Run Mitzie Run

We've entered what I'm calling the dark ages of babies. Brynlee is officially crawling, and she has got one thing on her mind. Mitzie. That poor cat. Mitzie runs, Brynlee follows. And so it goes. I'm sure Brynlee will end up with a few swats before she realizes that Mitzie does not want to play. Not right now anyway.

In my defense, we brought Mitzie home and the next week I found out I was pregnant. If I'd known I was pregnant before hand, I probably would not have gotten a cat. But I'm glad I did because I love her!

Brynlee is all over the place now. I knew it was coming, I guess I'm lucky that it took 9 months to get to this point. She has become quite a pain in the butt eating wise as well. If she doesn't want what I'm trying to feed her she pushes my hand out of the way and flashes the baby tude. I'm not a fan of that tude.

My friend has a 4 week old baby and I just saw her last week. It all felt foreign to me. The baby let me hold her, and she didn't push me away! The baby stared up at my happily as I rocked her to sleep in my arms. She snoozed away as I held her. Hmmm... Was Brynlee ever like this? It's hard to remember. Because now when I try to hold her she pushes me away. If I try to rock her she yells at me and pushes me away. If I try to hug her she pushes me away and pulls my hair. She just pushes basically.

And so the dark ages have begun. Ok I'm being a bit dramatic. There are plenty of fun parts about this age too. But I'm already missing a few months ago when I could put her down somewhere and she would just sit there. And when I gave her a bottle and she was happy as a clam.

I never realized how dirty my floor was until Brynlee started crawling and now finds all sorts of goodies on it. Yesterday she was trying to eat a tuft of cat hair. I guess I'll be vacuuming more often now.

She was the entertainment at church. She crawled all over, sucked on my chair leg for 10 min and ripped everything out of the diaper bag and threw it everywhere. She is now like baby Godzilla, wreaking havoc on everything in her path. But she remains just as cute as ever. I'm sure babies were designed that way, otherwise she'd be on the neighbor's doorstep by now.

Mitzie runs and hides under my bed from this baby terror, and I don't blame her. Sometimes I want to run and hide under my bed from her too! :)

Offbeat Pick

Jimmy and I used to have the Netflix where we got 2 movies at 1 time. But a while ago when we were trying to tighten our spending we cut it down to 1 at 1 time. The 2 at 1 time thing worked out well for us because our movie tastes are NOT very similar. Sure we have some movies that we both want to see and both really enjoyed, but for the most part he wants to rent one thing and I want to rent something totally different.

And so began the Netflix struggle. I'll pick movies and have them set to come, and then some Sci Fi piece of crap comes instead. Curses, he got me again! Not that I don't do the same to him. I'm a bit more adventurous with my picks though. There have been a few that we got that were just really strange. But some others like the one we watched last night that I really enjoyed.

On Feb 2nd the movie "My Name is Khan" came in the mail. Yes that was 22 days ago. It took us 22 days to watch that movie. I guess we didn't save any money using Netflix this month! Anyhow, Jimmy has been dragging his feet to watch this one. In fact he told me to just watch it by myself... Since I had a couple of good books any free time I had was spent reading rather than watching. But last night with nothing else to get in the way we watched it, Jimmy begrudgingly.

As a side note, last month we got the movie "My Life in Ruins" that was my pick. We sat down to watch it and within 20 min I was fast asleep and Jimmy ended up watching it by himself. So I guess I don't blame him for wanting to pick the movies once in a while...

Anyhow back to "My Name is Khan". I'm not sure how I even found that on there. You take a survey and they suggest movies for you, and they suggested that one. The premise is about a Muslim man with Asperger Syndrome living in America. After 9/11 his wife leaves him because she cannot handle the persecution she and her family are put though because she is married to a Muslim man. His love for her un wavering, he crosses the country a few times over trying to win her back and meeting people along the way.

It was 3 hours long, which is a bit lengthy. I'm not good past 2 hours, so 3 is rough for me. But I really enjoyed this movie, and it kept me up thinking last night and still has me thinking today. I would highly recommend it if you are looking for an enlightening movie, that will make you think twice before you judge people based on appearance or religion.

Jimmy enjoyed it as well (Ha! I win) and I feel like I came away from watching it a bit more tolerant for people than I used to be ( not that I wasn't before, but I'm even more so now).

If you are going to watch it, you might Google Asperger's Syndrome because the movie does not give a great explanation of what exactly that is. It is technically a foreign film, so there are a fare of amount of subtitles as well (which I like because my hearing sucks).

