Let Them Be Kids

I follow a page on FB that overall I enjoy, but there have been a few things on it that really upset me. Overall I enjoy the page, they post tons of pictures, some of some really cute stuff. I am not going to name the page because I am not here to bash them, but to simply vent about the things I don't like.

Let me be a little more clear. This page sometimes posts pictures like this:

Aw, cute little girls right? Right. But really? When do little kids where fashion sunglasses and carry designer bags? Sure, Miss L loves to carry her purse, which looks like a fuzzy moose. She also loves her sunglasses that have Hello Kitty on them. And I love getting her dressed in cute little outfits with Princess Sofia on the front of her shirt and her boots that light up when she walks. I love looking at my little kids and seeing little kids. What is wrong with that?

Kids grow up so damn fast, why do we need to push it? And what are we teaching our children by dressing them in designer outfits with all the accessories? What is wrong with letting them stay little? And young? They will get to this place on their own someday, we really don't need to push them there any faster then it already happens.

My stylin girls

Dead Plant

My plant died.

This really doesn't surprise me as I seem to kill off pretty much all the plants I try to grow, inside and out. I don't know why, I just really don't have a green thumb. The only plant that I actually was able to keep alive was this awesome one that a lady I used to work with gave me. It was small and had pink polka dots on its leaves (if anyone knows what time of plant this is tell me please!!!). As you might notice though, I am referring to it in past tense because my very mature husband flew his tiny little helicopter thing into it and the propellers chopped it up. Nice. Thanks honey.

This plant was really special to me though. And to be honest, when I had to kind of come to terms with the fact it died, I cried (I still haven't completely lost hope, and can't bring myself to toss it just in case). The reason this plant was so special is that it was the plant that Dr K gave me when we lost BB3. I have had that plant for 1 year 10 months. It has had some rough days when it needed water, or a little more sun, but it always pulled through. Unfortunately, I think I watered it too much this time. And because it is cold, there is no warm sun to set it in to try and dry out the dirt. I thought about re-potting it, but I haven't gotten to the store to buy dirt, and the stuff we do have is frozen. Even though it is cold, I set the plant in front of the sliding glass door in hopes of it helping. When that didn't work, I set it next to the fireplace, hoping to dry the soil without burning the leaves. Still nothing. My plant is dead.

Do you think it has hope???

You may say its just a plant, but it held a connection to my baby. So now I have a dead plant sitting in my living room that I keep telling everyone that its still alive and will perk up. I'm going to have to come to terms soon and toss it, but I just can't quite bring myself to do it. I lost my baby, and now I have lost my plant.

Growling

You know how I said in my last post that LL doesn't baby talk? Case in point:

Halloween Fun

A typical Montana Halloween includes freezing cold weather. We have to plan our costumes around snow suits, and keep the car running so we can take breaks between houses to warm up. This year has been unusually warm though. So warm in fact that Miss L only had to wear 2 shirts, a fleece jacket, tights, and sweats under her costume to be able to go trick or treating! I was loving being able to comfortably walk around too without shivering uncontrollably.

We got to get a little more use out of our costumes this year too. K had a school carnival, so the kids all dressed up for that, then he had a party at school so he got to wear his costume there, and of course Halloween night we went trick or treating.

The girls have been battling colds, but like I said, it has been really nice and warm here, so we were able to take them out for a bit. LL just hung out in the carrier with me, but K and Miss L had so much fun. And they all looked adorable!

Here they are the night of the carnival.

K as Dracula

Miss L as a Dopadah (her word for princess)

Our little monster LL (the best part... she growls. No baby babbling here, just straight up growling)

Moms of "Boys"

I am always seeing blog posts talking about being a mom of a boy. A boy that tracks in mud on his sneakers. Would rather be playing baseball (and breaking windows) then doing anything else. That loves to ride his bike off jumps he builds in the driveway. But what about us moms of the types of boys?

I'm not saying that my son is in any way less of a boy then the next, but I don't feel like I fit in the category of "a mom of a boy". Yes he does love to dig in the dirt and play with his Army men, but he also loves to set all his books out around his room and play library. And given the choice, he would spend the day watching cartoons or playing video games. He loves to ride his bike, but there is always some hesitation after not riding it for a while as he is scared of falling and getting hurt. He loves to wrestle with M, but he easily gets upset and will start crying.

