My Hypocondriac Husband

After being very exposed to the contagious MRSA, Jose began to panic at every bump, cut, and marker markings that he saw on our children.

Then, last week, on Thursday, he texted me to tell me that he needed to go to the doctor. "Why?" I asked. He said that he googled the symptoms of MRSA (fever, muscle ache, headache, lightheaded, sore throat, etc.) and he thought he had it. I asked if he had any open and infected wounds, to which he replied no. I told him that he was being dramatic, but to go ahead and go to the doctor (since he hasn't gone in years).

So, he went. And she confirmed that he was indeed being paranoid. The verdict: a cold.

Since then, he has acted like he was dying. I took the kids to a friend's house Thursday night, then we all lazied around Friday night. On Saturday, we stayed pretty lazy too (but there's a whole 'nother story there on Saturday) and then we went out for his birthday Saturday night while my mom babysat. And today still. He would be awful to deal with if he had something serious.

Hopefully, his immune system (the same one that has only allowed him to get sick about three times in the last ten years) kicks in soon because I'm tired of babying him. Hehehe!

Birthday Party Procrastination

Generally, I'm on top of the game. I have birthday parties scheduled a month in advance with an awesome list of to do's and games and even a menu planned way ahead of party day. Then, I spend the week or two before the party preparing the games, buying all the necessary trinkets and candies and food items, packing gift bags, etc.

This time, not so much. I'm feeling similar to a chicken with it's head chopped off.

It started when I refused to pick a date for the party. I knew that it had to be somewhere around his birthday, but was more than willing to wait until mid-March if I had to. I am beginning to strongly dislike chaos. But, Jose pushed me to pick a day, so finally, I called the church and asked if tomorrow today was available to use the fellowship hall (we have a large family...and when you add in friends, there is no way everyone would fit in our house. Isa's last birthday had over 50 attendees. Seriously...).

The same day that I reserved the hall, I put up a facebook invite and sent out messages to the invited. Then, I did nothing.

On Wednesday, Teo's actual birthday, Jose struck up the conversation in the car on the way home and asked what the plan was..."What plan?" was my reply. I asked if we could just have people come, eat lunch with us, do the cake and ice cream, open gifts and leave. He told me that I was being lazy.

What games do 2-year-olds play? I don't remember adding games into Isa's parties until at least three. So, in his darling attempt to help, he suggested musical chairs. I retorted that Teo couldn't even get INTO the chairs...so, we agreed to disagree for the time being.

Last night, Jose took Teo to the store and bought the food we needed and didn't already have stocked. Chili dogs, hot dogs, chili, PB&Js, chips, and soda.

Tonight, I finally gave in and agreed to go to the party store, only to find out that their hours Monday - Friday are 9 AM to 5 PM. Seriously? Urg. So, we ended up shopping in a nearby plaza and getting the things for gift bags. And after dropping the kids off to my mom and enjoying a nice dinner just the two of us, we returned home to watch a stupid movie and pack treat bags. Fifty treat bags. Then, when the movie ended, Jose took his place in the kitchen (hehe) and I began to be artsy fartsy. I made a mask for crafts and used my printer to make copies (something that I was extremely grateful for because for Isa's 4th birthday, I hand-drew about 30 monster masks), then painted the board for a game of Pin The Tail.

The craft and the game are on the table, waiting to be taken to the church tomorrow later today after we sleep. Jose has made the PB&Js and is finishing up the cake (photos will come after the party). When we wake up, he will make the rest of the lunch and I am going to beg to run to get a quick haircut. We also need to run somewhere to buy our son his birthday gift (which I have no idea what to buy) and then, we will go to the church and set up everything and just wait for the party to begin.

But for now, I need to write my list of things to do tomorrow, in detail, or else I am sure I will forget:

• Call mom to get hole punch
• Take scissors
• Take crayon box
• Grab yarn
• Take goodie bags, board, tails, mask copies
• Buy gift
• Get haircut (I hope)
• Take all the food
• Grab camera and extra batteries
• Buy forks (everywhere we go, they are sold out of disposable forks...weird!)
• Grab scotch tape
• Buy candles (where do these things go after each birthday?!)
• Pack Isa's stuff (she's going to a slumber party straight from the birthday party)
• Go to church
• Blow up balloons
• Set up games and craft table
• Wait
• Eat
• Have fun
• Spoil my son
• Play games
• Cake
• Open gifts
• Go home and nap

Later ya'll. I need to crash!

