Alright Alright!

Okay, so I got a phone call from Grammy today telling me, no INSTRUCTING me to get back on here and update her on her little Jack. So here I am.

Let's see, what have we been doing since Thursday. Um not much happened on Friday - just recooperating from the big playgroup party.

Last night we went to the local minor league baseball game. It was fun and for the money, you really can't beat the entertainment value. At $10/ticket and Jack being free, it really is good. Of course, Jack had a blast at the game. His big activity was flirting and showing off to every single person who happened to sit in our vicinity. In fact there was a young girl in her early 20s there with her boyfriend and boy did he show off to her. Jack entertained her more than the game. I am sure that she ended up telling her boyfriend later that she wants one "just like that". I was totally tempted to turn around and tell her that he isn't THAT cute all the time.

We stayed until the 7th inning stretch and it was almost 10:00 by then. We were all tired as that was the latest we have stayed up in a long time (sad, I know). But Jack sure was enthralled with the game and whole atmosphere of the ballpark. He wolfed down a hotdog and cracker jacks like an old pro. I am hoping that we can indoctrinate him into the baseball world and will become a world famous pitcher one day. Who knows, right? The boy has an arm on him already and is super strong. So strong, in fact, that I have a very hard time trying to get objects out of his little hands. And yes, I am looking forward to T-ball. Only 2 more years!

So that is the recap. No pictures of the game. I forgot my camera last night. But we plan to go again, so hopefully I will get pictures then.

Satisfied Grammy?

What Was The Name of That Hurricane?

Oh yeah it was called Toddler madness! Well we survived our first hosted playgroup and it was a lot of fun - and work. Jack was sooooo excited this morning. I told him that his friends were coming over and he plopped himself in front of the window waiting for them. And when the first showed up, he yelled out "Sammy" (the little boy's name) and ran to the door to let them in. And then he was just the perfect little host sharing his toys with everybody.

There were *only* 11 mothers and 13 toddlers show up. It was mass chaos everywhere. Of course the boys were pretty much enthralled with the train table, which became totally decimated by the end. All the tracks were taken apart and strung all over the house - Fun! And then the boys wanted to go outside with all the choo choos, but I nixed that idea afraid that those little expensive trains would somehow get thrown across the fence or something.

But I think everybody had a good time. They were here for about 3 hours and afterward Jack went down for a nice, long nap. Yay! Of course, I spent a good portion of said nap cleaning up and still not done.

I will post pictures in a bit. I took a few, but I know other mothers had cameras as well and probably took much better pictures. So I will wait until they post them on the webpage and then post them here.

Phew! Now excuse me while I go and try to reassemble a train table. If only I could find those stupid instructions on how to do it.

So far - NO RAIN! Yahoo! I am ready for the onslaught of the mighty toddlers. The toys have invaded my family room again, but that is okay as long as they are outta there again by tonight.

The train table has been moved to the family room also. Jim helped me with that last night after Jack went to bed. And this morning, the boy ran into the playroom looking to "play choo choos" and the look of complete devastation crossed his little face when it wasn't there. So I took him out to the family room and he literally screamed "YAY" and has been "playing choo choos" for the last 30 minutes.

The yard also has been cleaned up of all dog poopies and dead animals that the cats have "brought" to me. This time is was a baby squirrel - so sad.

So let the playgroup commence.

Oh and Erin, I have a new shirt for you to do. Another mother in our group is making shirts for the kids and they are going to read "Outta my way, I am heading to playgroup" . Thought it would be cute to add to your collection.

Anyway, I will update later on how it went if I still have the strength AND am still alive. We'll see.

What Have I Gotten Myself Into?

**Update** Make that SEVENTEEN Toddlers! I just found out that another mother is coming with her 3 boys ages 5, 3, and 18months!!! GAH!!!