My son may not fight society's standards of a "typical" boy, but that does not mean he is any less of a boy. I think people need to broaden their sights and see that boys aren't all thrill seekers who have spent at least one summer in some sort of cast by the age of 10. Some boys like to play it a little more safe, and that is perfectly OK too.

Non-Stop

I am a bad blogger, I know. But in all honesty, by the time I have a little free/quite time, AKA I'm at work, I am so exhausted that I can't even muster up the energy to move my fingers and make my brain form words.

We have been going non-stop lately. K (Pumpkin) is in football right now, and has games Tuesday and Thursday nights, which M is coaching. And Miss L is in gymnastics on Wednesday nights. Our only "free" nights are Mondays and Fridays (weekends don't count since we are always doing something), and those are spent trying to keep up with other things, like homework, and fixing a ceiling fan/light combo that started to melt and burn and blew 2 light bulbs.

There are so many posts I want to write right now too, and I promise that as soon as I get a half an oz of energy, I will. Until then, some cute pics of the kiddos :)

Fall Favorites #2

Since I love the fall so much, I decided to post a few more of my favorite fall things!

1) Sweaters, scarves, boots, and boot socks! I wear my cowgirl boots pretty much all year round, but in the fall I like to bust out my calf-high boots with boot socks. And I LOVE sweaters. I have to admit I normally end up putting on a sweatshirt, but sweaters make me feel so pretty! And my closet is full of scarves...

2) Candles. Granted I burn candles all year round, but the "fall" smells are my by far my favorite. I love how warm, homey, and inviting they are.

3) Crock Pot cooking. There are so many things you can cook in a Crock Pot all year round, but my favorite things are chili, spaghetti, pot roast, and stew... fall food items in my opinion :)

4) Frost. I am not a warm weather girl at all. I max out at about 75... anything above that is too hot for me unless I can be on the water. I like cold weather. So when nothing makes my heart as happy as waking up to frost. Its a sure sign that fall is here and winter is coming soon. Plus, how can you not love frost? They way it delicately covers everything and the sun shines off it, dancing in all directions *sigh*. So beautiful.

Fall Favorites

I love fall. I love the coolness in the air and the smell that comes along with it. I love decorating for the holidays, and baking goodies in the kitchen. There are so many things I love about fall, but here are just a few:

1) When the leaves change colors. It is so pretty to look out and see different shades of red and orange. I love walking along a path that is covered with crunchy, colorful leaves. Fall leaves are so beautiful!

2) Wood stoves. There is nothing better then cuddling up in front of a fireplace. The glow from the fire is beautiful and warming, and the sound of wood cracking and popping inside is music to my ears.

3) Wood! I love the way M smells when he gets home from a day of getting wood. I also love the way our house smells from the stack of wood sitting next to the stove.

4) Lattes. To be honest, I love lattes all year around, but there is something extra to love about drinking a sweet, warm, frothy latte on a cool fall day.

5) Football. Born and raised a Packer fan, I look forward to football season all year!

And here is my little football buddy this past Sunday: (Pumpkin and Miss L have Packer outfits too, but they weren't home to watch the game with LL and me last week :) )

Something In The Water

Baby fever hits a little when EVERYONE around you is pregnant! Honestly, I have a long list:

• Neighbor around the corner
• Other neighbor around other corner
• Our friends in town
• Girlfriend in Texas (41 weeks now... so any day!)
• Lady I work with
• M's cousin
• A blogger I follow
• Carrie Underwood (technically she isn't "around" me, but its all over the internet!)

To be honest I'm pretty sure I am missing a couple people too... Plus, my sister's baby is only 3 weeks old, so that's almost the same ;)

3 of those people are due within like a week of each other too! 

I really do miss being pregnant, and I love me some newborn babies, but to be honest... I wouldn't want to do it again. I am so happy with my 3 kids, and I could not imagine trying to take care of another! It makes me sad that we won't ever go through that again, but my kids are such a blessing and I am ready to watch them grow and be there for them. Sometimes when I look at LL though and see how big she has gotten, and how damn cute she is, it makes my heart ache for 10 more. 

M and I have been talking about taking more permanent precautions... like him visiting the Dr for once! We haven't decided for sure, but wouldn't really want a surprise baby either.

