Opera anyone?

I was looking at some Christmas music this morning getting ready to make my next post and I was singing along to I Want A Hippopotomus for Christmas. Ian came over and told me I was a "good singer" and Logan chimed in with "you should do opera". LMAO! I am not a good singer and could not and would not embarrass myself even trying to do opera. Singing in the comfort of my own home and car are okay though. ;)

Wanna Win?

You better hurry!! The winner is being picked some time tomorrow! This time it's for one of these cute monogrammed travel mugs. You know you want one!!!

Thanks to Can I Get My Subscription Filled for filling me in on this contest!

Blech! Gag! Yuck!!

Dh brought home some candy his Aunt had bought in Puerto Rico. It's made from sugar, vanilla and coconut. Sounds good right (if you like coconut)? Well I smelled the package first and thought it had a chemical like smell but I chalked it up to the plastic wrap on it. OMG it was NASTY! It tasted as bad as it smelled. I couldn't spit it out fast enough and I still can't get the taste out of my mouth. I like coconut. I've eaten coconut many times but this was just GROSS. Dh ate the rest and thought it was good. I thought it tasted spoiled. Blech!!!!

So now I'm sucking down some Crystal Light and eating a Fiber One Oats & Apple Struesal bar which are super YUMMY!!! (and only 2pts). I guess my nose knows!

Shopping Day

Dh took the boys to his mom's house this morning so Bella and I went shopping. I thought I'd check out Kohl's and I had some coupons I had to use since they were expiring so I went over to SuperTarget too. Kohl's is having some awesome sales right now. I got a really nice knit hoodie sweater for $4 and a hoodie long sleeve tshirt for $2. Perfect for the fall! They have summer stuff on sale too- just not 80-90% off. I got dh 2 button down ss shirts that came with a seperate tshirt on sale too. And of course, I couldn't pass up a few more outfits for Bella. ;) 50% off course!

So if you're in the area, you may want to go check it out. They had some good deals!

Hot and Tired

The 3 kids and I just got back from a birthday party for one of our neighbors. Their little girl just turned 3- exactly 1 month apart from Ian. She is so darn cute too. So we were invited over to bounce and slide. They rented a combo unit and I don't think the bouncy part got used much as everyone loved the slide. It was so much smaller than the one we rented which was good bc Ian loved this one. I think they were on that thing for over 2 hours.

We also had snow cones. Yum! Dh provided them the syrups and they rented the machine. We may have to do that for Logan's birthday. It was so refreshing! I ate Ian's. He only had a few bites and was done.

Everyone loved on Bella. And everyone said "oh she looks JUST like Robert". Do you have any idea how many times I hear that? I swear I was just the incubator in all 3 pregnancies. LOL





Birthday girl, her mom and Ian. Think Ian and Hannah will make a cute couple one day? LOL


Sleeping in her stroller.

Babywearing contest!

Win the Essential Babywearing Stash from Along for the Ride (one Beco Butterfly, one Hotsling baby pouch, one BabyHawk Mei Tai, one Zolowear Ring Sling, and one Gypsy Mama Wrap)

Wow! You can win 5 different baby carriers if you enter this contest! I'm all for that!! So please enter and if you win and want to pass one of the carriers back on to me, I'll love you forever! LOL

Mmmmm

Dh had a business meeting tonight with a couple of co-workers. They chose Cheesecake Factory. When he told me where he was going, I said "Unfair!". LOL I love that place! So he called me when he got there and ordered me something to bring home, plus cheesecake of course. He loves me. :)

Oh yeah, I had already had a light dinner (Couldn't starve myself until he got home) so I just got the Vietnamese Spring Rolls and he brought home Banana Cream cheesecake and the Adams Peanut Butter Cup Fudge Ripple. Yum!!! I only ate 1/4 of each since we did share it 4 ways with the boys. Not so many WW points that way! Ha!

Babies, babies and more babies!!