As of right now, there are at least 14 mothers AND 14 toddlers coming to my house tomorrow for a playgroup. Oh My GAH!!! I am praying big big time that the rain will be going bye bye before 10:30 am tomorrow because not sure if I can handle FOURTEEN toddlers in my house at once! Yeah I have a big family room and all, but come on!

Everybody pray for me that there is NO rain tomorrow so I can throw em all outside with some bubbles and bikes and the climbing thingy.

Oh and a cute Jackaroo story from this morning. I was sitting at the desk paying the bills (fun job that is) and Jack walks by me carrying his dog Foo Foo. I don't pay much attention to that at first, but then I hear what he is saying or I should say - singing. He is singing the sleepy song that we sing every night on the way to bed to Foo Foo. "Sleepy time for Foo Foo, sleepy time for Foo Foo..." and sure enough he takes the dog into his room and puts him in the crib. I guess it was naptime for Foo Foo. The kid cracks me up every single day.

He is his Father's Son

Just like his Daddy, Jack is afflicted with allergies - Bad. For the past two days, he has been miserable with the sneezing, eyes watering, and the uncontrollable running nose. He even talks all stuffed up, which is pretty cute, I think.

I am considering skipping gym class today. It is funny because today is the beginning of a new session as gym class, the third one that I have signed him up for. And every single session, he has missed the first 2 classes because of being sick. I guess I can count on him being sick every 8 weeks. But I really hate to take him there and have the wrath of the other mothers for showing up with a kid with a runny nose. I am pretty sure it is just allergies and not a cold, but try telling that to a mother who is convinced that your kid got her kid sick. It ain't pretty folks.

Drama!

You can not get a bunch of women together in a group without drama and I do not understand why.

Ever since I quit my job, I have become active in the Mommies group of the city where I used to live, which is only about 20-30 minutes away from where I live now. Well I guess there has been some "talk" about me and other mothers who don't live within the city limits of this one town, that we don't belong in the group. I know that it is only 2 or 3 people out of 125 people who are stirring up the controversy, but it has me livid. I also have to say that the city that I live in now, is considered a "poorer, less desirable" city, even though my house is not in the "poorer" part of the city, just having the zip code is enough for *some* people to think less of you. Remember the 90210 zip code? Yeah, good old California snobs at work here.

My question to women in general - why the drama? Why can't women just support each other without having to tear each other down behind their backs? Why is status so important? Aren't we all mothers facing the same headaches and joys of raising children? I just don't understand it.

Differences a Year Can Bring

I have a slideshow of all our pictures as our screensaver on our computer. As I just sat down to the computer, I noticed this picture below. It is of Jack last Easter and really I was taken aback as to how much he really has changed in one year. Back then, he still was not walking and he still had that *baby* look.



Flash forward to Easter 2006 and here is my BIG kid. It just amazes me how much they change in such a short time.

Weekly Ramblings

Wow, I guess it has been a few days since I have blogged. It just seems like we have been so busy with playgroups, story times, gym classes, spring cleaning, and yard work that I just haven't had a chance to sit down and actually form a decent post.

Ever since I became active in the online mothers group, it seems like we have something planned for every single day. There are about 120 people in this group and there is literally an event every single day that Jack and I could go to. It really is fun and really for the first time in my life, I find myself actually being a social person! It really is quite astonishing. Last night, I went to one of the mothers night out parties that they have every couple of weeks. This one actually was a Cookie Lee jewelry party also. The girl that hosted the thing was serving margaritas, wine, and a huge spread of yummy chocolate treats and I am so proud of myself, I did not have any of them. I stuck to my diet - yay! But it was fun to let Jack and Daddy have a boys night in so that I could have a mothers night out.

This coming week is another busy busy week. Tomorrow is the power stroller walk with the mothers, Tuesday is gym class, and Thursday I will be hosting the toddler playgroup at my house. So far 8 toddlers and their mothers are coming. So, of course, because I know there are people actually coming to my house, I have been busy trying to get it into a not-so-embarassing state.

