Oh No!

A few days ago my friend Alli tagged me with a challenge to post an "Oh No" moment. Having two kids means I know I have a ton of them. As I thought of which one to post, I couldn't help but laugh and remember our first "oh no" moment as new parents (and by "our" I mean Todd).

When Dylan was born we were lucky enough that Todd was able to take some time off to be home with us. Not just a few days, or the rest of the week, but some serious time off. So much time in fact, that I went back to work before he did! We were so lucky that he had that much time built up before he met me that he had plenty of time to take 12 weeks off. On top of that, he stayed home two days a week after he started again to stay home as a part time dad. How many dads can say that?

Since he had all this time off as well, we had a pretty good schedule going when it came to late night feedings. I am usually a night owl so staying up until midnight isn't a big deal. But get into the early morning hours and I'm worthless. Todd on the other hand could work through the night (and had) so being up at 3am was no big deal. Because of this, he could sleep at any time day or night without problems. So, I would stay up with Dylan and keep her awake, feed her one last time at 11:30 and hand her off to Todd. He'd rock her and change her and get her ready for bed and deal with getting her to sleep, while I slid into bed for a solid nights sleep. Todd would sleep on the couch or work on the computer while Dylan either slept or grunted and fussed. When her next feeding time came, he'd bring her to me, I'd feed her, and he'd take her again so I was only awake for as few minutes as possible. It worked out perfectly and I loved it!

One night when Dylan was only about 3 weeks old, Todd took her to get her changed and ready for bed. He called out to me before I fell asleep to come help him. Apparently as he was burping Dylan, she let out a little bit more then some air...


I couldn't help but leave him there to get the camera and snap some photos.

Our first "oh no" moment as new parents. And as many of you know, this particular moment was the first of many.

I tag anyone that would love to share their own "oh no" moments. I know you all have them! Let me know so I can come see too.

By Popular Request

This post is probably close to six months old. Or should I say, I should have written this post 6 months ago but never did.

After Todd's post showing off Dylan's photography skills I had a comment or two asking about the orange bedroom. I realized then that I never posted pictures of Dylan's bedroom makeover.

I'm not going to go into all the details, but I'll post some before and after pictures of her room because I want her first room documented here. My baby girl, is now a big girl, and has the room to prove it.

When we found out I was having a girl, I was very adamant about not having a pink room. It was not an option, and thankfully, Todd felt the same way. We decided that yellow was a perfect choice, and realized early on that both Todd and I had yellow gingham in our rooms when we were young. So, yellow it was. We found gingham bedding for her crib and started to come up with ideas for her nursery. My sister came over to help me stencil the walls and the centers of the flowers was my only allowance of pink in Dylan's room. I loved how her walls turned out! We hung a blanket my grandmother had made for me when I was born (that my mom gave to me at my baby shower. I had never seen it before.) and we also had Todd's baby blanket from his early days. Yellow gingham! We hung it over the rocking chair and it just tied in so perfectly.

the fun flowers on her walls

before she arrived

my grandmothers quilt on the wall

Todd's quilt on the rocker

I loved Dylan's room, but knew once she grew out of her crib that it was time for a change. Todd wanted to keep the flowers because we had spent so much time on the walls, but I was ready for something new. I still didn't want pink, but I started leaning toward pink, purple and turquoise. I also wondered what Dylan would choose if I asked her. I asked her what color she wanted her walls painted and she immediately said orange.

What???

Dylan wanted orange walls and there was nothing I could do or say to change her mind. So the quest began. I started looking for bedding and color combinations. It was not an easy process. But, I was thrilled when I asked her for another color and she said blue. Apparently my early brainwashing of all things Gator was coming through and my girl wanted an orange and blue bedroom.

We ended up with this...

say goodbye yellow, hello bright orange

add in a strip of turquoise...

some bright, floral bedding (with some pink!)

and this is what you get...