Anyhow, if you are looking for a movie with a message I recommend this one and give it 2 thumbs up!

One by One, or all at Once?

One of my favorite cubie buddies at work gave me a new series of books to read. This one is called "Fallen". I had no idea what it was about, but I dug right it. At first it was slow moving, but then it started picking up speed and I found myself burning through the 1st book. For those of you with kids who wonder where I find time to read, I'll tell you. I make time.

I usually get in bed at 9pm every night after Brynlee is asleep and read for an hour or so. Are there other things I should be doing? Of course. There is cleaning, organizing, folding, exercising to be done. But I shelve that all so I can read. And I look forward to that moment when I get to crawl into my dreamy bed and pick up my book all day long.

Anyhow, I burned through the first book of the "Fallen" series, went through the second book even faster and am now left waiting for the third book in the series to come out this Summer. As I put down the 2nd book and thought about how far away summer time seems I realized this is not a new feeling. It seems to be the new trend these days. Write books in volumes and release them every few years to keep readers anxiously hanging on. I hate it!

I used to consider myself a patient person, but I'm not so sure anymore. I find myself growing much more impatient these days. I think it's those Cuillards I live with rubbing off on me.

I went through this with Harry Potter, Vampire Academy and the Hunger Games books. It seems like the one series I did not do that with is the Twilight series, because I waited until those were all released and then cranked out all 4 in 5 days. I'm starting to think that was the way to go. I should just wait until a book series is completely released before I start them. Then, I don't have to end with no resolution and be left watching my calendar for the next one to come out.

The flip side of this is how exciting it is to have the next book in a series show up on my doorstep, after I've pre ordered it off Amazon months earlier. It's like Christmas popping up, right when I need it most.

Hmm...I guess there is good and bad either way. Other readers, what do you do? I'm curious. Because now I've got 5 months to stew on what will happen in this book and I don't like it!

Hot Water

I got my first ticket this weekend. Not too bad considering I've been driving for 11 years now! As someone how works 35 miles from my house, I spend a lot of time on the road. So, of course I got my first ticket about 4 miles from my house. Go figure.

I wasn't speeding, or running a red light. I wasn't swerving in and out of traffic, or cutting someone off. I was talking on my cell phone. Yep, I'm one of those. I'm not sure why I still do it, when I know it's illegal. And illegal for a good reason! I agree, it's totally unsafe. Yet I do it anyway. And I got busted.

The police officer was really nice. He asked me if it was an emergency. I lied and told him yes I just found out my husband was in the hospital. I'm kidding. I didn't lie. First off, I'm terrible at it. I'm not a good liar, and I take pride in that. Really think about it. If you are a good liar, what does that say about you? Second, I hate liars and being lied to. It's one of my biggest pet peeves. I did the crime, now I've got to do the time.

The police officer was so nice that he neglected to notice I had no seat belt on, and my insurance card expired in January (I have current insurance, just not a current insurance card). Or he noticed and didn't write any of that on my ticket. When all is said and done I can't blame the guy for writing me a ticket. I was hoping the cute baby in the back seat would help get me off the hook. I guess I'll just blame Brynlee for this one... :)

Now onto a different type of hot water. Everyone has visions in their head of how their dream house will look. I want a porch that I can sit on and drink lemonade/crystal light/diet coke. I want a nice green lawn in the front yard and the back. I want a spa sized bathtub. I love taking a bath. To me, there is nothing greater after a long hard day then sinking chin deep in hot bubbly water.

Unfortunately, since Jimmy and I have been married we have not had a functioning bathtub. Yes that is 5 years with no bathtub. I hate it. At this point it seems like a bathtub is just a pipe dream (pun intended).

In the house we are in now, Robbie's bathroom has a small bathtub that he lets me get in when the day has been really bad. He lets me give Brynlee baths in there now too because she is too big for her infant tub so he is a trooper about it. But it would be nice to have my own normal sized bathtub that I could do up girly style with candles and scents and stuff. At least I have access to a pool and spa here, and when I was pregnant there were many times when I hopped in the spa to soothe my aching body.

I'm sure one day soon I'll have a bathtub. I mean those are pretty standard, it's really just complete bad luck that we have not had one for 5 years. Until then I'll go to bed with visions of bath salts and bubble bath in my head!

Maybe Just a Little

I made no effort to sugar coat how much I HATED being pregnant. Really, it sucked big time. Still now, usually when I think about being pregnant again I get anxiety and want to cry a little bit.