My Little Sucker-Upper

When you have a Teo, you need nothing else.

Yesterday, we babysat Miss Kirra (she turned one this week!). Within two minutes of walking in the door and realizing that her mom was going to leave her here, she began to throw a fit. In effort to calm her down, her mommy brought out the little container where she stored her puffs. Miss Kirra was obviously distraught and in her arm flailing, knocked the entire container to the floor, puffs and all. However, have no fear, within ten minutes of knocking them to the floor, the puffs were all gone. Teo ate them. One by one from the floor.

Today, the kids decided to color and do crafts, thus bringing out Isa's craft stuff (a bag and a container full of markers, crayons, stencils, paints, glue, paper, stickers, etc.). They were being fairly quiet so I didn't think much of it. Until Teo puts his hand out to show me his newest "snack"...the watercolor pebbles that he had turned into paint with his saliva. His hands and face were covered with watercolor paint. (Thanks Jill for buying a ton of watercolors, leaving them here, and ensuring that they were nontoxic.)

Two Years Ago

On February 23rd, 2009, around 5:55 PM, I was blessed to bring my one and only son into the world. Happy birthday, Mateo Jose.

I love you.

Flood.

When it rains, it pours. When it pours, it floods. That's basically where my life has gone....flooded.

I can't even put things together enough to write a coherant blog post...there is so much going on in my mind...so, to spare you all, I'm not even going to try.

Here's just an idea of what I will be explaining in detail at some point of time in the future:

• My dad called, but I didn't accept the call. I need to write him a letter.
• My sister-in-law called and we are going to help her out. We need to re-arrange some things in the house.
• Isa woke up this morning with a 102.7 fever and then threw up. She will be home with me tomorrow.
• Our sleep patterns have been shot to hell this weekend. Friday night, we went to sleep at 2 AM. I got woken up at 5 AM by a phone call requiring me to leave. I returned home and went back to sleep around 11 AM and I slept until about 2 PM. Last night, we didn't fall asleep until 4 AM and woke up around 8 AM, but went back to sleep until about 10 AM when Isa finally woke up. We returned to take a nap around 1 PM and slept until about 5 PM. Now, it's 11 PM and I know I need to go to bed. But my brain seems to think differently.
• My son broke a wine glass that I painted for heARTworks, now, I need to redo it. It pretty much rocked too.
• My home needs some loving attention. The dust on my mantel is high enough that you cannot see the original wood color (mostly thanks to all the sanding that Jose did to the house in January). The laundry pile that needs folded is large enough that an elephant would be scared. The craft room's mess could hide small vehicle. Ugh. I need a maid.

I'm pretty sure that I jinxed myself last week when I stated that I really want a boring life. When I can think straight, I'll fill in some missing pieces...if you pray, please just shoot out some little prayers for our little family. Thank you.

Confessions of a Real Life Mommy #14, 15, & 16

#14. I cannot wait until spring. Not because of the weather, but because Isa is outgrowing her pants and I need her to be able to wear flood pants capri pants without raising questions because I don't want to buy new jeans.

#15. Last Sunday, Jose and I slept in. Isa and Teo woke up and went downstairs to watch a movie. Isa made them cereal and they were quiet. When we began to get ready for church, we figured out why they were so well behaved. There was a trail of Hershey Kiss wrappers that stretched from the foyer (where a bag was located in Isa's backpack from her Valentine's Party at school) all the way through the living room, dining room and kitchen. I believe they ate at least half a bag. I secretly laughed a lot. And deep down, I was still very thankful for being able to sleep past 8 AM.

#16. Also on Sunday, less than an hour of finding out about the Hershey Kiss raid, we grabbed fast food for breakfast on the way to church. Not thinking, Jose ordered three diet sodas. Yes, after our kids ate half a bag of chocolate, we gave them soda. At least it was diet, right? [It was just a rough morning all the way around!]

Confession of a Real Life Mommy #12 & 13

#12. It's true. I have opted to use a half a case of baby wipes rather than deal with a screaming kid (or two) in the tub for ten minutes. It works, right?