So that is it. That is what I have been doing while not blogging. I promise to get back to my usual daily ramblings about nothing soon.

A Day in the Life at Gym Class

Jack and I have been going to gym class at My Gym for four months now and not once have I taken the camera ... until today. I give you a pictorial of A Day in the Life at Gym Class.


We walk up (and down) planks or sometimes we slide down on our behind also.

We admire ourselves in the mirror while standing on the bridge.


We limber up by jumping on the trampoline.


We put orange cones on our heads. Why you ask? Just because.


We roll each other around in tubes.


We swing from the high bar with a little help from Mr. Oscar. My future little gymnast - he LOVES to do that.


We swing on the trapeze with a little help from Miss Patsy.



We Ham it up for Mama's camera in the big giant tube of colors.


We do a bit of swinging - and of course we HAVE to have the airplane swing, or we have a tantrum.


We go on really cool rides every week and every week is a different ride. This week it was "ride the big donut on wheels" ride.


We climb ladders - lots of ladders. He used to be very frightened to climb this ladder, now he just zooms up it without even thinking.


And the best part of all - Separation Time!!! Where the parents go to the lobby and can SIT while their toddlers play. It never lasts long enough.

All that in just ONE HOUR. And I didn't even take pictures of the Circle Time, Dance Time, or the Puppet Show. And to say that Jack is tired afterwards, would be a HUGE understatement. It is simply Toddler Heaven.

Happy Spring Cleaning Day

Like Rabbit who declared Easter to be Spring Cleaning Day in the movie Springtime with Roo, I too declared yesterday Spring Cleaning Day. For about 8 hours straight, I cleaned this house from top to bottom. I even cleaned the carpets and let me tell you the filth that came out of these carpets was downright gross. Makes me seriously consider hardwood floors all over the place. But as always, I did not get everything done that I wanted to do. For instance, I didn't even touch our bedroom or bathroom, nor Jack's room.

Jack's room really needs an overhaul. And he is still in the crib and the toddler bed is still sitting there with no mattress on it. I haven't even tried to get him to sleep in the toddler bed for quite some time now. And the main reason is purely selfish on my part - I just don't want to deal with the hassle of trying to get him to stay in bed. He sleeps so well in the crib and I can control him when he is in the cage, err crib. I guess I am just too lazy to deal with the whole thing right now. Kinda like the potty training thing. I really don't want to do that people. I just seems like so much work and hassle. Can't we just do diapers until one day he looks at me and says "Mom, I don't need them anymore"? Sound good?

I don't think I will get much cleaning done today because I don't have Laura here as a babysitter. Thanks to her big sister babysitting ways, I was able to accomplish all that yesterday. Yeah, I know an opportunity when I see one.

You Know You are a Parent When You Have Dyed Easter Eggs as an Adult!

Just some pictures of the egg-dying process. Much fun was had by all. Jack loved to drop the eggs in the dye and say "BOOM" and start cracking up.

Easter Eggs Galore!

We went to the annual Easter Egg Hunt at the sports park by our house this morning. We arrived bright and early at 9 am. because according to the website, that was the time it started. But little did I know, that was actually the time that the fair booths opened, but the actual egg hunt started at 10:30. So we had an hour and a half to kill while waiting.

When it was time for the hunt, they lined up all the kids by age in 3 different fields. We were in the 2-3 year old field and boy was it hard for all those toddlers to stand there waiting for them to say "GO". And when they did, it only took about 30 seconds for all the eggs to be picked up. Jack got a total of 5 eggs.



Great fun was had with Sissy running around the park. Yay for big Sissy's who keep their little brothers busy for an hour and a half!


During the wait for the egg hunt to start, Jack found a tub of bird seed to play with. Notice the concentration on the boy's face! Very serious business.


The massive field of Easter eggs. This was one of 3 fields filled with eggs! They said there were about 5000 eggs all together filled with candy. Notice the kids lined up waiting not-so-patiently.