However after watching a few episodes of "A Baby Story" I find myself missing it. Just a tiny bit. Not enough to jump on the baby train again right away though!

Since starting day care, Brynlee is progressing by leaps and bounds. I guess watching all those other kids run is doing her good. She is a finger foods pro now. She still has to shove her entire hand in her mouth to get the cheerio in there too, but hey at least she is getting it in. I can't eat without her crawling all over me wanting to eat what I'm eating too. Even if she just had her meal. Usually what I'm eating is not baby friendly, so I break out the cheerios and she goes to town.

She is about 2 seconds away from crawling. ugh. Heaven help us all. I knew this time would come, but I'm not at all prepared. She can sit up on her own now. So, when we put her to sleep in her crib she springs right up and looks at us. Hmmm... I lay her back down, she springs right up. And so the battle continues. Jimmy lowered her mattress to as low as it will go to prevent any baby jail breaks. For now anyway.

She is 18.7 lbs and wears mostly 12 month clothes now. She loves shoes. If you leave your shoes around her (on or off feet) she will get them and proceed to suck on them. She loves hair. Oddly not my hair, but any man hair. Jimmy's hair was her favorite to grab (not that I blame her, he has amazing hair!), but he just got a hair cut so I think she is confused now. She like's Robbie's hair too. And Robbie's eye lids.

She is not the best restaurant diner anymore. She used to be happy to sit and hang out. Now, we have a about 20 min to order/eat/pay before her head starts spinning and baby devil comes out. A few weeks ago we went out to eat and Jimmy and I were shoveling our food in as fast as possible to get out of there before Vesuvius erupted.

It feels like she has been teething for 6 months, but still has no teeth. I'm sure I'll wake up one day and 5 teeth will have probably popped right up!

It's funny with babies. It seems like as soon as you get comfortable with the way things are, they go and change it up on you. The days of being able to turn my back on Brynlee for 5 seconds without her reigning terror are gone now. She is a baby on the move for sure, and in her mind nothing is off limits.

I think about going through all of this again when we have another baby. I think about how much work it has been, and the idea of doing it all over makes me cringe. But then I get excited too. Maybe just a little bit. It has to be easier this next time, right? I mean just because at least we know what to expect? And at that point I'll be able to have Brynlee fetch me things. She can start earning her keep around here!

I guess Brynlee won't just have cat brothers and sisters (as was my plan about 2 months after we had her...). I think about expanding our family and it makes me smile. Maybe just a little bit.

I Prefer Unique

So, I'm odd. Surprise! I know everyone is odd in their own ways. But sometimes I find myself doing or not doing certain things and I realize just how strange I am about stuff.

I think I've listed of some of these things before, but in case you missed in here they are again.

1. I eat a different type of cereal everyday. I need variety in my cereal. I can't just eat the same thing every morning. Jimmy moves about his cereal 1 box at a time. If you look in my pantry he has maybe 2 boxes of cereal, and I have about 6.

2.I'm really weird about feet. I don't like to touch feet. Even more so, I don't like my feet being touched. I've given up on pedicures. I like they way they paint my nails, but all the foot rubbing and touching freaks me out. Brynlee is on a feet kick. She is always grabbing at my feet now and it drives me nuts. She will learn soon enough that my feet and toes are off limits. My toe nails must always be painted. Always, no exceptions. I hate it when my feet are dirty. So, I hardly ever walk around bare foot. I always have slippers, socks, shoes sandals, something on. Even more so I hate going to bed with dirty feet. I won't do it. If my feet do get dirty, they have to be washed before I get into bed.

3. I don't like biting things. I hate the feeling of biting like a turkey leg or something. I eat my lean pockets with a knife and fork. When Jimmy and I wrestle he always wins ( big surprise there). Usually as a last effort to gain the upper hand I try to bite him. But the idea of biting him freaks me out before I actually cause him any pain. I think about what I would do if someone attacked me and my only defense was to bite them. I like to think I would be able to bite them, but I'm not sure to be honest.

4. I will not eat chicken on a bone ( or Turkey for that matter, problem number 2 with the turkey leg). If the chicken has any sort of bone in there, nope can't do it. In desperate situations I will pick the chicken off the bone and then eat it. The only fish I eat is tuna in a can. Not fresh tuna, just tuna from a can. When I was pregnant I craved fish sticks once in a while. That was a strange one.