#13. Although I swore that I would never say it, I have caught myself when I'm sweeping the floor, holding two loads of laundry, running the dishwasher and watching dinner cook on the stove, tell the eldest child, "Stop tattling. Fine, then just hit/bite/kick him back..."

Confession of a Real Life Mommy #11

Yes, I realize the photo is sideways...just turn your head. The joys of taking photos on my phone. You get the point...

#11. On Mondays and Tuesdays, when I work 12 hour days, I refuse to clean a thing.

Published with Blogger-droid v1.6.5

I Hate Being An Adult.

Hate. Hate. HATE IT!

I wanna flop around on the ground and yell and cry and scream.
I wanna throw things and kick my feet.
I wanna STOMP.

I hate responsibility.
I hate being responsible.
I hate being an adult.

I want to, just once, do something without worrying about what it costs.
I want to, just once, do something without worrying about the future consequences.
I want to, just once, be selfishly indulgent and do whatever I want, without knowing it's not the responsible choice.

Ugh.

I hate bills.
I hate debt.
I hate money.

I hate costs.
I hate living expenses.
I hate finances.

I hate being frugal.
I hate being broke.
I hate being responsible.

Seriously, why can't I just spoil myself occassionally without feeling racked with GUILT for whatever money I spend?!

Jose offered to take me shopping for Valentine's Day. I was excited. The thought of a couple new pairs of jeans was good. (I honestly don't remember buying clothes in about two years.) But then, I balanced our checkbook. And, no, we're not in super debt or anything. I know I should be grateful that we can pay our bills and have money left over. But, I feel like we need to focus on paying off our debt so everything left over should go to that, not for jeans. Plus, we have a (cheap) date night planned, but I'm sure that Jose will now cancel that because he gets all upset about money.

I HATE MONEY.
I HATE BEING AN ADULT.

Confessions of a Real Life Mommy #7, 8, 9, & 10

#7. Isa has a drawer under her bed that is broken. Instead of fixing it, we just emptied it, pushed it in, and told her not to use it.

#8. Teo would rather wear his potty seat around his head than use it. I'd rather not fight with him about it until he starts using it, so it's a common accessory.

#9. The first thing we taught our kids once they could walk was to throw their own diapers away. It just makes sense.

#10. I don't think that either of my kids has worn matching socks in over 4 months. See Confession #3 for more info.

We Don't Really DO Valentine's Day, But...

For us, Valentine's Day is rarely a big deal. The only year that it really was anything special was 2005. That is the year when Jose bought me a beautiful ring in January to propose, but it was back ordered and whatnot, so as of Valentine's Day, it still hadn't arrived. However, on Valentine's Day, we went to the clinic and it was confirmed that we were about to be parents.

So, this year, I've not thought much about it. We don't do gifts or flowers or candies or much at all. However, since Isa's now in school, I realized that they have a card exchange tomorrow. And, so Jose came by and dropped off Valentine stuff for her class before running out again to help his sister move tonight. So, he will be coming home to this:

I guess I may be convinced to do a little something for future years, but it may always be construction paper and string...

Confessions of a Real Life Mommy #5 & 6

Buh-bye.

#5. I often threaten my kids with leaving them. At the house when we're headed out. At the store as we're checking out. In parking lots or restaurants. Whenever they feel as if throwing a temper tantrum is needed to get whatever they want, I just warn them that I'm leaving. They have the option to stop throwing a fit and come with me or risk being left behind.

#6. When I use the aforementioned method of tantrum stopping, it doesn't always work. So, I do what every parent would do. I leave. Kinda. I have gone so far as to have Isa and I fully dressed and Teo throwing a fit because he didn't want to put on a coat. I warned him and the tantrum continued, so Isa and I turned off all the lights, walked out the front door, and closed it. Then we stood on the front step for about two minutes, until Teo was convinced that we really left him and after that, he was more than happy to cooperate to go goodbye.

Confessions of a Real Life Mommy #1, 2, 3, & 4

#1. I have stepped on dry cereal and kept walking, never once thinking twice about it.

#2. When we move the couch, we find enough toys to fill a toybox. So, we just try to not move the couch but twice a year.

#3. Instead of sorting and matching socks, I throw them in a bag. There are about four in my bedroom right now (bags, not socks). They get sorted about as often as the couch gets moved.

#4. I have "accidentally" swept up small and annoying toys left on the floor just to be able to not deal with them anymore.