One of the girls on the list had told me that they were done, but then they never did ANYTHING to prevent, and Wham! Pregnant again. I wanted to give her the sex talk, you know: "if you don't use anything to prevent a pregnancy, you will more then likely end up pregnant". I just told her congrats instead though :) At least we are using the protection of Miss L sleeping in our bed, and a Mirena for the few minutes of alone time we do get. 

T&A #2

Last week we took a little road trip to get Miss L's tonsils and adenoids removed. We had to go to the neighboring town because they have a pediatric specialist there.

Because we were from out of town and having surgery done, we were able to stay at the Ronald McDonald House. It was so nice to be able to stay somewhere for free since we had the cost of gas and food, and it was practically in the hospitals parking lot, which made everything easier. They had a yard and play set too, so the girls had some fun the night before.

We had to be at the hospital the next morning really early, and I took her back to get her prepped.

Seeing my little girl go into surgery though was much harder then I thought it would be. She cried and tried to get me as they walked her back despite the medicine they had given her to try to relax her. I smiled and told her it was ok and I loved her and would be back soon, but once she disappeared around the corner I bawled. And that hour during surgery drug by.

Because of her age and medical history, she was required to stay in the hospital for 24 hours, which I am so glad. Her recovery was a million times worse then Pumpkins. She refused to take the liquid Lortab because of the horrid taste, and then when we tried to give her Tylenol instead, she refused that thinking it was Lortab. They ended up having to give her Morphine in her IV.

The day after surgery she got a little energy up and went out and explored the hospital floor.

Since she was eating and drinking ok we got released that evening. I wish things would have continued to go well, but her pain was almost unmanageable. She refused all liquid meds so we had no choice but to do suppository Tylenol. Unfortunately it wasn't enough to take all the pain away, or keep it away long enough. We were in tears and almost headed to our ER. Luckily M remembered taking chewable Tylenol and Ibuprofen as a kid, so he went to the store and bought 3 jars of them! They have been our saving grace!

It has been a week since surgery now, and things are looking better. She is still in some pain, but not as much, and eating and drinking normally. We are really hoping and praying that this will help her with her sleep apnea and we will be able to get our bed back sometime in the near future!

Natural Beauty

Normally I try to stay away from the news. It is sad and depressing and makes me sick at the things that people do. But, while at  work the other night, I was browsing through MSN and saw an article about Kim K and "waist training", which, if you don't know, is wearing a corset to get your waist smaller. 

Sadly, she isn't the only celebrity that has/does do this. This got me thinking about a couple things:

1) Don't they realize that you have internal organs that take up room? Organs that need to be in certain spots and need so much room to function properly. It is so unhealthy and dangerous to try to shrink your waist in this way... squishing all your insides into places they don't belong!

2) What ever happened to natural beauty? I look at my girls and they are so gorgeous... no makeup, completely natural.

Of course, you say, all babies and kids are so pretty and cute, but then you grow up and get acne and yucky skin, and the baby fat doesn't go away, and so forth, so you have to do something to make yourself look better. Sure, I wear makeup, powder and mascara... unless I am going out then I'll add a little eye shadow and maybe some blush, but I am still "natural". And I think its our differences that make us pretty. 

The lady I get my lattes from gets fake lashes put on. I am still kinda confused on how this works... I had actually never heard of it until she told me about it a couple weeks ago. I guess she goes to some sort of "lash bar" and they put these extension things on your lashes so that they look extra long...? Do you know what I'm talking about? And of course they look pretty, but to me they looked a little freaky too. Like abnormally long... spider leg long... I hate spiders.

My waist is not unnaturally thin. My eyelashes aren't fake. I have no tan. I don't put on makeup to give the illusion of a thinner nose, higher cheek bones, or more defined chin. I wear powder cuz I'm shiny and mascara cuz my eyelashes are blonde. When you look at me, you see ME. Would I like more defined features? Sure. A smaller waist? Of course! But that wasn't what God gave me, so I am not going to manipulate myself into something I am not. What you see is the real me.

The saddest thing is all the little girls that see there moms, sisters, celebrities, doing this stuff to themselves because they don't think they are pretty or skinny enough, and then they think they need to do it too. How are they going to have any confidence or self-worth if they grow up thinking that the bodies we are given are not good enough and need to be manipulated into something "better"? 

Shit Just Got Real

I took Pumpkin to his first day of 1st grade yesterday. WOW. 1st grade. That's like real school now.

