New things...

I am going to be updating and revamping the blog. I've decided that I want to make a little change and do something different....So new things coming soon :)

All things Eli...

I felt the need to change the blog name, why you ask? Well now that there are two equally hilarious kids they both deserved to be named! I didn't change the actual address...I'm not that energetic. :) So..sit down, grab a little snack, maybe a drink and let me tell you about Eli.

Eli is a, well..Eli is..hmm...he is hard to describe because the kid is the biggest goof ball I have ever had come out of me. Not that I've had a litter of kids..obviously. Geez the blog name would be ginormous! Could you imagine? "The Adventures of Oatmeal, Pork Chop, Cream of Wheat, Pork Loin, Cold Cereal, Pork Roast, Maypo and Bob." Some how I decided that my imaginary child, Bob, isn't worthy of a nickname. Maybe it's because Bob is a little jerk who steals all the Oreos. Yeah, that's it. Damn Bob. Of..that was off topic so now I'll continue with Eli.

Eli is an instigator, clown, hard headed and so much more. At just 1 1/2 he already does things just to get a laugh, is stubborn as can be and loves to press your buttons. Oh and he loves to bite toes. Why toes, you ask? I have no idea but the kid loves it. He loves socks too, maybe he will be the next great podiatrist. Or maybe he will be that creepy guy that wants to look at your feet when you are trying on shoes. Either way, it's entertaining to say the least.

He can sign a few things now. I've tried for more but the stubbornness kicks in when trying to teach him anything. When he signs "all done" watch out, he puts some attitude behind it! He can say a few things, I think he might have a mild speech delay. I'll know more tomorrow, I signed him up for a developmental eval just to see where he falls. The kid is smart, he understands tons more than he can say. Again, this comes in handy when wanting to push buttons. He is super friendly and active. Eli loves kids and will warm up to others pretty easily. Of course, he doesn't know his own strength. When playing, if they other child doesn't respond to him, I wouldn't past him to throw a toy at them. Again..stubbornness.

I'm sure I will have tons of stories about Eli in the future. Well..as long as I don't neglect this blog again for a year. We'll see....

I'm such a bad updater..

Ok, So I know it has been FOREVER since I last posted. In my defense though, I just had a baby! Alright, alright..I know, it's been over a year since Eli was born. I suppose I should fill you in on my little buggers.

All things Gage:

Gage is awesome! He is almost done preschool and will be heading to kindergarten in the fall. He won't be mainstreamed, not quite ready for that one. I'm happy with the room choice we make though, he will have his best buddy with him. Gage is really starting to talk more spontaneously now. He still needs a lot of prompting depending on the subject. Oddly enough though, I can teach him things that are of no use to him and he will retain it. Example: a few days ago I taught him to give two thumbs up and answer "this guy!" when asked "Who has two thumbs and loves ___." I can pretty much say anything and he will give the response. So far, it's pretty darn adorable. His fifth birthday is around the corner, which is just scary to me.

I have been in the process of trying to get Gage an IPad for sometime now. I applied for the few grants I could find, but have heard nothing so far. It would cost around $1000 once you add in the programs he would need, accident coverage, a case and other things. I am going to keep trying though. I think it would help him in so many ways. Yes, he has some speech but it's very delayed and more echoing than anything. With an IPad he could really open up and tell us what he wants and needs. If you see on the left, I added a little widget thing to help with fundraising. I'm not expecting to really get any donations, but a girl can hope! I hate begging, but it's all about what Gage needs.

All things Eli:

Well, what can I say about Eli besides the fact that he might be pure evil. No, seriously, the kid has a demon in him. He is one step from spitting pea soup at me. He is one pretty good little nugget though. His personality is so different than Gage's. I think I'm just not used to a typically developing kid so I just didn't know what to expect. I think Eli deserves a whole post to himself...so that's what I'm going to do.

This is short, but Eli calls...no one makes him wait for his dinner...nobody! :)

No, I didn't run off and marry an Elvis impersonator.

I've been meaning to update this for a while now, but honestly I've been too lazy. Pregnancy can do that to you sometimes. I have a better excuse than that though....

Please Welcome....dun, dun, duuuuuunnnnnnn!

Eli Rylan Born on February 1st @ 8:20am 8lbs 9oz. 20in. long

So as you can guess I've been pretty busy not sleeping, healing from major surgery, making bottles, keeping Gage from feeling left out, getting pooped and peed on..you know, the usual newborn stuff.

So let me tell you a little about Eli... He is a little nugget, so much so I keep calling him that instead of his name. He already is a snuggler, loves his swing and has the ability to hit you with projectile poop.

