her help. Lu claimed she had no interest in getting her's done, until she saw Sam with hers. I don't know if it was the shiny bling or the lollipop they got after that changed her mind, but before I knew it, she had climbed into the chair and told me she was ready.

The girls did great and absolutely no tears! They've even been good about not touching them, something that I was sure to be a fight in our house. The lady doing their piercings even complimented them on how good they did saying that kids this age almost never sit still. Because they got birthstone earrings, they spent the rest of the day telling eachother "I like your October earrings", "Thanks, I like your March earrings". Too funny!

An ironic part of this is Nacho, who wanted Sam's ears pierced when she was a baby (I said no - I wanted it to be her choice), actually had a hard time when they got them done. I think it's a lot of growing up for his baby girls in a few short weeks. But we both agree they look beautiful and we're so happy they did them on their terms, when they were ready.

But as much fun as that was, we still didn't have sandals. I posted to Facebook about my frustration and bunch of people told me to try Target. So Sunday we headed off to Target. One pair. One freakin' pair and again, not in their sizes. But since we were there I decided to pick up baby food and few other things we needed. After that we went to Costco, where we always spend too much. How does that happen? If we go in and buy a cartload of stuff or if we go in for one thing, why is the total bill always the same? But they had jackets and jeans for the girls and since they've hit yet another growth spurt, they need them. They've gotten to the point where hand-me-downs are no longer an option. They are pretty much in the same size now! We measured Lu yesterday and she's grown 3 inches in the last year! She's only 2 inches behind Sam. Back from that tangent - they also had Carter's fleece sleepers so we had to get a few for Jack, who is now in yet another size of clothes. Will somebody please tell my children to stop growing so fast?

So it's Monday and we still don't have sandals. I get the stores are getting their fall stuff ready, but we're in California. It's still summer! And we'll have warm weather for at least another month or two. Will they ever learn?

Mission Accomplished

So, after two nights of letting Jack cry it out, which lasted a total of less than 3 minutes each night, he is back to going to sleep on his own and sleeping the whole night. So glad we didn't have to drag it out because while I'm willing to give it a try, I really am a softie and I hate listening to him cry. Especially because he's always so happy.

Hilarious...Must Read!

I just read this on my friend Christy's blog and she graciously allowed me to steal for it here. It's honestly too funny to not pass on. So enjoy it and I hope you laugh as hard as I did!

RANDOM THOUGHTS FROM PEOPLE OUR AGE...

-I wish Google Maps had an "Avoid Ghetto" routing option.

-More often than not, when someone is telling me a story all I can think about is that I can't wait for them to finish so that I can tell my own story that's not only better, but also more directly involves me.

-Nothing sucks more than that moment during an argument when you realize you're wrong.

-I don't understand the purpose of the line, "I don't need to drink to have fun." Great, no one does. But why start a fire with flint and sticks when they've invented the lighter?

-Have you ever been walking down the street and realized that you're going in the complete opposite direction of where you are supposed to be going? But instead of just turning a 180 and walking back in the direction from which you came, you have to first do something like check your watch or phone or make a grand arm gesture and mutter to yourself to ensure that no one in the surrounding area thinks you're crazy by randomly switching directions on the sidewalk.

-That's enough, Nickelback.

-I totally take back all those times I didn't want to nap when I was younger.

-Is it just me, or are 80% of the people in the "people you may know" feature on Facebook people that I do know, but I deliberately choose not to be friends with?

-Do you remember when you were a kid, playing Nintendo and it wouldn't work? You take the cartridge out, blow in it and that would magically fix the problem. Every kid in America did that, but how did we all know how to fix the problem? There was no internet or message boards or FAQ's. We just figured it out. Today's kids are soft.

-There is a great need for sarcasm font.

-Sometimes, I'll watch a movie that I watched when I was younger and suddenly realize I had no idea what the f was going on when I first saw it.

-I think everyone has a movie that they love so much, it actually becomes stressful to watch it with other people. I'll end up wasting 90 minutes shiftily glancing around to confirm that everyone's laughing at the right parts, then making sure I laugh just a little bit harder (and a millisecond earlier) to prove that I'm still the only one who really, really gets it.