Dylan loves her new room, and I love the colors. I think my favorite part are the fun flowers we have hanging in front of her window. And her $3 school desk. It was a great purchase and she loves to sit and do her puzzles each day at her desk.

I love the brightness of her room, and am really sad that last night she started talking about moving her bed downstairs to the basement. That would mean starting over again with her room and I'm so not ready to do that. I think we'll keep her upstairs for just a while longer.

I got nailed by the Paparazzi?

A few weeks ago I was given a Canon Powershot A20 digital camera. Now while that might sound really cool and "powerful" the camera actually weighs about as much as a brick and isn't much smaller. It is, however, a perfect camera to leave around the house or stuff in the car for those "I wish I had a camera" moments. Then Dylan saw it.

"I want to take pictures," was repeated for about 3 straight days until we finally let her have the camera. What the heck, I mean it was a free camera after all. So after a 3 minute tutorial on how to use it I let Dylan run around the house. I took one or two out not to waste time but the slide show below is 30 of the first 34 pictures she took. See for yourself. I think she has potential.

SLIDE SHOW BELOW

Reason number 4,723...

Reason number 4,722 that I love my wife...



Tonight the family went to Costco for some shopping and while leaving we walked past this late 30's / early 40's aged woman in the parking lot attempting to load about 20 boxes of wood flooring into her 2 door Ford Aspire. The Ford Aspire, you know the little car that "aspires" to be a big car. I immediately saw the problem of loading 20 large boxes into a small car and thought to myself what the heck is that lady thinking? After we loaded the kids in our car and started to pull out of the parking lot I noticed the lady had completely filled the Aspire and still had about 12 boxes to go.

We had no plans for the rest of the evening and had even gotten done a little early so we were in no rush to get home.

Nicole asked, "Did you see that girl?" I immediately think to myself, "Uh ya, what the heck is she thinking about buying 20 boxes while bringing a car that carries 5?"

"Yes," I reply.

"I feel bad for her, go back."

"What!?"

"Go back I want to see if she needs help."

Reluctantly I turned the car around and started back toward the lady. The lady who is now sitting on the 12 remaining boxes looking depressed and rejected.

Nicole rolled down her window and offered to help by loading the remaining boxes in our car and following her home. I initially think my wife is nuts talking to some stranger and offering to help when we have two kids under the age of five in the back of our car but then I realize we have plenty of room in our car and are in no rush to go anywhere. Luckily(?) the lady declined our offer and said her husband is coming with a truck for the rest.

I honestly don't know if I would have ever stopped to offer help in that situation. Not just the situation where someone else needed help but in the situation where I'm with my family and comfortably on our way home.

Reason number 4,722...she thinks of others. Always.

Number 4,723...she makes me better too.

Scared of the Dark?

When I started this blog a year and a half ago, I promised myself I would never use it to complain about my husband (because let's face it, we all have complaints now and again, and I've read blogs that are nothing but complaints). I think I've done a great job of keeping that promise. I may complain about the kids a time or two, but I think that's more about the trials of having two toddlers. But that's neither here nor there.

When I made this promise, I also decided I would try hard not to embarrass anyone. Unless it was me. I'm fair game.

Unfortunately, I just can't let this one go.

Sorry honey.


I should start by mentioning that Todd talks in his sleep. He denies it, but he does. I honestly wish I had tape recorders next to the bed so I could have proof for him. But I don't, so he continues to deny, deny, deny.

Last night we were laying in bed and he was on the computer while I was watching tv. He turned the computer off to go to sleep before my program was over. I decided to finish watching then get to bed as well.

Seriously, only about 3 minutes had passed before I knew Todd was out cold. Deep, steady breathing and total relaxation. That's how tired he was. I continued watching my show for a few more minutes when all of a sudden Todd is up on his elbow and swatting at mid-air. Hysterically swatting at mid-air.

I just sat and watched. It was so funny. Finally he stopped and looked at me. I asked him what the problem was and he simply said, "bad dream, nightmare actually."