Of course though, being my kid there had to be something that went wrong. No, nothing physically or anything like that...just something to set him up to be picked on forever. I had been waiting for the paper to print his birth announcement, it usually takes a few weeks before they do. I don't get the paper, I usually just read it online when I feel like it. Well my mother called me to let me know that they finally posted his announcement, with one little problem. They announced that HE was born a SHE. Yep, they put that Eli Rylan was a daughter born to us. Awesome. So of course I called paper to tell them they needed to correct it and reprint it, which they are going to do with the next batch of birth announcements. The thing is though, there will always be that first printing. Hopefully any of those kids born around when he was don't discover it and decided that my kid is a young tranny. If he wants to be when he is older, fine...I just don't want him picked on in school. Poor kid. I know he is pretty, but he is ALL boy. The little punching bag between his little frog legs prove it.

Anyway, here are a few more pictures of my little nugget.

He is just over two weeks old and just like Gage, he is pretty awesome.

Speaking of Gage....

When we first brought Eli home Gage had a hard time. He wouldn't go near you if you were holding him and the poor thing just looked sad and confused. Like he was the fat kid in dodge ball or something. He is slowly adjusting and we are making sure to give him extra attention. It seems to be working, he is starting to show more interest in Eli and not wanting to grab him out of your arms. He is gentle with him, but I'm sure that won't last for long...especially once Eli is older.

As far as Gage's progress...

He seems to be doing pretty good. It's hard to really know what is going on now because he is in school most of the day and he can't tell me what he did. I depend on the "daily" reports we get. I said that in quotes because they are totally not daily. Gage has an aide all day, so I need to call and make sure that I get a daily report. He is following directions much better and is a lot more social with people. Potty training is not going so well though, I mean, he is doing a few things for them but at home it's nonexistent.

I don't have any pictures of Gage to put on here because the little turd refuses to take a decent picture lately. Every single time he makes a face and not a flattering face. He will cross his eyes, pick his nose...pretty much anything to make the picture goofy.

As for me...I decided I really hate c-sections. Well..surgery in general. This c-section's recovery was worse than Gage's was. I'm still not to where I need to be and it's annoying.

I guess that's it for now...I need a nap.

I think I am having the spawn of Andre the Giant

Seriously...

This baby is HUGE and kicking my butt on a regular basis. I really think he is doing jumping jacks in there.

Ok, so I went to my 33 week appointment and sonogram today. I thought I was going to schedule my c-section but no exact date yet. It's supposedly going to be January 25th or 26th...I pushed for the week before but everyone quickly told me no way. Hey, I can hope can't I? It hurts damnit!

While the sonogram lady was doing her sonogram thing I noticed she was scanning one thing over and over again. She did it about 8 times, so I was getting a little concerned and asked her what was going on. She asked me if Gage was a large baby, which he was good size..8lbs 7 3/4oz., 21 in long...and a big ole head(seriously, it was 38 cm.). I told her and she said to me.."Oh ok..well it looks like you are headed in that direction again." Wonderful. I knew I had a giant in there! I'm 33 weeks and the baby is measuring at 35 1/2 weeks. He already weighs over 5 pounds! It's a good thing they are delivering at 39 weeks because if not I'd have a 15 pounder. I've still only gained 9 pounds, which is good but he must be a little hog. I'm glad I'm not breast feeding!

So, Gage started preschool this past Monday..sniffle...

He did GREAT on Monday and Tuesday. He got on the bus and was all for it, I was even told he had a good first two days. Then it happened. This poor kid has my immune system, by Wednesday morning he had a fever and was like a limp noodle. So I kept him home and ended up keeping him Thursday too. By Friday, I figured I should try to send him again. This time he wasn't so into it and when I say not so into it I mean that even mentioning the word school made him cry. I should have taken this as a sign that he still wasn't feeling well but nope, I sent him. He gave me a look on the bus like I just ripped his heart out and pooped on it. I ended up picking him up early and it was a pathetic sight let me tell you. I got there at lunch time and he was sitting at the end of the table, runny nose, red eyes and whimpering. He saw me and my mother walk in and it was like we had a basket of candy, rainbows and gold there for him. He got up and just hugged me, hard. I half thought he was trying to choke me for sending him to school in the first place...either that or he was just that happy to see me. I prefer to believe the last one. The poor kid is still sick and didn't go today and won't be going tomorrow. Luckily he has vacation until the 4th after Tuesday but out of a total of 7 days of school he made it to roughly 2 1/2. I hate that he missed speech but hopefully it won't mess him up too much. I have pictures of the first week but I'm feeling lazy right now so I'll post them later.

Right now all I want is a taco and some sleep....anyone care to give me either of those? I've been good all year!

Shopping sucks

Well, I just have one question...If you go and apply to work at Walmart, is it a prerequisite to be miserable if you want to be a cashier there?