-How the hell are you supposed to fold a fitted sheet?

-I would rather try to carry 10 plastic grocery bags in each hand than take 2 trips to bring my groceries in.

- I think part of a best friend's job should be to immediately clear your computer history if you die.

-The only time I look forward to a red light is when I’m trying to finish a text.

- A recent study has shown that playing beer pong contributes to the spread of mono and the flu. Yeah, if you suck at it.

- Was learning cursive really necessary?

- Lol has gone from meaning, "laugh out loud" to "I have nothing else to say".

- I have a hard time deciphering the fine line between boredom and hunger.

- Answering the same letter three times or more in a row on a Scantron test is absolutely petrifying.

- My brother's Municipal League baseball team is named the Stepdads. Seeing as none of the guys on the team are actual stepdads, I inquired about the name. He explained, "Cuz we beat you, and you hate us." Classy, bro.

- Whenever someone says "I'm not book smart, but I'm street smart", all I hear is "I'm not real smart, but I'm imaginary smart".

- How many times is it appropriate to say "What?" before you just nod and smile because you still didn't hear what they said?

- I love the sense of camaraderie when an entire line of cars teams up to prevent a dick from cutting in at the front. Stay strong, brothers!

- Every time I have to spell a word over the phone using 'as in' examples, I will undoubtedly draw a blank and sound like a complete idiot. Today I had to spell my boss's last name to an attorney and said "Yes that's G as in...(10 second lapse)..ummm...Goonies"

- While driving yesterday I saw a banana peel in the road and instinctively swerved to avoid it...thanks Mario Kart.

- MapQuest really needs to start their directions on #5. Pretty sure I know how to get out of my neighborhood.

- I find it hard to believe there are actually people who get in the shower first and THEN turn on the water.

-I can't remember the last time I wasn't at least kind of tired.

- Bad decisions make good stories

-Whenever I'm Facebook stalking someone and I find out that their profile is public I feel like a kid on Christmas morning who just got the Red Ryder BB gun that I always wanted. 546 pictures? Don't mind if I do!

- Is it just me or do high school girls get sluttier & sluttier every year?

-If Carmen San Diego and Waldo ever got together, their offspring would probably just be completely invisible.

-Why is it that during an ice-breaker, when the whole room has to go around and say their name and where they are from, I get so incredibly nervous? Like I know my name, I know where I'm from, this shouldn't be a problem....

-You never know when it will strike, but there comes a moment at work when you've made up your mind that you just aren't doing anything productive for the rest of the day.

-Can we all just agree to ignore whatever comes after DVDs? I don't want to have to restart my collection.

-There's no worse feeling than that millisecond you're sure you are going to die after leaning your chair back a little too far.

-I'm always slightly terrified when I exit out of Word and it asks me if I want to save any changes to my ten page research paper that I swear I did not make any changes to.

-I hate being the one with the remote in a room full of people watching TV. There's so much pressure. 'I love this show, but will they judge me if I keep it on? I bet everyone is wishing we weren't watching this. It's only a matter of time before they all get up and leave the room. Will we still be friends after this?'

-I hate when I just miss a call by the last ring (Hello? Hello? Dammit!), but when I immediately call back, it rings nine times and goes to voicemail. What'd you do after I didn't answer? Drop the phone and run away?

- I hate leaving my house confident and looking good and then not seeing anyone of importance the entire day. What a waste.

-When I meet a new girl, I'm terrified of mentioning something she hasn't already told me but that I have learned from some light internet stalking.

-I like all of the music in my iTunes, except when it's on shuffle, then I like about one in every fifteen songs in my iTunes.

-Why is a school zone 20 mph? That seems like the optimal cruising speed for pedophiles...

- As a driver I hate pedestrians, and as a pedestrian I hate drivers, but no matter what the mode of transportation, I always hate cyclists.

-Sometimes I'll look down at my watch 3 consecutive times and still not know what time it is.

-It should probably be called Unplanned Parenthood.

-I keep some people's phone numbers in my phone just so I know not to answer when they call.

-Even if I knew your social security number, I wouldn't know what do to with it.