Three of my friends have had/are having babies this week! My gf Leigh had her baby Tuesday night I think. My online friend Jenifer had twin girls Tuesday morning and my other online friend Lindsay is currently in labor (as of the last update at 7am) with her twins. Woohoo!! Congrats to all of you!! I can't wait to see pics. I'm such a sucker for a good birth story and newborn pictures.

ETA: Linds had her babies! You can check out her blog for her update.

Rainy Days

I love a rainy day- at least some of the time. I especially love waking up to a rainy day if I don't have to actually get up and go somewhere. Waking up to such darkness and listening to the raindrops is so comforting. I love to snuggle up under my covers and just lay there for a little bit longer. Of course, being a mom, it doesn't last long. Maybe one day my kids will come snuggle up with me and we'll all listen to the rain together.

I'm really not sure why this post came to me. It's not raining (yet, this is FL after all) but it's just one of those thoughts I get sometimes.

Have you had a waterbirth?

Go add your story or just post that you've had one. HERE's the form to fill out.

Waterbirth International needs you to register your baby on their "I Was Born in Water" list on their website if you had a waterbirth. They have over 4000 baby names listed and their goal is 10,000 by 2010. They are in line for an NIH grant to do follow-up research for these babies and their mother's experiences of waterbirth. Not only will you get to be on a very cool list, but you will be helping to prove that waterbirth is a safe and wonderful way to enter the world!

Homebirths- across the ocean

Amazing how the opinion of the UK's Health Dept (govt) and the US's differ!

And speaking of homebirths, if you are at all interested in that than please check out these links. I've been reading some wonderful birth stories and watching videos. Giving birth never ceases to amaze me.

Another video.

My Beautiful girl

Bella is three months old today. I decided to have a mini photo shoot with her again. I swear it's like a deer in the headlights each time I pull out the camera. I'm lucky if I get a smile! The odds are never good though. And Murphy's Law- if I do happen to get one, the camera has moved so she's all off the page (I'm trying to get her to smile at me, not the camera).

So here are a few shots from today! I cropped this one so it isn't quite as off. I love these smiles!






I'm not sure what this was about. She wasn't crying or even about to. It almost looks like there were tears in her eyes though.

Poor Ian never had quite this many photos taken. It's that middle child thing I guess. :( Now it's hard to get him to sit still long enough!

Wordless Wednesday

The Olympics are coming!

Only 45 days left according to Julie's Olympic ticker! I love the summer Olympics. I look forward to them every 4 years. My absolute favorite event is women's gymnastics. I watched the Olympic trials this weekend and was so happy to see Shawn Johnson and Nastia Liukin win the 1st two spots on the team. Congrats girls!! It's all up in the air on who else will make the team but I'm betting on Chellsie Memmel and Alicia Sacramone being two of them.

Now those 4 girls plus 8 others are all off to the Karolyi training camp for some intensive training to decide who will represent the USA this year.

8-8-08 can't get here quick enough!!

Home Birth Petition

I know it isn't for everyone but I hope you will sign this petition and help out. It should be the woman's decision on where they want to give birth and as long as they know the risks, why should anyone else tell them otherwise?

For those of you who haven't seen it and might be interested in signing...Please help send a message to the AMA and ACOG, and to our state and federal legislators, to tell them that we object to these resolutions and we view legislation that would restrict a woman's right to choose a home birth as a being contrary to scientific evidence and a violation of women's basic human rights.
http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/birthathome/

She passed!

I'm a bad mommy and just took Bella to her "newborn" hearing exam. Yes, she'll be three months this week. Oops! I dropped the boys off with dh at work (love that his new boss doesn't mind!) and off we went to the All Children's Specialty Care. It's only the second time I've been in there. The first being 3 years ago (nearly to the month I think) when Ian had to see a surgeon for his suspected MRSA as an infant. It still smells and looks pretty new.

We got all checked in and I nursed her hoping she would fall asleep. And she did...for about 2 minutes. So I tried the other side and of course, that's when the audiologist came in. She was very nice though and as Bella was the only patient she had at the time, she sat and asked the questions she needed to ask me and we talked a few minutes hoping Bella would fall asleep again. No.Such.Luck.