After the torture of waiting, they were off and running. Here is Jack, off to a good start.


He had to stop for a second to check out the loot.

After 26 seconds of Easter Egg hunting, all the eggs were picked up by the masses. This is Jack with all 5 of his eggs.

Then it was off to play on the playground equipment with the other 1500 kids.


Sliding down the tunnel slide.

A little bit of swinging with Daddy.

And of course, sliding down the curvy slide - over and over and over again.

And that is not all for this Easter weekend. We are boiling 18 eggs as we speak and will color them tonight for an egg hunt tomorrow morning before church. Then after church, we are going to friends for Easter dinner. Phew busy busy busy. Of course, will be posting more pictures of the hunt tomorrow.

Happy Easter to everybody!

Rainy Day Arts and Crafts

Big Sister and Little Brother sitting by the fire drawing masterpieces.

Playdates are Exhausting!

We just got back from the playdate today. Laura was with us today and she was such a big help. The mother that hosted the playdate was pretty funny. She is a really sweet woman, but you can just tell that she thrives on structure. She had a Mommy and Me cd and was trying to get the kids to follow along and do the different activities and dances. But, as we all know, toddlers just want to do what they want to do and to hell with the structure. I could tell she was getting very frustrated and finally I just had to say let the kids do their own thing. There were 6 toddlers there and well one wanted to dance, the other wanted to play with the tamborine, and my kid just wanted to play with the fire trucks and cars and did not care one bit about dancing in a circle.

But it was a very fun time. She has a big backyard with one of those really nice $3000 play structures. It had a climbing wall, fort, big slide, and swings. Of course, my little monkey was climbing up the climbing wall like it was nothing and flying down the slide again and again. There was another little boy who was terrified to slide down and Jack was behind him trying to push him down so he could take his turn!

I volunteered to host a playdate in a couple of weeks. But, to be honest, I am a little ashamed by Jack's toy collection. Compared to the other kid's toys, Jack has like nothing. And I thought he had a lot! I mean they had 5 ride-on toys alone - for one little boy!

We are now home and BOTH kids are napping. It started to rain right after we left, so it is a nice day to stay inside to do nothing. However, I really should be cleaning my filthy kitchen (seriously, my kitchen floor is really gross) and doing the laundry so that we have something to wear tomorrow. But I think I will take this opportunity to watch what I want to watch on tv.

Playgroups and Playdates!

I realize that I have not posted in a couple of days. I have been spending a lot of time outside trying to get our lawn in shape. Massive amounts of weed killer and back breaking weed pulling has been happening. Even Jack has been put to work. I didn't get a picture of it, but he really likes to use the hoe. And yesterday, he kept pulling leaves off the weeds and adding them to the pile of dead weeds. My little helper.

We also are busy going to playgroups and playdates lately. We went to the Outlet mall where they have their monthly kid's event and best of all - it is free! Their program was about ocean sealife and they brought actual starfish and other such critters for the kids to see and touch. The problem was the place was packed! It was so loud and you couldn't step without stepping on some toddler somewhere.

We are going to a playdate today at the other Jack's house. His mother Amy and I have become good friends and she invited us along with a few other toddlers and their mommy's. Supposedly they have a ride-on train! This should prove interesting since my Jack does not share at all when those things are around.



We were there early so Jack got the chance to run around and schmooze with the other kids. No shyness in this kids at all.


The place was packed with toddlers and parents. This is when it was only half full!


The girl in charge told all the kids that they had to touch the ocean critters with "one finger". Jack was so cute because he took this so seriously. As he was standing in line, he had his little finger up and ready to touch the critters. I have hopes that he might actually listen in school!



I just threw this picture in because I snapped it yesterday. Jack was having so much fun *driving* the lawn tractor with Daddy.

