Poor Baby

My poor little "Deedee" got hurt yesterday. He slipped on our stinkin' laminate floor hit his face on the wheel/brake of the Play 'N Pak bed. Blood everywhere, screaming, the whole nine yards.

Collin had bit his lip when he was about this age and we took him to the doctor and they said it would just heal on its own. Well, Brody's wound was actually a large hole inside his upper lip, way worse than Collin's, and I was trying not to overreact, but I was positive it would need a couple stitches.

I called the Urgent care place and they thought I should go to the emergency room if I thought he would need stitches on his mouth. They said the emergency room doctors would make a less noticeable scar. I told them the hole was inside the mouth so I didn't care how pretty the stitches were. I wasn't going to pay for an emergency room visit, especially if he didn't actually need any stitches.

Our suspisions were confirmed: No stitches necessary. Thank goodness! That would have just been a nightmare. I am glad that we went to the doctor even though I knew in the back of my mind everything would just heal on its own. I would have been up all night if I didn't take him in to the doctor, just wondering if I did the right thing.

Anyway, everything is all good, except for the big ugly fat lip. It doesn't seem to bother him though. My poor little baby!

What if I had Triplets???

So usually my babysitting gigs don't overlap, but today they did. I had 2 extra toddlers at my house for 2 1/2 hours. Sasha is sitting on my lap and Siena is on the right.

Sasha is about 2 months younger than Brody, but she is just as big, which is saying a lot since Brody is huge! Sasha is a little bit of a naughty girl. She pushes the limits, but rarely cries when I tell her to stop. She just moves onto the next thing. Her mom is Russian so I love talking to her to hear her accent.

Siena is about 2 months older than Brody. She is very calm and happy. I love watching Siena, it's a breeze. She knows sign language which helps in communicating and she is starting to talk pretty good too.

We had a busy morning, but it went really well. I am super mom!!

Laundry Monday

Every Monday is my major laundry day. It seems like we wear every article of clothing that we own over the weekend. It's crazy!

This picture is my laundry from today except a load in the dryer, a load in the washer, and all the shirts that I have already hung up. Can you believe the amount of clothes that we have?!?!?

This goes great with my last blog. What do you do all day? Fold laundry!!

What do you do all day?

I think that I have touched on this subject before, but it is an ongoing thing. People ask me what I do all day. Like I have so much spare time on my hands every day. The thing I don't get is that people take their kids to day care and respect the job of a day care attendant. Well, my job is just like that, only I don't get paid.

Today for instance, we were up at 6:15 am. Collin has been getting up really early. I have to get breakfast not only for myself, but two other people. I get everybody cleaned up and dressed. I hit the the gym for a little while. I get home and make a couple "business" calls about babysitting this week. I jump in the shower while I hear the boys fighting in the background. I clean up the front room and then make some lunch.

I call Collin's new friends to come over and swim in the little pool I borrowed since we bring it back tomorrow. We visit and play for a while and then come in the house for some serious work. I sweep and mop, which is an ongoing chore since the entire house is laminate flooring. (I thought I would love it, but it's actually a lot of work.)

Brody gets up from is nap and I change him and get shoes on everybody. I run to the post office to mail a bill and then head to the grocery store for milk and runny nose/cough medicine for Brody.

Now we are home and I get a minute to watch Oprah and do some blogging. In about a 1/2 hour I am going to have to make dinner. After that there's dishes, bath for Brody, and maybe a short walk to make sure the kids are thoroughly worn out.

Then I put Brody to bed at 7pm and start cleaning up the frontroom again. Sweeping is probably necessary after dinner. Then at 8pm I am meeting another woman who needs childcare for her 5 month old baby boy. It would be a nice little job.

That's my day. Tomorrow we have play group and babysitting in the afternoon from 3:30-5:30, Wednesday and Friday I have babysitting in the morning from 8:30 to 1pm. This week I will have a total of about 20 hours babysitting between 2 gigs. If my other little girl gets back this week from Thailand then I will have 6 more hours on top of that.

So yeah, I don't just sit around all day, watch soap operas, and eat bon bons. Boy that would be nice though!

I am so glad Amber wrote her blog post for today about the joys of staying home. There are so many things that I would miss out on if I had to work a full time job. My kids are great!

Zzzzzzz......

Collin has been a very heavy sleeper all his life. Sometimes it might take a while to go to sleep, but when he is out - HE IS OUT!