5. I don't like cereal bowls or glasses that had milk in them sitting out. It really bothers me. I'm not sure what it is. But they have to be rinsed out and then they can sit. The milk residue sitting freaks me out.

6. I have to drink my milk and eat my cheese ice cold. In fact I put ice cubes in my milk. If it starts to get close to room temperature I can't touch it.

7. I still love tents/forts/cubbies/secret lairs. I guess I never grew out of that phase. I'm bound and determined to have a tree house one day. I'll probably end up spending more time in it than the kids will!

8. I participate in a program where I write to someone who has cancer and is going through chemo therapy. I write to her once a week. My last girl I had beat her cancer and graduated the program. The lady I write to now lives in North Carolina and I love her to death. I guess this one is not so strange, but it's really rewarding. If you want to participate in it let me know, I'll send you the sign up application. You have to be over 25 to do it.

9. Before I go to bed every night, I plan out what Brynlee will wear the next day, complete with socks and matching head bow. Yep, I'm that nuts about my kid's clothes! The exception is Mondays in which my mother in law watches her. I let her pick out Brynlee's outfits because I know she enjoys dressing her up as much as I do.

These are just a few of the many oddities that make up my personality. I'd be interested in hearing about other people's quirks ( if only to make me feel better about mine...) if you want to share!

Strange Bed Fellows

The past few weeks have been a little crazy at my house. Whatever this plague like epidemic is that is moving though Simi Valley and beyond seems to have taken up residence with us. Cold and Flu season is not my favorite. Especially with a baby around.

A couple of weeks ago Brynlee, Robbie and I were all sick. Jimmy was just getting over whatever we all got. Now, Brynlee still has a cough and runny nose, Jimmy seems to be ok and I seem to have gotten re infected because I'm not feeling the best again.

I take Nyquil at night to try to drug myself to sleep, but it wears off around 2am I find myself wide awake. If it's not the lack of medicine that wakes me up, it's Brynlee's coughing. She has these coughing fits in which she doesn't wake up, comatose Jimmy doesn't even stir but they spring me out of bed and then I can't go back to sleep. This is further complicated by our sleeping situation.

From the start Mitzie has always laid at the foot of my side of the bed. Why, I'm not sure. That is where she likes to sleep though. I'm not the biggest fan of having something on my feet because I like to be able to move freely, but I've dealt with it for now. The other morning (like 4am ish) I woke up and Jimmy is diagonal on the bed, taking up well over his 1/2 ( what's new..) and then Mitzie is sprawled out perpendicular to me taking up the whole bottom half of the bed. So I'm left with a tiny square in which to sleep. No wonder I keep waking up! I have no room!

When I'm feeling 100% these things don't seem to bother. But when I'm having trouble sleeping as it is and people and cats are hogging the bed I wake up multiple times a night. It reminds me of being pregnant again, having to wake up to pee 20 times a night.

I tried to move the cat up by my head. She sat there for a while, and then moved right down to my feet again. I know, I know I could just kick her out of the room. But then she whines and cries at the door. And honestly I like her sleeping with us, I just wish she maybe slept on Jimmy's feet. ;) It wouldn’t wake him up that is for sure. I think a bomb could go off and he wouldn't stir...

I like my sleep, I'm an 8 hour+ girl. I need my sleep to function normally. When I don't get enough sleep, I'm not pleasant believe me.

I’ve also found that Nyquil gives me crazy dreams. I’m not sure what they put in that stuff, but it freaks my mind out or something. I keep having these aggressive dreams where I’m getting mad at someone and telling them off or physically hitting them. I had a dream the other night that I quit my job, but before I left I threw my chair and knocked all my stuff of my desk in a fit of rage. Maybe my wish to have a more aggressive personality is manifesting itself in my dreams with the help of Nyquil? Who knows.

I can't wait for this cold to leave us so I can get back to my normal sleep patters again. There is not much on the TV at 2am!

My Kriptonite

I'm not a big Superman person (or any comic really, I prefer gossip magazines. They are much more intellectually stimulating...), but the idea is Superman is well "super" human.

He can do all sorts of crazy stuff, but he has a weakness. Kryptonite. I think it's something from his home planet, I'm not sure. That is where the story loses me but needless to say when kryptonite comes around Superman goes down.

We all have weaknesses, Achilles heels of sorts. I have many. I could list them all day. Diet coke, all things fried, good girlie books, good books in general, good girlie TV shows, kittens, anything with the Eiffel Tower on it, McDonald's (yuuummmmmm). I could really keep going. But one in particular has really become a problem for me.