I gave up and we headed for the sound proof room. I had to ask her if she ever used it to vent frustrations but she said she hadn't. She must not have toddlers. LOL I could so use one of those rooms where I could shut myself away for a minute and just SCREAM. Hmm...maybe I could just throw the kids in and close the door. That sounds even better! ;)

She said I could hold Bella during the exam so it all worked out okay. It's the first time I've ever seen one of my kids get a hearing exam. The previous two times were in the hospital and the parents don't go in. She clipped the wire to Bella's shirt and put in a tiny earplug and then the computer sent different tones and beeps and recorded how her ear reacted. Then we switched sides. To keep her happy and still, the Dr used a light from an otoscope and bubbles. She also did a second test to check how her eardrums reacted to stimulus. She passed them all!

You'd think my story would end there but no it doesn't. As we were doing the right ear OAE, Bella decided to poop...all over her white pants, out the back and onto who??... you guessed it- ME!! Ugh. I had just enough wipes left to clean her up. I stashed her pants in a diaper baggie and thankfully the Dr gave us a trash bag for the mess. Oh the fun of a breastfed baby! Needless to say, we had to make a pitstop at home before going to pick up the boys. We both needed a clothing change!

Yet another Blog and Contest!!

So you have to go check out SITS (the Secret Is in The Sauce). They are running a contest right now to win a Bounce House! How cool! Tell them I sent you and add their button to your blog!

My Two Super Heroes

Ian got a Spiderman costume for his birthday and it's a bit big so Logan was able to put it on (although it's a touch too small for him). I also found our Hulk costume someone had given Logan a few years ago and it's a bit small on Ian but it works. They both decided to dress up and I was able to grab a picture before they were done. They don't last long in costume.

OMG This is hilarious!

I Gizoogled my blog. Check out this LINK to read my blog after Gizoogling it. It's the schniznit! LOL

Fashion?

Or not?

This lady was not from here- I'm guessing England from her BF's accent. She started to bend over as I walked by her. Thankfully that's not the shot I got! And yes, that is a one piece denim outfit!


And is this a new trend? Mismatched patterns? He was even wearing black sneakers with GREEN laces!
(Sorry for the color- all my Lego store photos came out yellow-y. I've tried fixing it but without much luck)

Downtown Disney (final installment I think)

Boy I can drag out a 2.5 day weekend vacation, huh? LOL

We checked out of the hotel Sunday morning. On our way out, we passed a guy who was sitting outside his room. Mind you, it's like 9:20am and there's already one beer bottle outside his door and he has another one in his hand and a cigarette in the other hand. Classy. Maybe he has kids like mine though that drive you to drink or at least wish you had a drink.

We drove over to Downtown Disney (like a 5min drive) and it was so empty! We've never been there that early before so it was nice. We walked around one of the Disney shops and took some pics with a lifesize Buzz. The boys each made a LightSaber which Ian had been asking for all weekend. I forgot to get pics of that. Then we walked over to McD's for brunch for the boys and back across the plaza to Earl Of Sandwich for Dh and I to eat. And back again to the Lego store. We got plenty of walking in! ;)

The boys were in Lego heaven (and so was dh). The one thing they really love is making Lego people so we found the station where you can do that. They each made 3 people and got a lanyard to put them in. They have a wall of Lego People (presumably all different in some way) across the front wall of the store. The back wall is all bins of different colored/shaped Legos in bulk you can buy. Oh boy. Dh had a ball with that! I even found a few cute things like little Lego flowers and trees. :) Had it not been Bella's lunch time, I'm sure they could have spent hours in there. (It was just too hot outside to nurse and too crowded inside)





This is the new T-Rex cafe they are building. It's by the same owners of the Rainforest Cafe. Looks very cool!!