Mr. Independent

Today at gym class, Jack was acting very much like a teenager - at TWO! He really did not want anything to do with me. During circle time, he refused to sit on my lap, or even near me. No, he had to sit in the middle of the circle and be all independent doing the activities on his own without my help. Oh and yeah, also be the center of attention at the same time. I am really beginning to wonder if there was some sort of mixup and he's not really my kid. Because to be the center of attention is like a huge nightmare for me, even now, and even more so as a kid.

And during playtime, he did not want my help climbing the ladders at all. In fact, he would push my hand away if I tried to guide him. He was actually making Oscar, one of the owners of the gym crack up with his attitude today. I told Oscar that it was killing me, but he said it is better this way than the other, where the kid won't leave mother's side. I guess he is right, but at two, I want at least some cuddly time, ya know?

They have a part in the class called "separation time" where the parents go to the lobby of the gym and watch while their kids play independently. It only lasts about 5 minutes, but there are some kids who can not handle their mother leaving their side, even for that long. They come up to the gate screaming their heads off because their mother is not there playing with them. But my kid? No, I really do not think he even realizes that I am not there for those 5 minutes. He gets right in there and plays and rides the cars. And when I come back into the play area, he looks up and looks at me as if to say "oh you are still here?". They grow up way too fast these days!

AWWWW....

I just had one of those awwww so sweet moments that mothers love so much. Just as Jack was going to bed, he came to me to give a big hug and kiss goodnight. Then Jim had him say "Happy Birthday to you" and then yell "Love You" as he was walking to bed with Daddy. It just doesn't get any better than that. Makes turning 39 worth it ... kinda.

Thirty-Nine And HOLDING

Happy Birthday to me today. I am 39 today and will hold this number for quite sometime thank you. No, I do not want to have my age start with a 4, so therefore, I will hold this number for a few years. Sound good?

So for my special day, you are asking what I am doing. Well so far, I have done some weeding while Jack played with his bubble machine and climbed on his climber thingy. Then we came in and he had breakfast of waffle with peanut butter while I cleaned out the refrigerator. You know where you take everything out and find some pencillin experiements. I figured it was almost empty and was a good time to do said cleaning. And because of the empty refrigertor (and hungry cats), Jack and I are going grocery shopping at the Commissary later today.

Sounds like a great birthday huh? Yeah I am actually trying to forget the whole thing to be honest. I got my present a couple of weeks ago - you know that big ole van sitting in our garage. Except Jack thinks it is "Daddy's new tar" and NOT Mama's. I guess Mama doesn't get her own car.

Speaking of new car. I think the new car smell is getting to me. I really believe that the smell is making me have headaches and getting nausea. On Saturday, I had a really bad migraine, nauseous headache. At first I thought that it was me getting car sick, but I really don't get car sick that much if I am in the front seat, and especially driving. But I am getting the symptoms even while driving the thing. Not sure what can be done to get rid of the smell, except wait out the 6months or a year until it fades, but not liking that feature of my birthday present.

Money and Jealousy

Despite the pouring down rain yesterday, I went to the clothing exchange with the other mothers. Supposedly 26 mothers were coming to shop/sell clothes and toys, but as it turned out only about 10 showed up. Probably due to the rain. But I managed to sell all of the toys I brought with me and some clothes and walked out $72 richer. Not too bad. I still have two very large totes full of clothes. I think I am going to check out the local consignment store and see if they want them. I also still have the baby carriers that never were used and the baby bathtub that was used like 2 months tops. I tell ya, the things we buy and never ever use when we are having a baby. There really should be experienced mothers in the aisles of Babies R Us to stop us first time mothers from buying the stupid stuff. Really. Seriously.

I experienced a side of Jack yesterday that I never have seen before. One of the other mothers asked me to hold her 9-month-old son for a few minutes while she went to get something from her car. On a sidenote, oh my gosh are 9-month babies light compared to my big 30+ lb kid who is constantly saying "hold babies" and wants to me to hold him all the time. Oy and I remember thinking Jack was heavy THEN.