Collin had fallen asleep while I was cooking dinner. I usually don't like him to take such a late nap, but I figured I would wake him when we sat down to eat. I tried to wake him up nicely, but he wasn't even budging. I decided if I stood him up and made him walk across the room to the table that would wake him up. Nope. I stood him next to his chair and this is what happened:

We were laughing so hard. We also got this on video tape. Darrell was trying to wake him up and he wouldn't get up. He slept like this for about 10 minutes. So funny!

He also is a very noisy sleeper. He snores sometimes, but he frequently (as in almost every night) talks in his sleep. Sometimes we can understand him and sometimes he is speaking jibberish. If you have ever shared a bed with me (the only person who is going to read that that has shared a bed with me is Lydia) you will know that I am not a calm sleeper myself. I have acutally gotten a lot better and I really don't move around a lot, but I sometimes snore and talk in my sleep.

It's funny that Collin did this sleeping thing yesterday, because the funny example about myself also happened yesterday -

Darrell and Brody were both taking Sunday naps. Collin was playing computer and I was watching tv and fell asleep on the couch. Collin was annoyed by the tv being so loud he couldn't hear his computer game and he came over to me on the couch.

Collin: Mom, what are you doing?

Gel: I am reading a book.

Collin: Ok, I am going to turn the tv off.

Sounds like a normal conversation except that I was 100% asleep and none of my books were anywhere in sight! So funny! Collin didn't even question it, he just wanted the tv off.

Never a dull moment in this house!!

Maui Drivin'

I have lived a lot of places and everywhere I go I notice the driving habits of the locals. Here are a couple of examples of Maui drivers.

• Drive slow. If the speed limit is 45 make sure you are going max of 40 mph. There are no freeways here. Highest speed limit I have seen is 45 and frequently its 35 mph or less.


• If someone needs to merge or turn left in front of you, always let them in, period.


• Yield signs mean nothing. People just keep going without stopping or slowing down.


• And last, but not least, (this one is my favorite) always yield to pedestrians even if it means slamming on your brakes and causing someone to rear end you. This happens all the time! Pedestrians are not lunatics jumping out in the road to cross the street. Locals just want to be friendly and let you cross, but half the time if they would have kept going I could have crossed right after. It's really great that they are so concerned and aware of pedestrians, but they literally slam on their brakes.

What do you do if skip the gym?

Eat at Taco Bell of course!!

Bummer....

So I haven't exercised yet this week. Monday and Wednesday mornings I babysat and Tuesday morning we went to a kids music class with a friend. I thought today would be a fresh start. Well Brody has had a runny nose for 2 days, but today it is running like a faucet and it is bright green. Even though my kids are usually the only kids at the gym I don't want to contaminate all the toys with green boogers. Oh well. I don't have any plans tomorrow morning so I guess better late than never. We do walk down to the park everyday so that's some form of exercise at least. I am telling you, it's 10 times harder to get to the gym with 2 kids than with 1. Hopefully tomorrow is better. Wish me luck!

I Quit.....

So I quit one of my babysitting gigs! I couldn't take the every day after school torture. I was watching a 2nd grade boy and he was a handful. He didn't like Brody bugging him (too bad!) and he was teaching Collin lots of naughty words. He liked to play computer games, which is fine, but he knew all the killing games websites. He liked violent stuff and my kids just don't need that in their lives. So it's been a great first day free of him! We went to the beach with some friends, which is lots better than babysitting! I feel such a sense of relief, like a weight is lifted off my shoulders.
I am still babysitting 3 little girls, not at the same time. All 3 are about twice a week for only 2-3 hours at a time. No big deal. The little girls are all around Brody's age so they just play and eat. It's nice to not have to do it everyday.
It will be nice to have more time to be with my kids again. Brody really didn't like that 2nd grader and he was getting jealous of the time I spent with the other kids. I never thought in a million years that he would be bugged by having other kids over.
Brody is such a laid back kid. He takes a lot of crap from Collin and he really goes with the flow. He doesn't cry a lot. He has always been a good eater and he has slept through the night since about 3 months old. All around just a good well tempered baby. And now he is jealous of these other kids. Really surprising to me.
Anyway it was a great beach day and we enjoyed ourselves! I need to get tan before Jeff's, my brother, wedding in June. I can't show up and be a white girl when I live in Hawaii.

Time Zones

This is just another reminder that I live in Hawaii. That means it's lots earlier here that it is on the mainland.

This means that it's 6:30 am when you texted me today, Warren.

