To Minivan or Not to Minivan…

Posted on January 2, 2012 by Erin

Seriously, that’s the question I’ve been asking myself. It came about sort of suddenly. I was riding in the car last week with Nate and Jack and it suddenly came to me that Jack would need to have his carseat behind me and the infant carseat would have to go behind the passenger side. Currently Jack’s carseat is in the middle and I knew it would have to move I just couldn’t decide where to move it. Then I realized that in order to get both Jack and the baby into the car while it’s in the garage I would have to be able to put the infant seat in from the passenger side since I back in and the driver side is against the wall. There’s no way I could haul the baby seat around the car through the current maze of crap in our garage and get it into the car on the driver side while the car is in the garage.

And it was sort of all downhill from there.

So I started looking at them online (used, because HOLY SNOT new minivans are not cheap, but neither are new Pilots which is why my Pilot wasn’t new either) and they come with all sorts of fun features in the price range I was thinking. Things like DVD, built in Nav, a back up camera, POWER DOORS.. Nothing I really felt I was missing out on, but the fact that the possibility exists out there now makes me kind of excited.

So now I’m sort of back to waffling. I love my car. I’ve loved every car I’ve ever owned. I’ve never gotten a new car because of something I didn’t like about my old car, just because the new car seemed like a cuter, or more practical idea. But I really love my car, and there’s nothing wrong with it, and it’s a Honda so I trust that it will run forever. But what if a minivan would really be the better idea? OR! What if this is just a ridiculous hormonal nesting type of idea that never would have come to me otherwise and after I have the baby (or, like, next year really) when my pregnant woman-new-baby-hormones have settled down, will I still be *excited* about the thought of owning a minivan, or will I be kicking myself for letting me talk me into this? Plus, selling a car is not fun and I’m really not looking forward to that part of it, but this time I really want to get my car sold before I run out and buy a new one because I want to base the price of the new one at least somewhat on the price I get for my car.

Like I said, waffling.

So I think next weekend we’re going to go to a dealership to visit some minivans so that I can at least drive one and see all of the available bells and whistles before I make a final decision. And even then I expect for there to be more waffling. Surprisingly my sister thinks it’s a great idea for me to get a minivan and even though I’m sure she’d never be caught dead owning one, she thinks I’d actually love it. And fortunately Nate is very supportive and thinks that if I want to get one, I can get one, and if I don’t, then I don’t have to, which is very nice of him, and probably smart of him too so I can’t blame him later if I do/don’t get it and live to regret it.

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Just When You Think it Can’t Get Any Worse, it’s Pinkeye

Posted on December 30, 2011 by Erin

So I don’t know if it was instant karma for ignoring the doctor’s request yesterday, but this morning I woke up with my eye crusted shut. I figured I just slept on my face weird and ignored the redness and burning feeling, assuming it was just from leftover gunk getting in there to aggrivate it.

Two hours later I started to think maybe I was wrong so I called my sister, who is something of an expert on pink eye (I swear she got it 3-4 times one winter a couple of years ago) and she said probably it was actually pink eye. So I called the doctor and left a voicemail and am currently waiting to hear back.

That also means that I did not get to take Jack to see my Grandma, I did not get to take Jack to the park, and I also will not get to take that trip to Target. It’s really a shame too because it’s not too bad outside today and I had hoped to get him out there to run around and climb some.

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A Sinus Infection? Gee Thanks, Santa!

Posted on December 29, 2011 by Erin

So… Jack has had a LOT of colds over the last few months. A lot. For a couple of months we literally had a new cold every other week. It’s been awesome. Finally we thought we had an extra week off and then Jack developed a mystery fever that lasted just 2 days and somewhat impacted his sleep habits and then it went away and we couldn’t figure out what caused it.. until 3 days later both Nate and I had the worst sore throats and post-nasal drip.

Fast forward to today (it started Saturday, or overnight Friday to Saturday really) and I couldn’t take it any more, surely it’s not a cold any more it has to be a sinus infection so I made an appointment with the doctor. I mean even when I had what I thought was the worst cold ever (that I also caught from Jack.. thanks buddy!) It was only really bad for 2-3 days and then got a little better every day til it was gone (like 1.5 weeks later). This time it’s actually been getting worse. My head hurts at night so much that it wakes me up. I’ve been taking Tylenol, but come on now, that stuff is practically useless as a painkiller. Plus I could seriously go on and on about the snot. It’s really incredible. I’ve never experienced anything like it before in my life. It sucks.