Anyway, so I was holding this cute little boy whose name just happened to be Jack also and coo-cooing with him and MY Jack sees this from across the room and screams a big NOOOOOOOO and runs over to me and wants me to pick HIM up. Can you say just a tad bit of jealousy involved? So I get down on my knees and hug him and he starts to push the other little boy away! I really was stunned that he would react like he did. Of course, I told him that was not nice and scolded him for his behavior. But, somewhere inside me was happy that he felt like that and that HE was MY little boy and for a little while longer, I am the most important person to him.

He Said His Name!

We went to My Gym today. During *circle time* they have all of us go around say our child's name and our name, I always just say Jack and Dawn. However, before I even could get out the J he yelled out "JACK" and pointed to himself. It was sooo funny and I believe that is the first time he has said his name when asked. Of course, he was Mr. Class Clown today, having everybody cracking up at him. And he got picked to be the first kid to do the *twirl around the high bar*, which he giggled through the whole thing.

I keep meaning to take my camera to the gym class and was really kicking myself today for not having it because they brought out the big bubble machine with the fan and blew bubbles ALL OVER the place. It was just so cute to see the expressions on their faces. I think I will go back on Friday for a makeup class so I can get the picture before the change the class on Monday. It was a very Kodak moment.

I also have to get Jack's old clothes together and his toys that he doesn't play with anymore. I am going to a big "Clothing/Toy Exchange" tomorrow. There are about 25 moms who are bringing their stuff to sell and/or buy. I am really not wanting to buy unless I see some 3T clothes that are cute, but I really want to clean my garage out of all the clothes and toys. Seeing as Jack is my first/only/last child, I want this stuff outta my house. So it should be fun and hopefully come home with some extra cash.

Hooray For Hollywood

We went to Hollywood yesterday for Laura's LAST cheer competition of the season. Can we all say Hooray! Of course, if she signs up again for another year, they will start all over in November.

This competition was actually held in the Kodak Theatre. The same place that the Oscars are held in. It was pretty neat to be in the theatre and to see it because it really is a beautiful theatre. I actually did not realize how big the whole theatre complex was. It is not just a theatre, but has this whole shopping complex with about 100 escalators running everywhere. Of course there is shopping, it is LA afterall right? Oh yeah and it is right across the street from where they tape Jimmy Kimmel Live, which is where Erin's brother, Brandon, is going to be on Tuesday night. Check it out and set your DVRs. Way Cool.

But in all honesty, I truly do not know why people WANT to live in LA or Hollywood. It is dirty, crowded, too much traffic, and the people are rude and snobby. But to each their own I guess.

The place was packed for the competition. It was a madhouse. We only saw Laura about 20 seconds the whole day. Her team got 5th place. The other team from her gym got first in their division. There was an incident involving her mother that left Jim spouting swear words and other not-so-nice words about her and left me just shaking my head in disbelief. The woman is unbelievably selfish.

Jack did really well. There were plenty of females for him to flirt with. At one point, the boy leaned over the back of the chair and started flirting with the two cheerleaders in front of us. He even blew them a kiss! I asked him if he got their phone number. That boy. Seriously, people we are going to have to lock him up or send him to an all boys school!

We had a good weekend. On Saturday we had some friends over and we played Settlers of Catan. If you haven't played that game yet, it is really fun and easy. I highly recommend it.

This whole weekend has been screwed up for me. With Jim home on Friday, it felt like it was Saturday on Friday and then Saturday was Sunday and well yesterday was just plain weird with the time change and all. Sunday just didn't have a name to it. Weird Weird Weird.

Today, I plan to start the weekly stroller power walk with the Mommy's group I belong to. They say they walk about 3-4 miles every Monday. To be honest, I was kinda wishing it would rain so I could get out of it, but no, no rain yet. So I will go.