I asked what about and he proceeded to tell me that he was playing a board game and whatever square you landed on, you had to eat something gross.

He landed on grasshoppers.

I was dying. So funny. He told me it wasn't funny and they were BIG grasshoppers. I couldn't help but laugh out loud. And I think I may have snorted a time or two. He couldn't believe I was laughing at him, and even asked me to stop shaking the bed I was laughing so hard. To add insult to injury, I even wrote it all down so I wouldn't forget and I would be able to share it here with all of you.

Only Todd would have a nightmare about having to eat grasshoppers. He's such a picky eater there are a thousand things that would have been a nightmare to eat for him.

I can't imagine what it would have been like if he had to eat broccoli!

Love you sweetie, but I just couldn't resist.

The Quarter Year Plan 2

(Todd again....Nicole not napping)

I think I jinxed myself with that last post. Coincidentally the day I wrote the post about how much food we had in the freezer I replaced an electric outlet in the backyard.

An outlet on the same circuit as the freezer in the garage...

The freezer in the garage where the wife stores all of the bulk frozen stuff she buys on sale once a blue moon....

The same freezer that went without power for about four days when I forgot to turn the circuit breaker back on after changing the outlet.

The outlet outside near the trashcan where we now store boxes of melted popsicles, pounds of thawed chicken, mushy chicken pot pies and several other ex-frozen things....

The trashcan that smells like someone died in now....

And thankfully was picked up and emptied today by the garbage man.

The Quarter Year Plan

(Todd here giving Nicole some time to nap)

The other day while driving home from work I was listening to talk radio. During the "money minute" they had a financial adviser who presented the idea that American's are tank toppers when it comes to times of shortage. He referred to a time when there was a shortage of gas in America and everyone kept their tanks at 100% fearing there would be no gas the next day. This even meant stopping by the gas station after every trip to top off. This of course led to more of the shortage.

The adviser referred to people's habits for stocking up on food as well. He estimated that each family probably had enough food in their pantries that they would be able to skip a week's worth of shopping every 4 months. Thus the savings would equate directly to saving a whole week's worth of groceries (if not more). Now there is some fallacy with this logic (you wouldn't have so much stored up if you used the extra more often) but the suggestion gave me the idea to check our pantry and see if we "overstocked". I actually didn't even get to the pantry. I stopped after the freezer:

Castle Wood Oven Roasted Turkey 1lb 6oz
Homemade strawberry jam 2.5cups
Tillamoon sliced cheese 1 pound
Cooked ham chunks 2 cups
Microwave Taquitos 30 left out of 60
Bean & Cheese Burritos 6 out of 10
Bean & Beef Burritos 4 out of 10
Mixed Vegetables 1/2 pound
Pie Crusts x2
Pizza Rolls (mini treats) 2 partial 2 pound bags (both open)
Fruit Pastries x4
1/2 of a full sized cooked turkey separated in various portions
Apple Concentrates x4
Boneless Beef Chuck Shoulder Roast 1.9lb
Ground hamburger in 1 pound bags x7
Strawberry pie filling 1 pound bags x2
Sliced ham x6
Tater Puffs opened bag (I got tired of looking for sizes)
4 Cheese Ravioli opened bag
Half Breast Whole Ribs Chicken .88 pound
Pork Center Cut Loin 4.5 pounds
Boneless Bottom Roast 2.29 pounds
Pork Loin Top Loin Roast Boneless 2.04 pounds
Young Chicken 3.35 pounds
Meatballs 5 pounds (partially used)
Half Breasts 2.96 pounds
Maple Thick sliced bacon 3.o pounds
Chicken Thighs 4.14 pounds
Mixed Vegetables 2 pounds
Sweet Corn 1 pound
Whole Kernel Corn 5 pounds
Chocolate Chips 1 bag
Mixed Vegetables 2 pounds (half gone)
4 sticks butter
Ricotta Cheese 2 pounds
Cooked Shrimp 1 pound

Add the pantry, refrigerator and chest freezer in the garage(!!!) and I think we are candidates for the quarter year plan.