To be honest, I think it was harder this year than last. Kindergarten is still young and yes, they are at school, but with 2 snack times and a nap time. Still not quite "real" to me. 1st grade though? Real. Grown up. I might have shed a little tear as I watched him walk down the path towards the building with his Ninja Turtle backpack on. (Yes, that's right, I don't even walk him in anymore!!!!)

So, since he is all grown up now, he needs a more grown up nickname. Pumpkin was what I called him when he was a baby, and my baby is missing somewhere. Luckily this super cute lil dude replaced him :) Any suggestions on a new nickname for him???

Life Paths

Last Friday night I was talking to my best friend from high school. It was a typical Friday night for me... trying to get LL to eat her veggies, which she hates and just spits everywhere. Like EVERYWHERE. I don't understand how it can end up in my hair... Anyways. Typical Friday night. Feeding LL, keeping an eye on Miss L so she doesn't go behind the recliner and poop in her underwear and as we are in the midst of potty training hell, and Pumpkin laying around because his throat was hurting and it wasn't quite time for his next set of meds. She asked me what my plans where for the weekend... again typical things. Staying home as much as possible because of potty training and Pumpkin not feeling well, probably heading into town at some point for groceries, and M and I had a  movie night planned complete with popcorn. Her? Finishing packing to travel half way around the world to do some work with kids, climb a mountain, and visit a friend she had made when she studied abroad.

Isn't it crazy how different people's lives are? Here I am, married with 4 kids, working a full-time job, spending my "free time" grocery shopping, and she is traveling around with her boyfriend when she is on break from college. It made me think of what I might be doing if I hadn't chosen the life path that I did.

I think I would be done with school by now. Oh God I hope I would be anyways! And maybe I would live in a different town... nothing to big or crazy like New York, but maybe Las Vegas, with my sisters. Or even closer to home, but a couple hours away. Or maybe I would go crazy and be in Boston, cuz I have always wanted to go there. And I would have a cute little apartment for me and my dog. Every day on my walk to work I would stop and get a latte and sip it in silence. On the weekends when I wasn't going out with friends to clubs or concerts or sport events, I would take long, hot, bubble baths and read a good book and sip wine. I would get my nails and hair done regularly, and take time to put cute outfits together and do my makeup. My girlfriends and I would do random fun things, like speed dating, and try out new restaurants. I wouldn't be tied down or held back by anything other than my dog and job.

But then I look at my life, and the path I have chosen, and I am filled with so much love and contentment. My days may be filled with poopy diapers and off the wall kids, but they are also filled with slobbery kisses and belly laughs. I might not get to sit and relax in a hot bubble bath, but I get to watch LL get so excited at kicking and splashing in the water. And I may not get to go out with with friends on the weekend to do random exciting things, but I get to sit in the comfort of my house, cuddled up next to my loving husband.

I don't regret the life path I have chosen at all. Sure there are some things here and there that I would like to change, but I am so completely happy with where I am at and who is here with me.

I'm An AUNT!!!

I wanted to post this yesterday, but the internet was down :(

I'M AN AUNT!!!!!!!!!!!!

Words can't express how excited I am! And super sad that I can't see my new little niece being that they live in a different state and I have no extra money to get a plane ticket right now... donations...?

My niece MM was born on Wednesday at 1:07 in the afternoon weighing in at 6 lbs 11 oz and 18 1/2" long. She is beautiful, possibly looking much like her aunt, and doing well.

Now if I could just get down there to giver her some auntie snuggles all would be well in the world!

Lies

Please tell me I am not the only horrible mother who lies to her children... anyone? You...?

Maybe it does make me a bad mom, but sometimes I think certain situations warrant lying. I'm not talking about Santa, the Easter Bunny, or Tooth Fairy either. I'm talking about everyday things. For example: Batteries.

I'm pretty sure all the toy companies got together and plotted out how to drive parents insanely crazy by repetitive, annoying toys. I'm also pretty sure that no person who comes up with said toys have children. If they did I would put money down that they would not be making toys with noise. Of course when my kids first get a new annoying toy that makes noise, I put batteries in. I let them enjoy it while I try not to pull my hair out and end up in the looney bin signing the same song over. and. over. Once that toys batteries die though... we no longer have any new batteries in the house. None. Anywhere. That pack that I recently bought to replace the old batteries in the TV remote? All gone. In fact, we are so short on batteries that I just might have to steal some out of a different toy to replace the ones in the alarm clock, even though it plugs in.