Ok..let me backtrack and tell you what happened.

My mother and I went to the store to get a few things. I needed some different groceries and whatnot and she did too. So we figured we would head to Walmart because it's closer, cheaper and a necessary evil.

So, we get all of our goodies and head to the line. Now, I don't know how it is in every Walmart but the one here makes you want to punch a kitten when you go in to it. Don't get me wrong, not everyone that works there is incompetent. Actually most are just fine..but it's the few that ruin it for everyone.

That being said...we got one whopper of a cashier. Now, my mother and I were both in bad moods anyway. She didn't feel good and I was tired/cranky. You know those days where someone just looks at you and you want to be like "What are you looking at, huh? I'll cut you". That was the day we were having. So we get in line behind some old lady with oxygen sitting in her Rascal that had no clue how to use the credit card machine and couldn't comprehend when her transaction was over. Hell, she couldn't even tell when her stuff ended and mine began. It shouldn't have been so hard, I highly doubt she was buying anything with Mickey Mouse on it or anything else a 3 year old would want. She wasn't the real issue though, she's old..I get it. They woman she was with and the cashier was the problem.

The woman she was with was too busy talking about bingo with the cashier to move ahead(it was my turn) so the woman in the Rascal just stayed there. So there we are, half way down the register waiting to get up to pay..the cashier had already started ringing my stuff and they just stood there. My mother, being the ray of sunshine she was that day(it was hilarious..she was so crabby..but so wasn't I) decided to make a comment to the woman. It was something to the effect of "Come on old lady, I don't care about bingo and I don't have all day..get your Rascal moving." They didn't budge, or get the obvious hint. The cashier had to tell the woman like 3 times that this wasn't her stuff and her transaction was done. I even said like 5 times, "That's my stuff." Again..she didn't move. I was ready to hot wire her chair and push her up a little so I can pay. But no..Bingo talk was going on all while this was happening.

Finally, after about 10 minutes(I'm not kidding, it was at least 10 minutes of this) they moved up ever so slightly so I could pay and get my crap. Now, the lovely cashier was just Suzy Sunshine. She was all rainbows and candy, really...she just gave me a tooth ache because she was so sweet.

You catch that sarcasm there? Good.

She was an older lady too..and I swear I have no problems with old ladies, but these three took the cake.

Ok, as I was saying. She was the most miserable person ever. She didn't greet us, rude when she did talk, never once looked up and never told us our totals. Oh..and when I went to scan my card she was rude about the amount and said some stupid comment. So..I snapped back(because, I too can be Suzy Sunshine at times..I know, hard to believe..hehe). She was the same way with my mother when it was her turn.

Now, this is what I don't understand. If you are that unhappy working where you are or are that miserable then why are you working in retail? Retail sucks, especially big retail places because you get tons of people. Maybe she was having a bad day, fine..don't be miserable to me. I didn't take your last Ensure or make you run register. Neither my mother or my self were rude to this woman, she had no reason to be like she was. So, when we left we made sure to give her a big thank you and have a great day. I think I might have even called her Suzy Sunshine. Don't get me wrong..I don't hate older people..not at all. I just don't like rude, inconsiderable morons. Young, Old...I don't care. If you're a jerk, you're a jerk. Being young or old doesn't change that fact.

The store here in particular have a lot of cashiers like this. There is another one, she is younger..younger than me I think and she is one of the rudest people I have ever met. I want to kick her every time I get in line and she's the cashier. I usually avoid her line completely..but hers is usually the short line. With good reason too. It makes the whole experience in the store a bad one. I'm never was the world's best cashier or anything, but there is a thing called common courtesy. You are working with the public, be friendly..or at least be decent. Tell the customers their total, give them their bag, say hi...something. Don't just stand there like a miserable lump of poo. If you hate your job that much...quit or transfer to another part of the store. I have a hard enough time finding someone to actually help in the store, you can never find a worker and if you do it's "Not their department" or "Uh..I don't know". You never get a "I don't know, but I can find out for you." On a rare occasion where you do hear that...they leave, disappear and let you wait there forever..never to return.

Am I the only one that notices this? Is it only at the Walmart here? I just don't get it..they really need to up their standards on (most) employees. Again, not all of them are horrible..but for the 3 good, helpful ones you get 10 useless ones.

If you don't want to work with people, get out of retail or go work in the backroom.

There..I'm all done my rant about shopping in that store...I'm sure I will go back, again, the necessary evil thing but I will be biting my lip and hating every moment of it.

Oh and this day only got better..but that will be another post. It deserves it's own..trust me.

Little creatures are no friend of mine

Well...I feel I need to declare something.


I HATE SKUNKS!