So after consulting WebMD (who usually just tells me it’s a cold and I need to suck it up) it actually backed up my Sinus Infection theory so I scheduled a doctor appointment. The doctor, though, was not impressed. She wrote me a prescription for an antibiotic and recommended that I wait until the weekend to fill it, because it can take a virus up to 7 days before it starts getting better. The good news is that she also said I can take regular mucinex (which of course I had to buy because I only had extra strength mucinex D at the house) and also benadryl which should help me sleep tonight (please oh please let it help me sleep tonight). The better news is that she also gave me the prescription to hold onto until I was sure I needed it which means I got it filled on my way home and took the first dose tonight.

So chances are this doctor isn’t going to call me and drill me about whether I waited to get it filled, but I have to admit I do feel a tad guilty for going ahead with it. Oh well. Time to take a benadryl and head to bed. Wish me luck!

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Let’s Go to the Mall!

Posted on December 28, 2011 by Erin

So a few months ago my sister told me about how one of the local malls has a little train that drives around it and we’ve been meaning to take Jack to go see it but just never got around to it. I decided that today would finally be that day, so around 11:20 we finally made it to the mall!

I had hoped to get there around 11 when the train started (thank god I looked up the start time online last night because I would have been there at like 10 wondering why it wasn’t running..) but pretty much everything I did that morning took longer than I thought it would (surprise) so we were a tad late.

Anyways, Jack totally loved the train.

At the mall

Once we were in he was a little nervous, “want to get out” he said, but once it started running he decided he was OK with it after all and he had a blast!

At the mall

It did a lap around the (relatively small) mall and then dropped us back off. Fortunately it’s parked close to the “rides” or whatever they are, so we went over there to play next.

At the mall

He was so excited that by the time he got seated in one thing he was just about climbing out of it. Finally he settled into an animal ambulance thing, I put in the money for it, and he promptly climbed back out. So I figured maybe the “ride” aspect of it wasn’t really for him, he could just sit in them. And so he did. Back and forth and back and forth until he finally settled into SCOOP from Bob the Builder, which he LOVES.

At the mall

He loved it so much that he actually let me put money in it and rode in it the whole time. Because it was BOB! And BOB’S HAND! And CAT! And most importantly.. SCOOP!

So we played there until about 10 after noon and then headed home to pick up lunch on the way. Unfortunately about 15 minutes before we got home (I’d noticed he was fading and I was trying to keep him awake) I turned around and saw this.

After the mall

It was too late. No amount of talking, yelling, or leg shaking could wake up him up. Since we were so close to home and it was only 12:20 I figured he’d take a short nap in the car, wake up and have lunch, then play a little bit more before his nap. I would just push his nap back from 1 to 1:30ish or so to give him time to get tired again.

Sadly it did not work. I put him down at 1:30 and he did try really hard to get to sleep, it just never happened. So I left him in the crib to “keep trying” for almost an hour while I did some vacuuming and cleaned the bathroom real quick, then I went and rescued him. (He’s not a big fan of the vacuum lately so I really wanted to get that done while he was otherwise occupied.)

Finally around 3 I took him for a walk hoping that maybe he would doze off, but it didn’t happen. He was in a relatively good mood for most of the afternoon, just a little wired and maybe a little faster to start bawling if he didn’t get his way immediately, as in APPLESAUCE, NOW! But fortunately he was also easy to distract until dinner time.

Then just for kicks I asked him if he wanted a bath. I was sure the answer would be no (it always is) and he ran for the bathroom yelling “bath time!” Just when you think you have it figured out…

So I happily obliged, and into bed he went a few minutes early tonight. I don’t think we heard a peep out of him. That kid was ZONKED! I love it when that happens!

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Why My Dog Will Never Have a Jumbone Again

Posted on December 27, 2011 by Erin

Aka: Oh Shit. Literally.

That’s right, I gave the dog a jumbone for Christmas. If Gouda was still here I would have known better. I wouldn’t have given her one because I would have known it would tear his stomach up and we would all live to regret it. Without him here I thought I could get her a fun and tasty treat and she’d (temporarily) love it etc etc.

And so she did.

Christmas morning while Jack was opening his gifts (the ones he managed to open before he got tired of opening gifts and just wanted to play with the new toys he’d already opened, dammit) Layne was there shoveling that jumbone as fast as she could chew.

Fast forward to Monday morning, I heard Jack on the monitor so I got up to go pee before going to get him and on my walk to the bathroom I noticed one of Layne’s beds was moved and thought “well that’s weird” and I pushed it back to its home and then went on to the bathroom where I saw a pile of dog crap on the floor.