Mommy, I Want to Tell You a Spooky Story

"Once upon a time, there was a little girl that went into a forest where there were monsters. Her mom and dad were gone so she went all by herself. There were spooky trees in the forest and her mom and dad couldn't find her in the dark forest. The little girl went far away and didn't have any friends to help her. Her parents never saw the little girl again."

I heard six different versions of this story this morning at breakfast. The little girl finally got a name (Serena) and sometimes the little girl was chased by the monsters.

Where does Dylan come up with these things??? I think it's time for me to find those "story starters" at the Dollar store so we can get that imagination running. I think I'll get a notebook to record her stories in also. It will be fun to look at when she's older.

What Have You Done?

I found this somewhere in the blog universe and thought it was fun to see the things I've done, and those that I'd still like to do. What have you done? The bolded lines are things that I've done...what have you done?

1. Started your own blog
2.Slept under the stars
3.Played in a band
4.Visited Hawaii
5.Watched a meteor shower
6.Given more than you can afford to charity
7.Been to Disneyland
8.Climbed a Mountain
9.Held a praying mantis
10.Sang a solo
11.Bungee jumped -- Although I really want to!
12.Visited Paris
13.Watched a lightning storm at sea
14.Taught yourself an art from scratch
15.Adopted a child
16.Had food poisoning
17.Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty -- Can you even still do that?
18.Grown your own vegetables
19.Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20.Slept on an overnight train
21.Had a pillow fight
22.Hitch hiked
23.Taken a sick day when you were not ill
24.Built a snow fort
25.Held a lamb
26.Gone skinny dipping
27.Run a Marathon
28.Ridden in a gondola in Venice
29.Seen a total eclipse
30.Watched a sunrise or sunset
31.Hit a home run
32.Been on a cruise
33.Seen Niagara Falls in person
34.Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
35.Seen an Amish community
36.Taught yourself a new language
37.Had enough money to be truly satisfied
38.Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39.Gone rock climbing
40.Seen Michelangelo's David
41.Sung Karaoke
42.Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43.Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44.Visited Africa
45.Walked on a beach by moonlight
46.Been transported in an ambulance
47.Had your portrait painted
48.Gone deep sea fishing
49.Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50.Been to the top of the Eiffel tower in Paris
51.Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
52.Kissed in the rain
53.Played in the mud
54.Gone to a drive-in theater
55.Been in a movie
56.Visited the Great Wall of China
57.Started a business
58.Taken a martial arts class
59.Visited Russia
60.Served at a soup kitchen
61.Sold girl scout cookies -- I bought plenty of them though
62.Gone whale watching
63.Got flowers for no reason
64.Donated blood, platelets or plasma
65.Gone sky diving -- Another one I really want to do
66.Visited a Nazi concentration camp
67.Bounced a check
68.Flown in a helicopter -- So close...too bad the Alaskan weather wouldn't cooperate!
69.Saved a favorite childhood toy
70.Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71.Eaten Caviar -- Not a fan
72.Pieced a quilt -- it's pieced, but still isn't a quilt
73.Stood in times square
74.Toured the Everglades
75.Been fired from a job
76.Seen the changing of the Guards in London
77.Broken a bone
78.Been on a speeding motorcycle
79.Seen the Grand Canyon in person --kinda
80.Published a book
81.Visited the Vatican
82.Bought a brand new car
83.Walked in Jerusalem
84.Had your picture in the newspaper
85.Read the entire Bible
86.Visited the White House
87.Killed and prepared an animal for eating
88.Had Chickenpox
89.Saved someones life
90.Sat on a jury -- don't think that'll ever happen.
91.Met someone famous
92.Joined a book club
93.Lost a loved one
94.Had a baby
95.Seen the Alamo in person
96.Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97.Been involved in a law suit
98.Owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee