Bloody good time!

There is about two inches of standing water on our patio.  It is pouring.  So much for that beautiful day that I ordered!

Today is a Kinley and mommy day.  Sort of.  It's just us and I love it!  We had breakfast together.  Or, I fed her a donut.  And then we went to the gym.  She played in the day care, I busted my butt working out. 

Okay, so maybe it wasn't much of a mommy and Kinley day.  Sounds like more of a mommy day.  Yikes.  I feel guilty.  She's napping now....but when she gets up....it's on.  Mommy and Kinley day.  Not sure what we'll do in this rain, but we're doing something!

Despite my back and forth with the whole tanning decision.....I decided to do it.  The mega gym that I'm now a member of (popping my collar--okay, not really) has a tanning salon inside, and the day care.  So how easy is that....work out and tan and Kage is being watched and having fun.  Win/win no?    The more I talk about this day care thing at the gym, the more guilt I feel.  Ugh.  So my bad-mom self worked out for an hour and tanned today.  And I enjoyed it.  While my baby was in day care.  Such a bad mommy.

I am proud of myself for accomplishing a work out though...despite the guilt.  I did 30 minutes of level 1 on the elliptical and then 30 minutes of strength training (is that what you call it?).  If I can do this 4-5 times a week, I think I'll lose those nagging 15-20 pounds that I'm carrying in my gut and face.

Enough about that.... Kage got her new backpack.  That thing came quick!  They must have embroidered her name like that second that I ordered it....  and she looks so freakin' cute wearing it.

I know it.....she's way too cute.  And so is that backpack!  It fits everything that we need in it but is still a smaller size.  Love it! 

Last night was my girls night out with the bestie.  We normally do the whole dress-up in heels and try to look totally hot and then hit the town....but last night was just one of those nights where the gym shoes were calling our names.  So we opted to hit Buffalo Wild Wings to watch the pay-per-view UFC fight and eat wings.  Yep....we were acting like men for our girls night out.  And it was so relaxing...and so fun!  We did jeans and t-shirts, gym shoes and just hung out.  The wings were eh....okay, the atmosphere was super casual and fun and the beer was good.  Beer is always good though....so that's a sure thing.

Normally, I'm *so not* a UFC fighter type.  I hate fighting, really.  But for whatever reason, I enjoyed the evening.  So much so, that we joked that it's going to be our "thing."  She loves the fighting.  But she's not a girlie girl....well, most of the time she's not.  I, on the other hand, feel sad for the boy that loses.  We even each other out.  So we chose a guy to become fans of and we'll make plans to attend these fights to root him on.  Or so that's our plan.  Silly girls.

While bestie was getting ready for our date, she ripped her toenail off.  I mean O.F.F-off.  Gives me the weebie-jeebies just thinking about it.  She's such a trooper that she just wrapped it up and came out anyway...but not before posting the bloody gore picture on facebook.  Haha

So I'm getting a kick out of talking about her "bloody toe" as if I'm British or something. 

And the point of this blog....?  Yeah, I don't even know.

Choppity, Cut, Cut

Today is my hair day!  I'm so excited.  It desperately needs cut.  I never thought I would get to the point of looking forward to a haircut after the great hair catastrophe of my life.  But, somehow, I do again.  I was introduced to a new stylist by my bestie and she crafted my ruined hair into something not so ruined. 

And I'm going back again to get one step closer to kissing that catastrophe good-bye.  You see, the whack job at Ulta (in Wheaton, IL) that ruined my hair did such a fine job at ruining my hair, that I'm now two cuts post-catastrophe and it's still not fully repaired.  If the new stylist wanted to repair it fully, I probably would have had a pixie.  Which my bestie can pull off....but I can not.

And let's not even mention the fact that I was a lard-o on my wedding day.  Obviously, I did not care that I looked like the Michelin man that day.  Whatever.  I still don't care.  I lost it all after the wedding and still keep it off today.  That's what counts.

So back to the story, if my hair would have been fixed in one appointment, it would have been chopped to that length.  I probably would have had a heart attack and died to have to go from my super long hair to that in one week, so we opted to do it slowly.  And today, should be the end of repairs and the beginning of growing out evenly again.  I doubt that my hair will ever be as long as it once was.  My patience isn't what it used to be for things like hair.  But I'm okay with that.

The new stylist is great with color and gave me a super subtle blonde highlight in the front and this time, I think I want more blonde.  But we'll see.  I'm one of those girls that sits in the chair and says "do what you want."  (And go figure that the one time I brought pictures of exactly what I wanted, I got butchered.)

So this is my hair now:

Later, I'll take one and post it of the new style.  Wish me luck!

And can you believe that I woke up this morning to find that I am out -OUT- of K cups and have zero coffee.  Ugh.  Yeah...I know.  Kage can't get up soon enough today so that we can go to Dunkin'.  Today is her day care day, so I get to drop her off en route to the salon. 

We went to the gym last night.  Together.  We put K in the day care there.  She did great.  I felt like a fish out of water.  I did like 20 minutes on the elliptical. But on the quick start mode...so it was pretty easy with little resistance.  But it was my first time back.....so I was being easy on myself.  And then we went and wandered around and tried some different machines.  I'm guessing that I didn't do enough because I'm not sore.  At all. 

We were upstairs doing some weight machines when one of the day care workers came to find us to tell us that Kage was poopy.  So, I call that workout "saved by the poopy."  I was tired and ready to go home but didn't want to admit it.  Thank you, Kinley.  I got an hour in.  And will go back again today.  Slowly but surely.  I think I may have to just hire a trainer for one or two sessions just to get a program started because that place is so big that I just feel overwhelmed by all of the options.

Helping vacuum

For some reason, Blogger hates me and won't accept my
rotated pictures.  So just turn your head accordingly. She was
trying on her new panties.  And two seconds later, she peed
in her panties in that very spot.  Nice.  The panties were washed
and put in the drawer for a much later date.

Happy Friday and have a safe Memorial Day!

Workin' overtime, work out

Does it make me a bad mom that I do just about anything in my power to not wake Kinley up in the morning?   What I mean is, I will tip-toe, whisper, turn off the TV (he has it on while he's getting ready for work), not turn on the bathroom light because it also turns on the fan, not breathe too loudly.... all for the sake of her sleeping a little later.  We have a relatively small apartment and her bedroom is centrally located to everything.  I just want my morning time to last a little bit longer!  And BTW, the bathroom door creaks when you open/close it.  WD-40 needed.  And if my silence attempts succeed and she sleeps just a little bit longer....the elephant upstairs just may wake her.  What *are* they doing up there?

She was wound up last night from our busy day and stayed up until 10:00.  Way past her bedtime.  So I think that she needs to sleep just a little longer today.  Okay, so the truth is that I started blogging a little later than I should have and I just want to finish.....  So selfish.

Her dad came home from work early because of the weather.  Hard to cut down trees in the rain, I guess.  So having him home to accompany us, I planned an action packed day.  We started out by taking her to Learning Express (a pretty cool toy store).  She had a blast.  And they had these Melissa & Doug shopping carts for sale.....she was crazy with this cart.  Flying through the store, cornering the cart like it was on rails (yes, Pretty Woman reference).  If the little thing hadn't been $70, she would have come home with it.  I later found it on Amazon for under $50, so maybe I'll  put  a bug in her Nonie's ear.  Hehe

Then we took her to a puppy store.  Let me preface by saying that I do not support these stores, nor do I buy from them.  However, when it is a rainy, yuck day and you have an animal loving toddler.....it's kind of like a free zoo.  So we went.  And we lied and said we were considering buying a dog for the baby.  She played with one in their little corrals. She was scared of the yappy little thing.  Good thing because that was our excuse to say thanks but no thanks and walk out.

After the puppy store, we took her to this indoor playplace.  I've been wanting to take her for some time but didn't want to go for the first time by myself.  I'm socially introverted like that. 

This place was awesome.  Talk about an awesome set-up for the little ones!  Kage went nuts!  She ran and went from one play thing to the next.  They had a bounce house, a climbing maze, several climbing play sets and lots of slides.  She wasn't too keen on the maze....but the slides....she had those down.  Check her out! 

I apologize for the annoying mommy voice.

This place was very reasonably priced and not crowded at all.  I was worried that it would be, considering the crummy weather we were having.  Now that I have that "first visit" under my belt, I'm going to take her often.  Even though her sliding scares the bejeezes outta me.

Vanilla-Vanilla for him, Strawberry Shortcake for her and
Raspberry Truffle for me.

To end our day of Kinley fun, we made one last stop at the little cupcake shop.  I'm in love with the cuteness of this place.  It is just adorable.  Oh, and the cupcakes are pretty darned tasty too.  Unfortunately, we were big meanies and made Kage take her nap before she could have hers.  (No, we didn't eat ours in front of her.  We waited until she was asleep before we devoured them.)  And then after nap, we decided to go out to dinner for some pizza and her cupcake is still in the fridge waiting for her.  Poor kid.  I do feel guilty.  Not that she even remembers.

Like I said, we decided to go out for a pizza last night.  There is this place (in the downtown area that I am in love with) that looks so fun.  And well, I rarely want pizza so we went for it.  So glad that we did because that pizza was to die for.  Ohmagosh.  The best deep dish.  And Kage ordered (well, I ordered it for her) the mac-n-cheese.  Normally, when you order a child's meal of mac-n-cheese, it's a $5 box of mac-n-cheese, the blue box kind.  Such a waste of $$.  Not this time, it was the real thing.  And so good.  I almost wanted to trade her.  (Not trade HER for the mac-n-cheese, but trade the to-die-for pizza for a bowl of mac.)  She was being such a ham at dinner.  Trying to show off for anyone that would pay attention.

And I know that some of you are freaking out because her food is directly on the table, but we have those disposable placemats and she rips them off.  So we wipe down the table and just let her go for it.  Think poorly of us if you will.  I won't lose sleep.  She was showing us "how the piggies eat," okay, not really. She was just doing this to aggravate us.  She knows how embarrassed we get when she eats like this.  Silly girl.

It was a good time.

And fortunately, we didn't argue as much as we normally do!  Maybe the key is to keep us busy with other things.

On our way home, I asked if he wanted to go and tour the monster gym that I fell in love with months ago (was it months ago?) but didn't join.  I just wanted to show him how cool it was, and how different it is from the shoebox gym we belonged to in southern IL.  I guess he loved it just as much because he ended up signing on the dotted line and shelling out more money than we should have to sign up.  And he got a family membership too.  He's not sure that he'll actually go (we have bets on this one) but if he cancels his within 30 days he gets a full refund....and my monthly rate stays at the family discount.  Score!  But I wasn't expecting that expense, really.  We don't do credit cards....so that was a huge blow to the checking account.  Good thing he worked tons of OT the past two weeks!

I just pray that he didn't sign up "to make me happy."  Cause if he did, I'll have it thrown in my face a zillion times if things get tight later.  Ugh.  The stress. 

But until then, I'm going to bask in the glory of belonging to a sweet-ass gym.  That has a daycare inside for $1 an hour.  And it's open 24/7.  And has tanning/nails/waxing and massage services.  Told you.  Sweet-ass.  It's just too bad that you have to work-out when you're there.  KIDDING!

The gym sales dude did a body fat scan and I'm at 28%!  Are you bleepin' kidding me?!  How embarrassing.  If that doesn't make you work out, I don't know what will.  Did I mention that I'll be going to the gym here shortly? 

Dang, times are tough

So I debated even blogging about this here, because I have a private blog/journal where I pour my most private thoughts, but I don't want to lose the "real-ness" at this blog.  Here it goes.....

We're seeing a marriage counselor.

Things are tough right now.  Real tough.

While I feel such relief blogging about these issues on the private blog, it's hard because there is no feedback there and sometimes you just need to hear the whole "I've been there and this is what happened" kind of response.  But being private, you don't get that.

So tell me....have you been there?  Have you survived?  Is marriage easy for everyone except us?  Have you hit bottom and come back up?

I look at my grandparents and our friends, Betty and Jim and I don't see how they made it!  Surely they've faced more difficult times than we have....so where did they get the strength to push on?  Where do you find strength when it gets tough? 

Cause right now, we're not finding it.  Ugh.  It's exhausting.

And that's all that I want to say about that.

So What Wednesday

I'm joining Shannon at LAID and saying

So what if....

• I have been the laziest person known to man during my summer break.  It's a BREAK, people!
• I could do back flips because I'm so excited for my hair appointment on Friday.  I'm going to hopefully do something a little different.  But we'll see.
• I have had more school drama this week and because it makes me cry when I think about it, I haven't blogged it.
• I complain about my body every day, yet it didn't stop me from consuming the oreo blizzard last night.
• And there are dilly bars in the fridge.  Ugh.
• I have had the worst sore throat for days and I think it must be allergies.  Even though I have no idea what that really feels like because I've never had to deal with allergies before.  But no other symptoms......  And no I haven't taken anything....I'm still in the complaining stage.
• I'm still too chicken to introduce myself to Mr. Upstairs Neighbor.  So I had a beer by myself on the patio last night.  Lame.
• I use my daughter as an excuse to not have time for working out.
• I have a strange crush on Carter Evans from ABC News (and CNN).  I love his dry humor.
• I seriously want to get Botox.  But probably can't afford it.
• I'm boring myself with this week's SWW.  Peace out.

Bag it up

For once in my life...I really don't have much to say.  That rarely happens.

So, instead, I'll share my great find this morning.

K is too old to need a diaper bag, in my opinion.  She "outgrew" it a few months ago.  I decided to take my pay pal credit and get her a "big girl" bag.

And, obviously it won't say "Ava Jo" but the Kinley Monster instead.  Okay, not Kinley Monster....just Kinley.  It's small enough for her fit her toddler body but big enough to pack a few diapers, a sippy and sunscreen or a few toys.  Perfect for going out or to take to day care.  And the turtle is way cute.  Okay, so I'm more excited about it than she will be.  Maybe, the girl does love accessories.

In a nutshell...

Every time that we get home, I say that I will never make that trip again.  Six hours to get to southern IL to see my in-laws.  SIX HOURS.  With a toddler.  And a dog.  Ugh.  The ride there is usually tolerable.  We've learned to leave super early in the morning instead of at night....because if we leave at night, she sleeps the whole way and then wants to stay up all night long.  No fun.  So we leave early and hope that she takes a short nap through at least half of the trip.  And she mostly did just that.  On the way home, not so much.  She was awake the whole time.  And she was not diggin' the car seat. She wanted out.  Now.

I think that I heard the Super Why video about 60 times.  And the Baby Einstein show, oooooooh about 100.  And then we had the Will.I.Am song on repeat for over an hour. 

That was on the way there...and back.

On top of that, it is silence in the front seat as well because we just don't talk much.  Wanna go on a road trip with this family!?  *big grin*  Didn't think so?

I did make it in time to attend my friend's baby shower and had a really good time.  Despite looking a hot mess from the insane humidity there that has yet to find Chicago and the sweating from chasing a toddler while wearing wedge shoes.  I literally watched my hair go from a nice flat ironed look to the look of a poof ball while on the trip up.  Nice.

Kage had a blast showing off at the shower and she wore her little zebra print dress and gladiator sandals.  I could have eaten her up.  Love that kid!  But, I have zero pictures to show you because although my husband said he packed the camera, it didn't actually become found until long after the shower ended.  We pack well.

After the shower, we met friends for dinner and then I was dropped off for my girls night!

Ohmagosh that was fun.  We started at Applebees for drinks.  I know, you're asking, "Wha?  Applebees for drinks?"  Whatever.  Yes.  Applebees for drinks.  And two of us (not me, I just ate dinner, remember?) ate.  I had Corona.  Yum-mo.  We quickly became "that table" and we're pretty sure that the older couple sitting not too far from us, complained.  Or that's how it seemed when they called the manager to their table and then complained while POINTING at our table.  Seriously fogey?  Get your depends out of a wad.

We weren't really doing anything wrong....maybe we got a little loud on the second round.  But what the heck?  We were sitting in the bar.  It's not our fault that Applebees puts their sober tables close to the drunk tables.  And so what if we were talking about sex and man bashing (a little bit).  We obviously were not phased.

We stayed for about two hours until the movie was about to start and then paid our tabs.  I could be wrong, but there may have been a round of applause when we got up to leave.  I'm not sure.  I thought that I was being carried out on Aladdin's carpet....but it could have been the Corona that I was feeling.

The movie Bridesmaids was next on our list.  Let me just say that the worst part about going to the theater with a buzz is that you are completely surrounded by people that aren't buzzed.  Total buzz kill.  Anyway, the movie was so funny.  I mean, so.freakin.funny.  Like, I would spend another $10 to see it again.  Probably two more times.

And then we all hung out in the parking lot gossiping and just being girls wishing that the night wasn't over.  Those girls make my world go 'round and I sure wish I could see them more.  I think that I'd be feeling so much more sane (more sane?  saner?) if I had them in my corner.  I miss them more than words can say.

See, I'm a hot mess.  Frumpy, ugh.

The following day, we met up with my friend Bethany again (above in the green) and she did Kage's 18 month pictures.  She's done her pictures for every milestone from 6 months and up.  She does an amazing job and it's just a hobby.  The girl should totally go professional....but she's doing this nursing thing instead.  :)  But we had so much fun running (chasing) our babies through wheat fields and down gravel paths while praying for the perfect photo op.  Those 6 month and 9 month photo shoots were SO much easier.  They sat still and we posed them.  I tell ya...this toddler thing is NUTS!

My baby is getting so big.  But I'm so glad that Bethany has been there to capture every milestone for me.  And I honestly feel that she loves my baby girl as much as a non-mommy could.  Just as I love her son...him and Kage have been 'besties' since they were just a few months old.  And we hope to keep it that way.  Initially we said they would grow up to be married but the more time that goes on, I think that they are going to be like brothers and sisters.  Which is a perfect excuse for me to say (yet again) that I don't need to have any more children!  She's got the Carder-bug!

Such a wonderful weekend.  Despite the crazy ride home.  And I again said that I will never make that trip again, but the next one is already scheduled.  I'm seriously thinking about looking in to a train ticket or plane ticket next time though.  Six hours each way, in two days, is too much for a baby girl (and her mommy).

As Cher would say...

My answer to the whole "to cut or not to cut" question..... pig tails.  And, I only had to re-do them three times!

Even though, her 'day care lady' thinks that she looks "so much older" with pig tails.  I guess she'd look older with a haircut too.....  Yeah yeah, I know.  I'm just having 'adjustment issues' with her growing up.  Let me get all Cher on you for a minute...."If I could turn back time...".  Okay, I'm done.

Big Truck!

Despite it only being a half 'me day' it was a good one.  Kage slept in until almost 8, which is normally unheard of.  And then she went to day care at noon.  We played hard all morning! 

After I dropped her off, my hunt began for an outfit for the baby shower that I'm going to this weekend.  I had an hour and a half to kill before my waxing appointment and I was determined to find something that didn't make me look like a frumpy mom.  Hmmmm, I walked out an hour and a half later with three outfits for Kinley and nothing for myself.

How does that happen?

Probably because everything looks good on her and nothing looks good on me.

I know that my diet is pretty much non-existent.  Other than watching my calories (I do stay under my daily 1200) but when it comes to exercise, that's not happening.  And I'll admit that I'm lazy.  I won't feed you the million excuses that I feed to myself.  But I'm not happy with how I look.  Most days.  And well, I hate the way that everything looks on me.

So I guess my first mistake is that I automatically go to the juniors department for my clothes.

That is where I have always shopped.  Always.

Well, until now, I guess.

The juniors clothes don't fit this body that pushed a 6 pound baby through these hips.  They fit like a square.  But then, my new favorite jeans are from the juniors department and they fit fine......  so what gives?  I couldn't find a pair of capris to save my life.  And a shirt?  Ha  That was even worse.  What is with the styles today?  I think that they all look a bit ridiculous.  And a bit maternity.  I had to wear that stuff for 5 months.  Not interested in continuing the trend.

I tried two stores.  The first store, Kage got three outfits.  The second, she got one, her dad got a shirt and I bought myself a travel cup.  Yes.  A travel cup.  How in the h-e-double hockey sticks did I walk out with a travel mug?  ADD maybe? 

I did try on some bras though.  Since stopping the breastfeeding (at 15 months, go me!), I've yet to have my boobs re-measured.  And my bras (while making me look more busty than I am) totally don't fit.  I tried three different sizes and none were a go.  Guess I may have to go to VS and get sized.  But the husband claims that if I am trying to lose weight, that I should wait to get new bras.  He doesn't understand the uncomfortable-ness of a bra that doesn't fit.  He's just trying to keep me from spending money.  I know his game. 

Oh, and I did get hair ripped out of my face by the root.  That was awesome.  I feel so much better now and so much more confident.  I went to a new salon in the downtown area of this little town that I love.  Well, it's not a new salon....but a new to me salon.  There was no cucumber water.  But that's okay.  This chick rocked.  She waxed, had great conversation AND applied new make-up so that I didn't look all red and freshly waxed.  That was awesome.

Which allowed me to then continue my shopping....and get a new travel cup. 

After getting the Kage-ster, I called her dad and asked him if he'd like us to stop and visit him at work.  He had just gotten back in to the shop and Kin LOVES, LOVES, LOVES "big trucks" and well, he works with big trucks.  So I thought she'd get a kick out of seeing her dad and big trucks all in the same place.  He loved showing her off and she loved the big trucks.  She was waving at them and saying "buh-bye ba ba" which translates to "bye-bye big truck."  And buh-bye" is universal for hello and good-bye in her world. " Sooooo cute.  And the manly men that he works with even got all baby-fied when they saw her. 

Sorry, to protect all of those involved, I chose to white out the
company name and location.

She had a blast.  This truck that she's standing on is the one her "Uncle Dave" drives.  He's a very close friend of ours and him and her daddy work together.  He actually introduced her dad and I.  Gee, thanks Dave.  :)  But her daddy's truck was a bit too messy and dangerous for mommy to be comfortable with....  he wanted to take her up in the bucket.  Ummmm, no.  Luckily, he was joking.

On our way home, we stopped at the dreaded McDonald's because I had to try the new strawberry lemonade.  And since I had only had strawberries to eat all day long, I could splurge on the calories.  Soooo yummy.  But Kage kept asking for a drink and while I don't mind sharing, I had to quickly remember that a baby sucking frozen lemonade from a straw could cause a serious brain freeze.  So I had to change my approach and load the straw with a small amount and let her suck it from the end of the straw.  I'd just cry if my baby had a brain freeze.  Can babies get a brain freeze?

We even got one for her daddy.  And she got fries.  Even though I was that mom that said her baby would never eat McDonald's.  Yum..those words taste good.

You see, my husband likes to think that I don't appreciate him or respect him.  So I have been doing extra over-time to prove that I do.  Geez.  I appreciate and respect everyone.  Well, almost everyone.  I'm not a meanie.  So there (sticking my tongue out), I took her to see you at work AND got you a lemonade.

We ended our night by going downtown to try a new Mexican restaurant (can you tell that it was payday?).  OMG.  It was so good.  So, so, so good.  I can't wait to eat my left overs.  Chimichangas are good for breakfast, right?

To cut or not to cut?

This is the blog post where you sit back and say, "really?  Wow.  This chick is nuts."  Or maybe you say that after every blog post. 

So yesterday, it was my 'me day' and Kage was at day care from 9ish-4.  So what did I do?  Sat my butt on facebook and blogged.  Yes.  All day long.  I wasted a day.  Well, okay, I didn't *waste* it.  I needed a day of nothing.  I earned a day of nothing.  And well, I enjoyed the day of nothing. 

I didn't clean house, I didn't prepare dinner, I didn't do laundry.  I did nothing.

Well, until the afternoon.  I finally got showered and put together and went to apply for yet another serving job.  You'd think that after three no calls I'd give up.  Not this girl!  So I went and filled out one more application.  It seemed a little more promising.  The manager actually chatted with me for a minute and told me that he'd call me for an interview.  Promising, right?  I'm keeping my fingers crossed.  I need this job.

And so after the application, I drove the distance to get Kin from day care.  Have I mentioned how far and out of the way her sitter is?!  It's really, really out of the way.  But she loves it there....so that's why we keep her there.  For now.

On my way, I was jamming out to the new tunes that I bought from itunes.  I know, I shouldn't have.  But I wanted a few new songs to listen to!  Ugh.  See, I need that job.

I downloaded the new Brit song, Till the World Ends.  And I downloaded the new Nelly song, Just A Dream.  And I downloaded Katy Perry's song, E.T.  And I downloaded Ke$ha's song Blow.  So four new songs for a total of just over five bucks.  Guilt.  I shouldn't have blown the money.  Too late now.

Back to the story.

So I'm jamming to the new songs and cruising along...it was sunny, nice (a little windy) but nice.  I had the windows cracked (not enough to ruin the flat ironed hair but enough to smell the fresh air).  It was one of those times when you feel good, you look good and everything is AOK in your world. 

I pulled up next to this big truck and the driver resembled none other than one of the hottest guys ever, Travis Barker from Blink 182.  Yeah, see.  Told you that you would think that I was whack.  Yes, I think he's hot.  Tattoos and all.  And well, the trucker was hot.  And he waved at me and he smiled at me.  And it made the ego swell so much that I had to roll the windows down ever further.
I was feeling pretty good.  Got the old smile and wave from a hottie, the weather was good, the music was great. 

And then, in the height of my coolness.....on comes the song from Will.I.Am called "What I Am."  Yes.  The one from Sesame Street.  Kin has her own songs on the ipod and that is one of them.  It was shuffled into the "recently added" playlist that I was jamming to and I had forgotten.

 And my radio was way too loud.  And the windows were down.  So yes....at that stop light everyone surely heard me rockin' out to Sesame Street.  Granted, no one paid any attention whatsoever.  But talk about an ego buzz kill to look at yourself in the mirror and see yourself feeling way cool and rocking out, only to have a Sesame Street song come on and remind you that, oh yeah, you're still a mom.  In an SUV. 

Come down off of that 'good old times when you were 25 and hot' high, girlie.

And I guess that today is a hair talk kind of day.  My friend texted me earlier and told me that she was finally ready to cut her baby girl's hair.  That text came in about 30 minutes after I snapped this picture.

Her dad and I have been talking about that first hair cut for a couple of days now.  Well, seriously talking about it.  We've mentioned it a few times over the past couple of months but we're seriously talking now.  I mean, this poor girl has bangs to her nose.  That has got to be annoying.  And I try doing the pony tail sprout on top of her head.  I've done the pig tails.  I have hair bows and even splurged on the No Slippy Hair Clippy. They all look so cute in her hair and they serve their purpose of holding her hair out of her eyes and stay put.  Well, they stay put until the Kinley Monster figures out that something is attached to her head.  Then she freaks out and rips it out along with a handful of hair.  Seeing a handful of her adorable blonde hair being ripped out makes me want to cry.  So, I just don't bother. 

But what do I do?  I hate that it's in her eyes all day, every day.  I don't want people to think of her as a scroungy (how do you spell that) kid.  But I don't want her to have the straight across bangs either.  I mean, I have intentions of never cutting this child's hair.  Like, ever.  Or until she can make that decision on her own.

So I'm stuck.  I don't know what to do with her hair.  There are so many of those cute little kid hair cut places here and I just don't know if I can do it.  I'm stressing out just thinking about it.  Obviously, I am not ready to make that decision.

So What Wednesday

I'm joining up with Shannon at L.A.I.D. and saying

SoWhat If....

• I actually shed real tears over my grades this semester.
• I'm kind of happy for the yuck weather so far this week that has given me an excuse to being lazy.
• I planned an extra half day with the sitter this week to accomodate my waxing appointment
• I fear that Kage will walk across the graduation stage with a pacifier in her mouth.  She won't let it go!  (and I suck at making her--no pun intended)
• Despite being broke, I downloaded a few songs from Itunes.
• I found several wagons on Craigslist for under $50 but I still want to spend $200 on the new one
• I really want to meet our upstairs neighbor so that I can have a 'beer on the patio' friend....but I'm too chicken to just go and introduce myself.
• I'm about to just have a beer on the patio by myself (well, not right now...I'd look funny having a beer on the patio at 7:20 in the morning....but it is 5:00 somewhere!  And I just got a freakin' B people.  I need a beer.)

Me=Fail

Talk about a bad way to start the day. 

Grades are in and I jumped on the computer as soon as I could open my eyes.  I was so hopeful that I would continue on with the Dean's List as I had every semester prior.  I had hopes of seeing all A's staring back at me on my transcript record.

But instead, I see this:

My Wednesday class ends with a B.  A stinkin' B.  I just want to cry.  I worked so hard this semester.  I got As on all of my assignments.  But I had to miss 3 classes due to Kage being sick.  Those absences took my chances at an A.  I'm so mad.  But I know that I really can't  be mad.  It's no one's fault, I guess. 

Well, it's my fault.  No one to blame but myself.  I knew the consequences for missing class.  She made it clear to us in the beginning.  But what can you do if your child is sick and no one else can be home with her?  Right.  I'm a mom first. 

I'm bummed.  Really, really bummed.

Beware: Cavity ahead

How is this for some Tuesday cuteness?

Totally gives me a cavity.  For sure.

We were on our way home from visiting with a friend on Sunday.  She hadn't napped at all that afternoon and was exhausted.  Top that with two bottom molars coming in and well....she was not a happy camper.  I gave her some Tylenol to take the edge off for her and she insisted on holding the bottle (and chewing on the rubbery top) and well, I didn't want to hear her scream if I said no, so I let her.  I know, not mom of the year material.  I don't care.  I was *right there* watching her.

Anyway, she eventually fell asleep.  While her dad ran into the store to grab a few necessities, I sat in the car while she slept.  Her paci fell out when she fell asleep and when she realized it, she replaced it with this.  I heard her sucking kind of funny so I turned around and this was hanging out of her mouth.  She was sound asleep.

I took it out and replaced it with her paci and she woke up.

Go figure.  Should have left it alone.

 

The House That Kinley Built

I admit, now that I'm on my partial summer break from classes, I don't do much of anything.  I'm talking about housework.  Well, I don't do much of anything else either, really.  But we're talking housework today, peeps.

As I walked through my house (apartment) yesterday, I just was amazed at how impacted our daily lives are by this toddler.

So I present:  This is the house that Kinley built.

My dresser used to be so neatly arranged on top.  I displayed all of the different perfumes that I had and all of my sentimental knick knacks....now, I have one bottle of perfume (DKNY, so yum) and the rest are empty.  And I now have a nice collection of dust and pacifiers.  Gotta have them on hand and close just in case one goes missing in the middle of the night.

My bedroom that I so wish were pretty and whimsical and decorated, instead hides a tricycle that is a safety hazard until she grows in to it.  So when our bedroom door is open, she runs to it like a long lost best friend.  And then you also see the wheel to her travel system that she no longer uses.  I really need to put that on craigslist.  But our bedroom has become the catch-all since apartment living.  No basement or garage for storing stuff anymore.  And yes, she's wearing those silly crocs.  She won't take them off!

My ice breakers Orange-aid, which are so de-lish.  I love them as a snack in the car when I don't have time to eat.  But, hard to have them as a snack in the car when someone takes them out of your purse and decides that they are better kept on the floor next to your dusty bedpost.

My bathroom used to be so cute and decorated so nice.  Now?  It's a fishing post for a certain little girl.  She stands over the toilet saying "buh-bye" repeatedly because one day, I said to her to tell her pee-pee bye-bye before I flushed it.  Since that day, she's bid her pee-pee farewell every time she sees the toilet. 

And my "nicely decorated" bathroom now is trashed because that certain someone just loves to empty out the bathroom vanity cabinet onto the floor.  I asked her dad months ago to put child locks on the cabinet and I'm still waiting.  So until then, every day, she empties the cabinet.  Oh, and the Mardi Gras beads?  Yeah, no sign of a topless party here.  Just the location of where Kinley decided to change necklaces.

And what bathroom would be complete without a pink potty?  And according to Kin, it's better served purpose is a stool to stand on to get a better view of the 'buh-bye pee pee'.

Blogger is being stupid and won't load this rotated the correct way, so just tilt your head to the right.  It's the TP.  And it shall never again live on the actual holder.  KG *loves* to unroll it.  And she's quick! And she'll bring her her prized pile of unrolled toilet paper.  So it lives up high.  Forever more.

You know how your entry way is supposed to be all homey and pretty and decorated so cute....yeah.  Ours used to be!  Now, our entry table (this table was given to me by my grandma and while it was such a sweet gesture, I really don't want it.  And what can you do with something your grandma gave you?!  You know!) is filled with all things Kinley.  How many shoes does a toddler need?  Seems that we think a few....(she has more in her room).  And why they seem to live on this table is beyond me.  But we also have an umbrella, the dog leash (and poop bags), a random bottle of water, Kin's baggie of meds, tickets to play paint ball (is he ever going to use those), mascara that Kin found in the bathroom cabinet and then gave to Lucy and Lucy then chewed the lid (grrrr!) and a few other random things that scream "Welcome to our home!" when you walk in.

Our coffee table.  Most interesting table you ever did see, no?  Well, that's because our daughter loves to climb on top and run across.  So, we wrapped baby jail around it.  Baby jail is no longer effective at confining her because she just lifts it and moves it and goes on by.  But with it like this, it's (most of the time) effective.  And then we put stuff in the middle of the table that we don't want her getting in to.  Such as the bag of nail polish (that she still loves to play with) that I had picked up at least 45 times already that day and enough was enough.  My coffee cup sitting half full of cold coffee because she woke up before I could finish it.  Some leg lotion stuff that she found in the bathroom cabinet (boy, those child locks would sure be nice) and random other papers that have yet to find a home.

And again, turn your head to the right because Blogger is being defiant this morning.  This is our living room space.  What else can I say?  She's conquered.

And again, no, this isn't a leftover remnant of a wild topless mardi gras party in our apartment, it's just the remnants of an over-accessorizing princess toddler.

It's not the cleanest place, it's not the most stylish place....but it's home for us!