Maybe tomorrow. I use this phrase a lot. Maybe too much. But I can't possibly drive into town everyday to get ice cream. Or buy a toy. Or see Nana and Papa. Or go to the movie. Or play at the park. You understand? My kid's have an agenda that has no limits. If I did everything that they wanted to do, I would be even more broke then I already am. So I tell them "maybe tomorrow". Sadly, tomorrow never comes. But give them a day, and they have forgotten about it and moved onto something else that is more reasonable, like jumping on the tramp.

The neighbor isn't home. Although I just got off the phone with her and she is sitting on her couch. I love that my kids love our neighbors and want to play with them all the time, but that doesn't mean they want us there all the time. I swear Pumpkin would live there if I let him! While I do let him go to the neighbor's often, there are sometimes when I just have to lie and tell him they aren't home. This saves from the argument of why he can't go and him getting mad at me for not letting him. If they aren't home, I don't have to be the mean mom that said no for no "good" reason.

You love (insert food item here). I have found that kids have short memories, especially with unimportant things like food. Typically I cook the same things, but every once in awhile I add something new to the mix. Sometimes the kids love it, other times they don't. If they don't, and I end up making it again, I tell them they do. Normally this actually works and they will end up eating it. I have to lie and tell them they liked it last time though, otherwise they pick at it and refuse to eat anything. Its not like a cook really weird, gross things either. Eating a potato in a different form isn't going to make you sick.

I try to be very honest and open with my kids. Sometimes though, I think that lying is necessary, if only to save my sanity and a fight. I don't feel like my lies are hurting anybody either. So please tell me that I am not a truly horrible person/mother for lying to my kids!

Do you lie to your kids? What about?

T&A

Pumpkin had his tonsils and adenoids taken out last week. He was really excited to have the surgery done because he knew that he would get to eat all the Jello and ice cream he wanted. Afterwards.... he wasn't so excited :(

Actually, when we first got home he told me he wanted to have it done again because he liked the mask they put on him to make him fall asleep, he said it made him feel like he was floating! It made me feel better that they give him the mask to put him out before even giving him his IV. I was really worried at how he would handle the IV. Also, they put it in his foot, so he didn't really even notice it when he woke up from surgery.

I almost cried before and especially after surgery though. Knowing that I was going to be putting him through pain hurt me so much. And seeing how out of it and how much pain he was in when he first woke up broke my heart. I remember getting mine done when I was in high school, and that pain was so horrible!!!!

He has been doing pretty good though. He is still taking meds for pain everyday, but not nearly as much as he was, and his energy is coming back some. I wonder how much of his "pain" is wanting to sit in the rocker and watch cartoon on the iPad too ;) Right now I don't really care though and am letting him. It has only been a week, and its way too hot and smokey to go outside anyways.

Cookies

LL and I have been nursing for 7 months strong now!!! I am so excited to have been able to do this for this long, and am really hoping that we can continue for up to a year. We have had a little issue arise lately though... tooth #2.

Can you see the little devil in there?

Luckily I didn't have a break down with this tooth like I did last time, but this one has definitely been giving me grief. LL has decided to start biting. And not just biting, but biting and then pulling my nipple through her sharp little razor teeth. To the point that she has actually made me bleed. Not fun for me, although she always gets this little smirk on her face after she does it like she thoroughly enjoyed it.

So to combat the biting, I thought maybe I should try to boost my supply. Maybe if she was getting a TON of milk at once, she wouldn't feel the need to mess around and wreck havoc on my nips. Awesomely enough, I work with a lady who used to own a bakery and she has a super good, super secret, milk cookie recipe that she very sweetly gave me! The best part of it was M's reaction when he saw it sitting on the counter... "You are making cookies out of your breastmilk?!" Yes honey, just trying to save us some money ;)

Miss L decided to be my cookie baking helper and we spent the afternoon whipping them up. Because the temp here has been insanely hot (think 90's), I stuck the dough in the fridge and waited until the next morning to bake them. Or what was left of them! The dough was so dang good that every time I walked by I grabbed a little bit! And man oh man, the cookies are even better, if that's actually possible. I wish I could share the recipe with you cuz they are so delicious, but sworn to secrecy over here :) So instead I will share a couple pics of my baking buddy and me.