This means it's 8:00 am when you called and got me out of bed today, Dad. (Normally I would be up, but it was a rough night last night with Collin.)

This means both times you texted me, on two separate occasions, it was 5:30 am, Audra.

Oh and all you telemarketers who have my cell number - Take me off you list!!

Utah is 4 hours ahead and Central time is 5 hours.

I am actually really not mad. Just giving Warren some crap for texting me about Diet Dr. Pepper. LOL!!

My Decorating Style...

Amber sent me this email and I just have been laughing and laughing all morning!

"Hey Gel! I’m thinkin’ about what I want to send you for your birthday. (Did Collin ever get his package?) And I have an idea what I’d like to order, but before I do I need an idea of what your colors are in your house. Do you have a particular decorating style? Are there certain colors or styles you DO NOT like?"

Ok, this is the sleeper sofa. Darrell's company provided some furniture, new and used, for us. They got this from a place that buys hotel furniture when hotels do remodels. This sofa already had some stains, but we have really made a mess of things ourselves. The light tan color shows everything. A friend gave me a cover, but it didn't fit right, so I should just go buy one so I am not a complete embarrassment

.

Here is another great Craigslist find. It was $5! The kids just love it, especially Brody. He thinks he is such a big boy.


Here is our fine dining table. The guy that lived here before us sold it to us for $100. It is in pretty good shape, besides the fact that it needs to be wiped off. :)

Now this precious gem of an entertainment center was a great find. First of all the TV is obvious a hotel TV that Darrell's company got for us. It's really big and works great for us. As you can see we are watching "Max and Ruby." This was a Craiglist find and it was free!

Now here is a closer view of the "entertainment center." You can see that the hinges go the other way. We have turned it on it's side. We couldn't figure out what to do with that wierd growth off the side of it so we just turned it on its side. The kids love to play in the shelves anyway. I mean who am I kidding anyway, if I put anything on shelves that low then it would be pulled out and all over the floor. Might as well just play in it.

Oh and this is our computer desk. What's that you say? You think it looks like the edge of our entertainment center with a kitchen chair pulled up to it? Well, you'd be right. You just gotta go with the flow here.



Now this dresser is a real find. It obviously from the 70's. The white dresser was just not good enough alone because someone added a reflective material to the front of the dresser. Beautiful! I paid $30 and on Maui, that is a steal of a deal!




Now this is one piece of furniture that I really like. I can keep all my movies, books, and school stuff locked in this cabinet in my room. I think I paid $20!





Last but not least: The bed. It's a full size bed, another gem that Darrell's company provided for us. It was nice to have some furniture already set up for us when we got here, but a full size bed is not working for me. Darrell is a wild sleeper. A few nights ago he elbowed me in the eye - Scared the S*#@ out of me. Dead asleep and then.....whamo! Not fun.


So there you have it. That is the furniture in my house. Pathetic and embarrassing, I know, but it is too expensive to buy anything new or nice. Garage sales and craigslist totally rule around here. So Amber, I guess the answer to my style type is: Salvation Army Chic.

Unofficially Official

So here's the plan of the week. Darrell and I have been talking about Darrell going back to school some time in the near future. We finally figured out that the program for Construction Management at Utah Valley University (formerly UVSC) in Orem is going to be the best fit for him. He can get an associates or bachelors degree. We are thinking that he will get his associates and then see what kind of job opportunities come up. He can always go back and get his bachelors degree if he wants to. We were trying to see if it was possible to start school in August, but realistically it would be better to wait until Spring semester starting in January. So that's the plan. We are really excited!! I think Darrell will be so happy to have that degree. Can't wait!

Mr. Brody No Pants

I put Brody down for a nap at his usual time. He has been pretty good about naps again so that's why it was surprising that he was crying in his room. After about 10 minutes of crying I went to check on him and this is what I found:




I had just changed his diaper and I didn't put his shorts back on because it is ridiculously hot today. Brody threw everything he could out of his bed, including his diaper. Also he peed out the side of his crib. Yep, there was a nice puddle next to his bed. Lucky me. At least we have laminate flooring so that makes it easier to clean up, but it's still not fun. Another joy of motherhood: unexpected nakedness and urination.

Sleep....sure wish I had some.

It all started last night. Collin fell asleep on the couch while I was making dinner at about 5:30 pm. I figured he would sleep maybe an hour and that would be it. Brody was a wreck at about 6:30 and we put him in bed. It was nice to have a peaceful night so I didn't want to wake Collin up. He stayed asleep on the couch until 8:30 when I moved him to bed. I thought it was great that he stayed asleep! It was a nice night, we turned the tv off and just talked and relaxed. I really liked it.