There, I said it. Now I feel so much better. Actually, I would feel even more better if there were no skunks at all, especially the skunks that are attracted to my porch.

Wait, let me back up a minute...

In my last post I mentioned quickly about a skunk smell that we were trying to get out of the house. That's because in two weeks time we got sprayed three times and it reeked. Like, drive you out of the house reek. We caught one little skunk but figured there must be one more. So, the live trap was set up again and we caught a cat. A stupid black cat that lives around here somewhere and loves all things garbage. Not a big fan of the scavenger cat, but I let it go after calling it a few names. So again, we set up the trap for that night and we got another skunk! This one was HUGE, like a small child could ride it huge. Ok, maybe not THAT huge, but trust me, it was biiiig. If I had to guess, because I didn't get that close, I would have to say it was like the size of small fox. Seriously, one big skunk. One big, smelly, soon to be dead skunk. Everyone was working so I called my mother to tell her we got another one and she said after work she would come over with my step brother to take care of it. Meaning, he would take care of it while she held a large piece of cardboard in front of her. It was quite funny to watch. Long story short, he got the skunk and it was the most foul smelling skunk I have ever smelled. I mean, like rotten garbage can juice on a hot day kind of smell. It was the kind of smell that stayed in your nose for a few hours.

So far, no more skunks. We're going to set up the trap one more time...actually, we did that once and caught the stupid black cat again. So, it is going up one more time and hopefully I will get rid of all the stupid skunks that like to taunt me. I have to admit, I felt all victorious after catching the second skunk. Like I was the "Skunk Hunter" or something. "The Skunk Hunter: Ridding the neighborhood of stink, one skunk at a time..." Not a name I think I really want though. I just want a skunk free porch.

Now, apparently we have a new friend. I think. This summer was a woodchuck, then the skunks and now...I think we might have a mouse in the ceiling. Last night I heard something that I haven't heard before and it made me sick all night thinking about it. So, today I am going to the store and getting traps, De con and whatever cleaning products I can find. This weekend, it's on! Granted, I have slacked with some household things. Not that I'm miss spic and span anyway but I'm not "Ms. Let's leave cereal on the floor for later" either. I'm sure with Gage there is a little of this or that here and there. I get it the best I can, but I can't deal with a mouse. If that is what it is. It taunts me, it's taunting me now without even knowing it. I'm all itchy and want to check everything for little turds. I have never seen anything in here and last night was the first I've heard a noise. So, that's good but still...the only mice I like are dead mice. If you haven't noticed, I'm not a fan of woodland creatures. I think I need to get a cat...

Alright, all critters and such aside...

I went to the doctors yesterday for my thumb. I have been waiting a year to go to this appointment and I get there and they want an x-ray. I guess because I shouldn't still have tightness/pain this long after surgery. So the doc orders an x-ray but I get to the x-ray place(right down the hall) and asked if it's ok for me to have one if I'm pregnant. Which, I kind of already knew it wasn't but still..I asked. So, as expected I couldn't get one. Now I have to wait until after I pop this baby out to go back and get things started. Fun times.

Well..I'm getting closer to the end of this whole pregnancy. I must say, I can't wait! I feel like complete crap. I'm tired, sore, can't breathe and hate heartburn. Oh...and I would like to be able to not have ginormous boobs anymore. I mean, they were large and in charge before..but now..the need their own zip code, seriously. It's scary. I've gone from "Look at the chick with big boobs" to "DAAAAAAYUM!!". I'm like a circus freak. They need to go.

Other than the crazy chesticle growth, things are good. I'm still not gaining any weight but the baby is..I think I really started to pop now. I go in two more weeks for my appointment so we will see the damage on the scale then. I have a feeling that this no weight gain thing is coming to an end. I had a good run, but it's time to play catch up I think.

I have pretty much everything I need, except a few more packages of diapers, another set of bottles, a pack and play and random little things that are easy to get. I should have stuff from Gage, but stupid me either sold or gave it away. Not all, but enough of it.

Speaking of my lil' old man, he is such a turd! He had a new word...Walmart. Yep, Walmart. He saw a commercial when we were visiting my cousin and he pointed and said "Malmart". Now, this made me think that we go there way to often. So I'm thinking that I need to cool off on the trips with Gage there. I hate going there, but it is a necessary evil because I'm too lazy to go to three stores for the things I need to buy. Although, I do need to go there today....crap!

Alright, lunch is calling...actually screaming my name. So it's off we go!


Wait! I forgot some really good news! Duh! ::slaps forhead::

We got the results of Gage's blood work from the genetic center. He has no chromosomal abnormalities, fragile x, the one gene for Autism they can now look for(I guess, some kids on the spectrum have this gene) or anything else! He is completely chromasomially good. :) Which is good news.

Ok, now I'm done.