To be honest, I can't really tell if my supply is up at all or not. When I am at work at night I am still pumping about the same amount, but considering that I haven't been nursing as often since we started solids, I would think that means my production is up a little... But I do know that our biting issue isn't as bad anymore! It may be the cookies, or maybe she has just realized that I am not chew toy, but I only get a couple nibbles out of her now. And I will gladly take the nibbles over vampire baby.

Being Selfish

You know how I said in my last post that my sister Dee got married? Well, she did, and they eloped! She called me on a Monday morning and told me that they were staying in this fancy place and the JP was coming that afternoon to marry them!

It wasn't really that big of a surprise to tell you the truth. We all knew it was coming. Dee is due to have my little niece at the end of August, and they wanted to be married before the baby came. They were going to plan a wedding and everything beforehand, but it got to be too much and too stressful, so they decided to have it be just the 2 of them.

Aren't they such a cute couple?! They are planning a vow renewal for next summer up here in our hometown. I am so glad that they are doing that because, I'm selfish, and I want to see my sister get married! I'm totally getting screwed out of the chance to be a bridesmaid, as she isn't going to have them, so I want to at least get to see them make the commitment to each other. I love weddings, even if the people are already married :)

Our other sister, Reece, is getting married next year too! She was planning on having her wedding at a vineyard, but after much stress, her and her fiance have decided to elope too... to France.

I know I should be just be so excited that my sisters are both getting married and everything, but COME ON! I want to be in a damn wedding! And they are my sisters! I want to be there and see it and be a part of it! The wedding is not about me, but about the 2 people getting married, but I feel like I am getting screwed!

To be completely honest I am a little hurt and sad that I won't get to see my sisters get married, other then the selfish part of me. A wedding and marriage is such a beautiful thing that I love to go to and see no matter who it is. But when its your sister, you really want to be there. This is one of their big life moments, and I don't get to witness it.

Enough with the pity party! I will put my big girl panties on and be happy for my sisters and be thankful that I don't have to give a speech in front of a bunch of people!

My Last Name

Call me old fashion, but when a woman marries a man, she takes his last name. In my mind, she becomes his wife, his family. When M and I got married I was very excited to become an "S" (even though my maiden name starts with an "S" too!). We were now 1, not 2 separate people. We would have our family and we would all by unified by our last name. And when our girls grow up and get married, they will someday leave our family and join their husbands and start their own family with their new last name.

My oldest sister Dee just recently got married! WOOHOO!!!! I am so excited for her! BUT, she isn't changing her last name. I know it really isn't any of my business, but it really bugs me! I think it is right and respectful to take her husband's last name. Plus, they have a baby on the way, who will have his last name, so wouldn't she want them all to have the same?

Dee does work for a very big, very well known, internet company as a blogger. Her name on there is obviously her maiden name. I told her that professionally, with her company, she could stay an "S", but legally, she should change it to her husband's last name, "M".

What are your thoughts on last names? Should a woman change her name to her husband's when they get married, or does it not really matter?

Manicure Fail

I used to get my nails done. Every 2 weeks I would go to the salon and relax for an hour while I had my gel nails filled. Don't get me wrong, I would LOVE to do it again, but with having 3 kids now, I don't have the money, nor the time. So I am constantly trying to find the perfect supplies to give myself a kickass manicure.

The products I work with at work are nail polish killers. Honestly. They probably work better stripping your nails of color then polish remover does. That being said, I have thin, breakable nails now, and have to paint them about once a week if I want to keep them looking pretty.

When I saw Sally Hansen's Miracle Gel polish system I was skeptical. I mean... $10 for the color and $10 more for the top coat? That's $20 on 2 nail polishes! With any big purchase, I researched first. The reviews I found were awesome. One lady tried every color (who has that kind of money to spend on polishes?!) and gave her review for each one. Like me, her work is hard on her nails, but she claimed that she could go a whole week without even a chip, and 2 weeks before even really needing to do them. Her review sold me. So I sucked it up and bought it.

The color is #400 - Smartease. It went on very thin. Every little bump in my nail showed. I had to take it off and buff my nails out, then reapply. About 3 or 4 coats later, it was looking better. More even and solid, but still not the greatest polish I had seen. I let all the coats dry hard before applying the next. That's one benefit of a night shift job... time. Then I applied one of my regular polishes to a finger to add some change. When reading the reviews I read that its actually more the top coat that does the work, so you can use it over regular polishes. I figured I would give it a try too. When everything was good and dry and hardened, I applied the top coat.

This was tricky because it pulls the color off your nail. So you have to almost glob it on and quickly spread it thick so that you don't get streaks of color missing. You can also rub the brush off between nails to get the color off the brush, but I didn't really see the point since my nails were all the same color with the exception of 2.

When the top coat dried they looked good! I was really excited thinking that I had finally found a system that worked. It did nothing to strengthen my nails like gel nails do. I think the "GEL" labeling is a little miss leading cuz 3 days later my nail broke and chipped. And within 5 days they looked like this.

Total nail fail. These are the results you get from a $2 manicure, not a $20 one. I am totally disappointed with this Miracle Gel system. Sorry guys, but I would not recommend this. Save your $20.

So, I need to know... has anyone found ANYTHING out there that delivers as promised? I would really like to know and try it out!!!

Solids

With turning 6 months, and getting a tooth (which I am still in denial about), came solid foods!

We started first with just some whole grain cereal... but only did that for like 2 days cuz it made LL really gassy. We switched to rice cereal after and that has been going great. LL now also gets bananas, peaches, and pears. She likes them best mixed with the rice cereal. If they aren't mixed she makes really funny faces!

LL wasn't really sure what to do the first couple times. She tried to nurse off the spoon and would get really frustrated when I would take it away to get more food. When I made the food a little more thick she did better. She actually "ate" it more then trying to suck it.

Getting ready!

Miss L decided to help me feed her the other night. I went down the hall to check on Pumpkin and came back to Miss L eating most of it and making a huge mess all over LL and her chair with the rest! So sweet that she wanted to help though :)

I still cannot believe that my little baby girl is 6 months old. It makes me so sad that time is going so fast.

Teeth and Tears

When did my baby grow up? LL turned SIX MONTHS this last weekend... what the heck?! I swear I JUST had her. And to celebrate her 6 months on this earth, she got her first tooth!

Any parent would be excited about their baby's first tooth right? Well, I am excited, but I also cried. Sobbed actually. I don't know why I took it so hard! I guess its the fact that she is our last baby and is getting older. Hard to know that we will never have little gummy smiles, or feel her little gums chomping on our fingers... ok I have to stop or I will cry again. I am just so sad that she is getting older so fast! It is going WAY. TO. FAST.

Look how adorable she is though! She honestly melts my heart.

RPSGT

I work nights as a sleep tech. Pretty much I stay up all night and monitor and watch people sleep to see if they have a sleep disorder... sleep apnea. If they do, I can put them on a mask and machine and increase pressures until I can clear obstructions in their sleep and they can then breath normally and achieve the different sleep stages they need to for healthy sleep.

I have been doing this for over 2 years now, and just finally bit the bullet and took the test to register last Friday. And I PASSED!!!!! WOOHOO!!!!! I am so damn excited for having passed! This means I am now officially a registered polysomnographic tech, or RPSGT for short ;)

So sorry for my absence.... if you even missed me... but I have been cramming for my test! Since I no longer have to study, I will get back to my not-so-regular-regular posting!

H.S., RPSGT  <--- (see that? I can legally sign that behind my name now!!!!)

Bedroom Redo

My latest house project was our bedroom. LL's crib and changing table is in our bedroom, so everything feels really cluttered and our room needed to be revamped bad. Granted there isn't much that I could do in the way of rearranging or eliminating furniture, but giving the room a makeover helped the cluster feel.

Here is our room originally. *note* I didn't bother to clean the room before I took these pictures because honestly, this is what our room looks like on a day to day basis.

Such a mess, slightly embarrassing. BUT, not any more! Since I redid it, we have kept it clean and organized! Looks so much better and is actually relaxing to go into now.

I still need to fix my bottom drawer on the dresser. And I want to sand the nightstands down and then stain them the color of the wood part on our bed and paint the drawer the green color of bed. I have also been tossing around the idea of painting the wall behind our bed and changing table a really light blue, but M isn't too thrilled about that idea, so its on hold for now. I'll do the nightstands first and then see.

It is so nice to have an organized and clean room! I can actually relax in it now and not feel overwhelmed. It was actually fun to clean it all really good and put it all together. The girls had fun while I was doing it too :)