-Even under ideal conditions people have trouble locating their car keys in a pocket, hitting the G-spot, and Pinning the Tail on the Donkey - but I’d bet my ass everyone can find and push the Snooze button from 3 feet away, in about 1.7 seconds, eyes closed, first time every time...

-My 4-year old son asked me in the car the other day "Dad what would happen if you ran over a ninja?" How the hell do I respond to that?

-It really pisses me off when I want to read a story on CNN.com and the link takes me to a video instead of text.

-I wonder if cops ever get pissed off at the fact that everyone they drive behind obeys the speed limit.

-I think the freezer deserves a light as well.

-I disagree with Kay Jewelers. I would bet on any given Friday or Saturday night more kisses begin with Miller Lites than Kay.

-The other night I ordered takeout, and when I looked in the bag, saw they had included four sets of plastic silverware. In other words, someone at the restaurant packed my order, took a second to think about it, and then estimated that there must be at least four people eating to require such a large amount of food. Too bad I was eating by myself. There's nothing like being made to feel like a fat bastard before dinner.

Seperation Anxiety

Ok, I knew it was coming, but I had been hoping it would skip us. No such luck and it has hit Mr. Jack pretty hard. I guess it's not as bad as it could be - he'll still happily go to Nacho and to my parents and as long as he's safely in his stroller, he'll happily "chat" it up with strangers (after a quick glance to make sure I'm there). But he has to know I'm right there and if I sit next to him, he'll move so he climb into my lap. What's strange though is if I'm across the room, he'll happily play with his toys. Again, you know, as long as he can see me.

The worst has to be naptime/bedtime though. He's always gone down so easily, but these days he wants somebody to sit with him while he falls asleep. Thankfully, not requiring to be held, but to sit next to his crib. It started with just bedtime and Nacho was happy to oblige him. As it was their time and their routine I didn't say anything. But when Little Man started requiring it at naptime too, I had to draw the line. And so now we are letting him cry it out. See, this is where it's helpful to have few readers - less judgment. I know CIO isn't for everybody, but it works for us. And before you start totally judging us, he rarely cries for longer than 30 sec-1 min. And yes, that 1 minute is still competely heartbreaking for us. Justification done.

We had to do CIO with Samantha too, but then we were newbies, so we dragged it out much longer than needed. We'd rock her, sit with her, all those things. One night, I even found Sam in her swing happily playing at 2am, while Nacho dozed on her bedroom floor. Not really effective. Nacho finally decided it was time for true CIO and after 2 nights, it was done. We're hoping to get the same results this time around.

I guess we lucked out with Lexi, who starting sleeping through the night very early (although so did Jack) and once she started doing that, nothing woke her up. I don't remember her going through seperation anxiety either, but maybe she did. I guess I feel should feel flattered that Jack wants to be with me so much, but sometimes I need to go change the laundry or go to the bathroom. And I do have two other kids to care for.

Seperation anxiety comes at an interesting time developmently. Jack is now starting to move around his own. Not quite crawling yet, although he's mastered going backwards (see, he does take after me!). But he does like to roll everywhere he wants to go and I guess it's getting him there so who am I to judge. Yet, he has yet to realize he can get himself to me. So those times he'd rather just sit and fuss, knowing I'll come to him. Wait...guess that's not such a bad plan for him, lol. And I really shouldn't rush the crawling or I'll have mini-me attached to me all the time.

If there is a silver lining to this problem, it's that this will likely help us get rid of the pacifier. Both girls gave it up on their own at about 5 months, so we're walking new territory here. But at night we put him to bed, give him his paci, say goodnight and walk away. He starts crying and out the paci goes - and he has yet to figure out how to get back into his mouth, properly anyways. And since in his crib is really the only time he truly uses it, maybe we can ditch it soon? One can hope, right?

Trip Pics

School's Back In!

And I have mixed emotions about it. Samantha is in full day kindergarten this year and only 3 days in, I miss her so much. But we have needed the break from eachother. We've been battling all summer and I really believe in distance will make the heart grow fonder. It helps that she is loving school and looked at all the kids having meltdowns at drop off the first like they had a third eye. Lexi is her second year of preschool/pre-K and is adjusting to being away from her sister for the first time. Since she only goes 3x a week, she's only had school two days so far....but so far so good.