Wall of people

Bella's 1st swim

Here are a few pics from the hotel's kids pool. Bella really liked it. Since it was in the sun all day and is shallow, it was very warm- much like bath water. I guess I shouldn't be surprised she liked it. Afterall, she was born into a tub of water!

Dressed and ready to go! Her suit is a bit big but it did the job!

The Accident plus more

I know you've been waiting with bated breath for this post right?

We had just left DHS to head back to the hotel for the day. Dh was unloading the stroller and I believe Ian was still sitting in it. I had Bella and was about to put her in her carseat (I was still holding her but had already opened the door) and Logan was standing next to me. All of a sudden I heard a bump and the truck moved. I thought it went into gear somehow or dh threw the stroller in or something. Someone hitting us never occurred to me.

I looked back at dh to ask him what he was doing and he was walking around the truck towards the car and told me we had gotten hit. I was still confused- I never even noticed the car backing into the space in front of us. (FTR, all spaces run one way and he was obviously going the wrong way if he was able to back into a space. I'm not sure how he even got past a CM to do it.) So dh is yelling at the guy and the guy hits us again!! Now dh is flipping out and I think he may just clock the guy. LOL Dh is yelling about me(not at me) standing there with the baby. The guy gets out and is apologizing up and down to us. He said his foot slipped off the brake the first time and then everyone in his car was yelling at him so he got nervous and did it again. No damage was done to my truck thankfully and it looked like he may have had a minor scratch on his car. He and dh shook hands and he continued to apologize. Even his passenger got out and was apologizing to us. Talk about an adrenaline rush (although not a good one).

Of course, Logan being the little know-it-all was scolding dh for yelling at the guy. Haha!! He kept saying it wasn't very nice and you shouldn't yell at people. He didn't understand why dh was yelling but at least he gets that it wasn't nice.

After that, we were hot and hungry. We were driving back to the hotel and decided to stop at a shopping plaza nearby. I ran into this grocery store called Goody's. Do not shop there if you are a bargain shopper or on any kind of budget. Good heavens! You know they sell to the tourists! Some things seemed to be normally priced. Then there were things like a package of Oreos for $6.09 that made me go bug eyed! How about a 12pack of SS Nabisco cookies for over $8. Holy cow! I did not buy those! Dinner ended up consisting of subs from Quiznos for us (their $5 sub specials) and McD's for the kids plus some normal priced chips from the store (at least Frito Lay had those price fixed).

Next up....swimming! Bella's first actual swimming pool experience included!

Punctuation and Capitalization Vent

I know it's the internet and we like our 'net shorthand. I don't have a problem with abbreviations or emoticons whatsoever. I use them all the time. I do however hate when I'm trying to read a message on a board and the writer uses no capital letters and few punctuation marks! Not to mention, there are no breaks in the paragraph so it all sort of runs together. If you want to get your message across, please use some of what you learned in school. Capital letters are your friend!

I don't want to even get into spelling or the correct use of words right now. Ugh. Loose and Lose are not the same thing! You do not loose something, you lose it. You do not sale something, you sell it. Oh wait, I guess I did get into it a bit. Sorry.

Toy Story Mania (what are we on- part 4?)

TSM is the newest ride at WDW. It is based on the old carnival games where you shoot targets or throw a ring. To get on this ride you HAVE to get a FastPass or you will be forced to wait upwards of 40min or more(early morning). I've seen the line at 90min and more!

We got the DHS just after 9am and went straight there to grab a FP. There were lines to even get a FP but thankfully those are quick lines. When we came back at our FP time, dh and Ian went on first (Bella can't go on it and there are only 2 seats) and we grabbed a Baby Swap pass from the Castmember at the front. This would get Logan and I on without having an official FP or having to wait in the stand by line when dh and Ian got off. We went to find some shade so I could nurse Bella and wait. When it was our turn, Logan and I went in. Wow! It's so cool in there. My only complaint is that the FP line doesn't get to see all the decor the people in standby do. When you are in line, you are one of the toys in Andy's room. Everything is giant size- there are giant crayons, dominos, cards and more. There's also a talking Mr Potato Head that entertains you in line. You can find videos on You Tube of the ride and MPH.