If you have a weakness, an addiction you should stay away from it right? Avoid temptation. If you are an alcoholic, don't work at a bar. If you have a gambling problem avoid casinos. Well, here is my addiction.



Yes, the store Target. I'm getting ready to post a sign in their window with my picture on it that says " If you see this girl coming in here DO NOT let her buy anything!".

What's even worse we now have 2 Targets here. 2! I was bad enough with 1. Somehow, every time I go there I go for 1 thing and end up with a basket full of crap and a hefty hole in my wallet. I bet if you looked at my bank statement you would see Target on there every other day. Or every day depending on the week.

What do I buy from there you ask? Really the question is what don't I buy from there! Clothes (for both Brynlee and I), hair stuff, food, more clothes (for both Brynlee and I again) games, make up, shoes accessories, cards, cleaning supplies, movies, cooking gadgets...

Ugh. Who created these super stores anyways? I'm not quite as bad with Wal-Mart, but I'm pretty close. I have the same issues there. I can probably count on 1 hand the number of times I've gone to the mall here in Simi. I avoid going there because I know it will be bad for my wallet. But for some reason I keep going to Target thinking I'm will leave with just one thing. Yep, denial. I guess it's not really denial since I admit it. More like insanity, in that I keep doing the same thing and thinking the result will be different.

Next time I think what I'll try is to just bring in $10 with me, that's it. That way I won't let Target carry me away!

Smarty Pants

I'm not the most adventurous person. I've found I like to watch other people try stuff. If they like it, then I might try it. I'm this way about most things, food, clothes, new gadgets, etc. I'm not a trend starter, more like a trend follower. But this way I get to only partake in the trends that have serious staying power. I don't waste my time and money on stuff like Laser Discs (does anyone remember those? Oh boy...)

I learned the hard way that baby drool can damage a phone. Since Brynlee gets so excited about my phone, I'd let her play with it. I mean what's the worst she can do right? Wrong. She can ruin it! Her and all her drooling glory ended the life of my poor old and outdated phone. I used Jimmy's even older and outdated phone until I was due for my upgrade, and then I branched out.

This weekend I purchased my first "smart phone". Yes I know they have been around for years and years, see what I mean about trends? I decided that it was time that I be part of the mass of people who can buy/read/sell/check email/get directions with their phones.

I've used Jimmy's Iphone in the past, and it was ok. But I wanted something a little different. With the help of the lovely Verizon Wireless man, I decided on the Droid Incredible.

However I'm finding my new phone a bit overwhelming. I figured this would happen. I'm sure I'll get used to it eventually, but as of right now I continue to get lost in my phone. I accidently hung up on someone today, didn't recognize one of my best friends when she called me, and was un able to silence the "Sex and the City" theme song as it blared out for the whole office to hear. Yes the entire song, it just kept going. Hmmm... Perhaps my phone is too smart for me?

Maybe. I'm not somone who quits this type of thing. Or someone who returns things. Everyone else seems to enjoy these mini Sphinxes called smart phones. So I'm left to think the problem is not the phone, it's the user. I'll have to log some serious study time with this baby so I can avoid phone blunders in the future. I'm sure it will become second nature to me, and I'll get to a point that I'll wonder how I ever lived without it.

The idea that I'm even talking about having to study my phone in itself is a joke. I remember when people didn't used to have cell phones. Yes I'm really dating myself here. And if someone did have one, it was a Zack Morris style one. Basically a brick with an antennae on it. Now you can buy a plane ticket and actually scan your phone at the check in counter. Crazy!

Ah technology. Can't live without it, and if you are like me it takes a ton of practice to live with it!

Choosing Poorly

As more people in my life started making poor decisions I got to thinking.

Really, what goes through these people's minds? Of course I'm not going to name names or describe specific incidents. But honestly how long can you sit back and watch someone make the same mistakes over and over again?

I'm not sure which is worse, that they make stupid choices or that I still care that they make stupid choices.

I realize I have no room to talk because I've made my fair share of poor choices. But I do stupid things without knowing it. IE reversing into people's cars...After the incident has occurred I realize, "Hey that was really stupid!".

In the face of decisions I don't consciously make the wrong choice, knowing it's wrong and that I'll regret it later.

Yet some people do this (repeatedly) and it baffles me. Why? Why do they do this. Does anyone know? I'd love to hear some thoughts on it because I do not get it.