It's definitely a new dynamic for us and one that is going to take some adjustment. Like I said, for Lexi, it's the first time being away from her sister. She's handling it ok. She was great the first day and fine yesterday (the day she didn't have school). But at about lunch time, she really started missing Sam and spent the next 2.5 hours asking me every 10 minutes if it was time to go get her. The minute we did pick her up Lexi told Sam how much she missed her. So sweet. For Sam, going into all day kindergarten (and 5x a week) has proven to be a long day for her, especially on the heels of our vacation and the drop of naps. The first day she proclaimed I embarrassed her by hugging her at pick up. Yesterday, she came running to me. We'll see what happens today as I pick her up in a little over an hour. The drama doesn't help either. Apparently, D & E (two of her friends from last year) broke up as friends yesterday and Sam doesn't know why but it makes her very sad. Oh those teenage years should be fun. NOT!

And then there is me. The days both girls have school, I drive to and from the school 3 times (thanks goodness they're on the same campus!). I love having the late mornings/early afternoons with Lu while Jack naps and Sam is at school. We haven't had this time ourselves for quite a while and when we did she was too young to really care. Jack and I still have 3 mornings just us, which is nice. Now I just have to figure out a way to fit some one on one time with Sam in. Right now it's been breakfast on the days it's only her going to school, but I feel like it needs to be more. And hopefully I'll find some time for me in there. I'd really like to get back to my scrapbooking. And maybe finish a book. Or catch up the DVRd shows that piled up while we were gone.

Overall it's good for all of us. Samantha is getting that independance she has so craved. The girls have gotten some space from eachother and actually like seeing eachother now. I get some one on one time, although sometimes brief, will all my kids. And I might actually get some me time.

Ack, I'm 30!

While it may have seemed I disappeared into hiding over the big birthday, I was actually on vacation. A much needed and wonderful vacation. What started as a few days in Vegas turned into a full fledged road trip. We left EARLY on the 8th and drove down to Beverly Hills, spending the day exploring the Santa Monica Pier and the evening walking Rodeo Drive. Unfortunatly all the store were closed at the point, which is probably better because I doubt I could afford anything there anyways. We did eat dinner there though, so not all was lost! The next morning we left for Vegas were we spent the week. We had such a great time and I have to say the MGM pool is the best! We spent a full day at the pool and we didn't leave the lazy river. And if anybody is looking for a way to pick up girls, take a 8 month old baby boy swimming with you - every single girl will stop you and tell you how cute he is - going as far as to stop the conversation they are already in. Jack made friends with a beautiful 20 something (ha, ha - I can say that now!) in a pink polka dot bikini who stopped us everytime we went by her just to talk to him. We spent the week eating, shopping, drinking and exploring. It was a great week. Oh and I turned 30 while we there.

We left Vegas last Friday, with the guise that we were driving home, while in fact we were surprising the kids with a trip to Disneyland on our way home. It was as much for us as it was for them though, as it was Jack's first trip and the first trip where Lu was finally tall enough for most of the "big" rides - something she's been waiting for! As pulled up to our hotel, Sam noticed we were near Disneyland. She asked me if we were just stopping for Daddy to rest. When I told her no, she got excited that we got to stay. Does she really think we'd be so cruel as to pick a hotel near Disneyland as a good resting spot and not take them? Anyways, our little daredevil Lu did everything she was tall enough for and LOVED every minute of it. She especially liked Terror of Tower and Splash Mountain. And we even coaxed our more timid daughter onto Splash Mountain and after surviving the big splash, she declared she loved it. And Jack seemed to enjoy all of it, although I do realize he is too young to really get any of it. He was especially entranced with Mickey. The girls got a special treat and were able to get full makeovers at Bibbidy Bobbidy Boutique, where they were made into princesses, complete with costumes, hair & makeup. They looked beautiful and loved all the special attention. All I can say is Nacho has his hands full with these two divas!

I plan on getting some pictures up soon, but we took almost 600, so it's going to take awhile to sort through.