“Uh-oh,” I thought, and at that point I was really just thankful that she had the good sense to come do it in the bathroom on the easily cleaned up tile floor. So off I went, quietly back out, because Nate was still sleeping and I was going to be nice and let him stay that way, back around to my side of the bed to get my cellphone and then I’d go out to get a plastic bag and some spray to clean that crap up.

And then I stepped in it. That morning Nate quite literally woke up to me saying “oh SHIT” as I realized the dog bed had been moved to cover another pile of crap on the carpet and I had just stepped in it (thank god for socks). So much for letting him sleep in. Points for intent though, right?

So up we got and cleaned up the crap. My sister has my carpet cleaner, but fortunately we have a spot cleaner, little green something or other as a backup and that was enough.

So the moral of this story is “don’t try to do nice things for the dog, she’ll only poop on the floor.” (Not really, I’m sure she felt like crap (haha) and only went on the floor as a last resort and we did feel really sorry for her, but I definitely felt more sorry for me and Nate for having to clean that up.)

The forgotten child
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Spoon Wars

Posted on December 20, 2011 by Erin

Once upon a time (back in March, according to the video date) Jack started wanting to spoon his own food and I was a smug asshole who thought her precious snowflake was a damn genius, using the spoon all by himself!

Spooning!

Like 3 weeks later he decided that took way to damn long and he went back to letting us feed him.

9 months later I kept hoping he would decide to pick up the spoon on his own again, but his response was always “want mommy do it!” My goal was “before the baby comes” but as that is rapidly approaching I was starting to lose hope.

So Sunday morning we took matters into our own hands and have refused to hold the spoon/fork to feed him ever since. A few (impressive) tantrums and missed snacks later I think we’ve made some progress. This morning he ate his cereal with his fingers (yes there was milk) but he spooned the milk out to drink on his own, dumping off the cereal that happened to climb onto the spoon in the process. Then he asked to watch the fire truck video (off youtube) and I told him not unless he ate some cereal with his spoon.

Never underestimate the power of a youtube firetruck parade apparently, because he actually started scooping up cereal to eat!

Since then he’s eaten applesauce, and two different yogurt snacks (this kid is like a bottomless pit some days) while spooning it for himself. Mostly without spilling, like he’s just had the skills all along and he just didn’t feel like using them. I mean why feed yourself when you have minions to do it for you, amiright?

Spoon Wars
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My Dog Thinks I’m a Moron

Posted on December 12, 2011 by Erin

I mean, I don’t know what other conclusion to come to…

At target last week I bought the pets their “Christmas presents” (aka: treats for the cats and a jumbone thing for the dog). The bone sat on the kitchen counter in a target bag for an hour or so before I took it upstairs with Layne (still in the target bag) and dropped it off in an unfinished storage space where we keep the pet food (safe away from prying noses and teeth). I also made her a kong and stuck her in the pet room so I could run a few more errands.

When I got home and let her out I found that she had kicked some bag-butt in the pet room while I was gone. In the closet in there I have some plastic grocery bags, stored in a target bag, to scoop the litter box into. The closet doors remain open at all times because we keep no treats in there (on account of the prying noses and teeth, and the best way to convince those teeth that there is nothing interesting in the closet is to prove it with an open-door policy). So basically the only thing I can think of is that she saw that target bag (which is on a hanger, hanging in the closet) and thought that I was dumb enough to hang her jumbone in the closet, in her line of sight and well within her reach.

I am not that dumb, and like 4 defenseless plastic bags had to pay the price for her doubting my intelligence. I’m almost offended that she really thought I was dumb enough to put it in there like that, but it’s really just too funny.

Side Note: I would like to point out what I believe to be a complete lack of ability to use her sense of smell to detect food/treats. If she really used it/knew what she was doing with it, it should have been obvious that there was no bone in there. But it wasn’t. You may think that means that she knew it wasn’t in there and tore the bags up for some other reason but you may be wrong. For example, today I found a cheerio in the middle of the floor in the living room. It had to have been there for at least 3 hours because that’s when Jack finished snacking from the cup that had the cheerios in it, and Layne had DEFINITELY been in and around in there before, during, and after the snacking time period and didn’t notice the cheerio once. I literally had to get on the floor and point it out to her in order for her to find it.

Sometimes I wonder how a dog who is otherwise so smart can possibly also be so dumb.

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Cheddar and Horseradish

Posted on December 9, 2011 by Erin

So last weekend we were sitting down to lunch and Nate walked over and said “You know, I tried those cheddar and horseradish chips that you bought, but they’re a little weird for me.”

Umm, those WHAT that I bought?!