When you get thru the line, you get your 3D glasses and get in your ride vehicle and off you go. It spins you from wall to wall where you play the carnival games. There are also a few 3D/4D effects. You have to pull on a string on your shooter and man, your arm gets tired after a while!! It is soooo much fun though!! I can't wait to get to go on it again!

I forgot to bring my camera inside but here are some outside shots. You'll notice one of them at the top of my blog.

That's P.M. folks- and that was at around 12:45/1pm in the afternoon!

Since we're talking Star Wars

You have to check out this hilarious video. We didn't get to see this while we were there but I would have loved to!

The Main Event (part 3)

Star Wars Weekend(s) is why we went to DHS in the first place. My boys love SW. They can both name characters I don't know. Logan even corrected dh on the correct name of one of them yesterday (dh said Sand People which is correct but I guess technically they are Tusken Raiders).

At SWW there are actors you can get autographs for if you get in line early enough like Warwick Davis who played Wicket (also Willow in the movie Willow and also in Harry Potter). We saw them in the parade but didn't care about autographs so we walked around the park looking for other characters. I'm not a big SW junkie but it was neat to see all the characters walking around. The boys were taking it all in. Ian wasn't so gungho about going up to them though like Logan was. He's fine with giant ducks and mice, but forget StormTroopers and Jawas. ;)

At one point we saw Chewbacca. We pointed him out to Logan and got a few pics with other people in them knowing we wouldn't get thru the line. Next thing I know, Logan is gone! He apparently line jumped just to stand next to one of his fave SW characters! Chewwy didn't even know he was there. LOL We did get a few pics though before scolding him about walking away from us and line jumping. Poor Logan. I know he was just super excited.

I can see us doing this again next year (heck I'd go again this month). It was fun!
Can you imagine how HOT these costumes are??

Chewbacca

Jawa

And a few parade pics. What's neat is that you can sign your kids up to be in the parade as Jedi Trainees.

Tusken Raider aka Sand People (if you look in the crowd you'll see someone dressed in Jedi garb- there are regular people who dress for this event)



Warwick Davis



Boba Fett (I had to ask Logan LOL)

If you don't want to cry

then do not read THIS blog but I really hope you will. It's a beautiful blog although the story is heartwrenching. If you decide to open it, please have tissues handy.

Wanna win?

A really cute necklace? Go check out this blog and her new Etsy page!

OMG Is it me?

Or are THESE horrendous? Do we really need our infants to look like little women now? As if the older kids' clothing lines aren't bad enough what with Juicy on the butt or showing all their goods? Now we need high heels for infants??? Come on! I think they are ugly to boot and would just look stupid on an infant.

ETA: I get playing dress up when you're a kid and want to be a little princess but these are not meant for walking- just for show.

Breakfast and a few characters (weekend part 2)

Did I mention how horrible the beds at the hotel were? After reading comments about the Nick Hotel (also a Holiday Inn) I don't think we'll be staying there...ever. The next hotel I pick will have "pillow top mattress" in the description of the rooms. Thank goodness for my bed last night!

So anyway... Saturday morning we got up bright and early to head to Disney's Hollywood Studios. We had reservations at Hollywood & Vine at 10:05am for breakfast so we fed the kids a light snack beforehand. We got to the park shortly after opening (like 9:05am) and after watching the StormTroopers a few minutes we went straight over to Toy Story Mania to grab a Fast Pass.




Fastpasses were already set for 11:45-12:45! I think the stand by wait was 70min at that time already. Wow. After that we wandered around a bit until it was time for our breakfast. I was wearing Bella that day and the CM (castmembers) were kind enough to let us bring in our double stroller so I wouldn't have to eat over her head.






She loved looking around and was staring at the characters. She didn't know what to make of them!

We also met up with Stitch!
I'm not sure what Ian's doing but it's not what it looks like! LOL