Then at 12:45 am Collin woke up....for the day! He didn't want to go back to sleep. I got him set up on the couch, turned on the tv, and gave him a pop tart (his favorite) and a water. Of course I put the other pop tart on the counter so that he could get it himself later.

Then he wakes 3-4 more times for various reasons. He needed something else to eat. I told him about the spare poptart on the counter. He said that he already ate that. I thought that was funny. He didn't have dinner though so he had to be starving. Another time he went to the bathroom and I still have to pull his pants up, even though he can do it himself.

Finally at 4:30 am he came in and I told him he needed to go back to sleep for a little while. Apparently he did because he didn't come back in after that and Darrell got up at 5:30 and Collin was asleep.

Needless to say it was a rough night for me. Collin woke about about 8am and so my day begins. I am not going to the gym. I am exhausted. I am going to go to play group at 10 am, if I can get my act together and take a shower.

We All Live in a Yellow Submarine

Here is how we started our day. I told Collin to get dressed and this is how far he got. He is always my little joker. He constantly is doing and saying funny things. (That's underwear on his head if you couldn't tell.)


For Collin's birthday we got to take a ride on the Reefdancer. We saw a lot of fish and a turtle briefly. I was hoping to see more turtles and possibly a reef shark, but no such luck. We had lots of fun though.



Here is Collin getting ready to go down into the "submarine."


This is the fastest moving starfish. I forget what the name of it is. It doesn't
look like your traditional starfish. It's legs were very flexible.



This was a puffer fish. It was really cool to see one of them up close all puffed up. They said they are actually really hard to catch so it was a special treat that we got to see one!


Me and my handsome 4 year old!



The Submarine cake!



Yummy Delicious cake! It was a lot of fun making this cake. What a great birthday. (That is a gummy alligator in the water.)

Collin is turning four....

Amber posted a blog about babies growing up too fast. This has really been on my mind cuz Collin's birthday is coming up on Saturday. How did he get this old? I never thought I would have a four year old! It's crazy. Here's a few photos from along the way. Enjoy!

I've Been Had

So it's Darrell's favorite holiday today: April Fools Day. I hate this holiday, because he tries to trick me every year. I hate being tricked or made to look like an idiot, but he got me today. It wasn't a big one, but still funny.

Darrell goes to work at 6am and I am not a morning person at all. I am not one of those wifey's who get up and cook breakfast and prepare my husbands lunch for him. If he wants to eat lunch, he can make it himself! :)

So today he came in and said goodbye as usual and I know I grumbled something that might have sounded like "I love you" or "Finally the bed is all mine" - one of the two. So I hear him leave and then come back in like a minute later.

He says "My motorcycle is gone."

I sit up so fast and say, "Are you kidding me??!?!?!??" My heart was racing and a million thoughts went through my mind.

He keeps it up, "Did I park behind you or in the visitor parking?" (They threaten to tow you if you are in the visitor parking more than 6 hours, but I have never seen it done.)

I can't remember what I said or did, but then he started laughing and says "April Fools!"

I said I hated him and I rolled over and went to sleep. :) As I said before I am not a morning person. You could trick me way too easily at 6 am!

I hope everyone has a great April fools day! Don't get tricked or fooled! And don't answer your phone if Darrell calls!

All I can say is that I am really lucky to be able to stay at home with my kids. Things are so extremely expensive here that most people have both parents working full time. It's really nice to not have that stress in my life. Parents have to work opposite shifts because daycare here is so expensive. That means they really don't get to see each other and that would just really suck!

I am actually starting to do a little babysitting. I have an 18 month old gorgeous little Hawaiian baby who I watch on Thursday and Friday from 4:00-7:30 and a 2nd grade boy every school day from 2:00-4:00. It's not a lot, but it's something. That's 17 hours a week, a regular part time job, but I don't have to leave my kids. In fact it gives my kids a playmate. I really like it because it's not for extended periods of time.

I am also trying to get another little 14 month old girl during the mornings for a few hours. She actually needs me because her boss is going on vacation for a month so she has to work more. So for a month she wants me every morning for 3-4 hours. Then after that just an occasional sitter like when she does errands. She works nights and her husband works days. What a life!

Anyway, I am very grateful that I get to stay home. I am so happy I have a husband who can support us and give me this great opportunity. My kids are the best!