And then I couldn’t tell.. was he kidding? Because I most certainly did NOT buy cheddar and horseradish chips. Unless the bag of plain chips I bought was actually cheddar and horseradish and after an extremely long period at the store of debating between plain, which we all love, and salt and vinegar, which the pregnant woman loves, I went with the plain. Or so I thought.

But I mean.. surely he was just yanking my chain. I mean who has even heard of cheddar and horseradish chips, right? Who would eat that? It couldn’t be a real flavor.

So after I finished lunch I went to the pantry and had a look and there it was. Cheddar and Horseradish kettle cooked chips. Whoops! And then I tried them and you know, I don’t know that I’ve ever really tasted horseradish before. I’m pretty sure I leave it out of every recipe that calls for it because (a) I don’t have any and (b) it never sounded like something I would like so I never bothered to buy any and let me tell you WHEW those chips are strong. I don’t even know how to describe them. What’s even worse? As much as I don’t really even like them, if they’re out I can’t stop eating them. The flavor is too weird, it just pulls you back in!

So later that night we went to the local Christmas parade with my parents and Meg and her boyfriend Josh and I mentioned the chips. Turns out, Josh likes horseradish! And surprisingly everyone (including Jack) actually really liked the chips! Which, thank goodness, because without other people to eat them they would definitely have gone to waste and then I would have felt bad.

So let this be a lesson: When you spend too long staring a the chips on the shelf and in the end you just grab a bag from the “plain chips” area, double check it! Because you just never know.

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And Now it’s December

Posted on December 8, 2011 by Erin

Holy crap, how did that happen?? That puts me less than 3 months away from being a parent of 2 whole children (rather than the 1.5 I am currently claiming).  This pregnancy is seriously just flying by this time.

The good news is that after a trip to Target tomorrow (while my mom is watching Jack and I have time to wander aimlessly) I believe I will be 100% done with my Christmas shopping. Really I only have one more thing to buy, I just know it will involve a lot of standing and staring at things that I’m sure Jack would get bored with really fast, which is why he’s not invited.

I picked up my Christmas cards yesterday so hopefully I’ll get them addressed and mailed out soon. The Christmas tree went up last weekend so that’s taken care of. I have not put my lights out yet this year and I’m kind of bummed about that, but maybe I’ll find time to toss some lights on the bushes tomorrow and we’ll call that “good” for this year.

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So.. Funny Story…

Posted on November 19, 2011 by Erin
Texting injury by Geeky-Girl
Texting injury, a photo by Geeky-Girl on Flickr.

A few days ago I noticed an uncomfortable bump where my index finger meets my palm. It was starting to hurt if I bumped it so I made an appointment and yesterday I went to see the doctor. She said it was a cyst on my tendon and asked if I could think of any repetitive motion I was doing with that hand.. I couldn’t so she recommended I splint it for a week and if it didn’t shrink she’d refer me to a hand surgeon.

Later that afternoon as I was telling Nate what she said I got a text from Meg and as I flipped open my phone (Samsung Epic with a slideout keyboard) to text her back I realized this was the motion. The way I hold my phone totally rubs that part of my hand.

I got the phone for my birthday so I’ve only had it for about a month and apparently that’s just enough time to injure myself.

So now I’ve got my finger taped and I’m trying to adjust my phone hold.

Yay me?

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Toddler Free To-Do List

Posted on November 16, 2011 by Erin

It’s 9:45am and my mom has picked Jack up for the day. I’m in my jammies standing at the kitchen counter drinking coffee (decaf. sigh.) and eating broken cookie pieces out of a ziplock bag. I think I’m going to get along with unemployment just fine!

So for lack of something more interesting to write about (I mean I could tell you about how Jack has another cold, which makes 3 colds in the last few weeks and seems to be a pattern of about one cold every other week. But I’m not sure anyone wants to hear about how much snot someone that small can produce and how he says “boogums” when he gets snot on his face and actually asks to have his nose wiped sometimes), I’m going to share my to-do list with you!

1. Shower (important)
2. Drop a boatload of stuff at Goodwill
3. Clean Jack’s water table for winter storage
4. Vacuum downstairs (No way am I carrying the vacuum upstairs).
5. Dust
6. Clean the bathroom (leaving the chemically parts for Nate)
7. Watch last week’s Chuck off the DVR
8. Go to Target
9. Consider mopping hardwoods. I’m still up in the air about this one.

Ordinarily I would spread some of this crap out til Friday but this Friday I’m taking an online 4.5 hour conference call/resume class that my previous company paid for so I won’t have as much free time and I’ll need to go to the grocery when it’s done.  I can’t even imagine doing that for 4.5 hours so hold a good thought for me.

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Unemployment

Posted on November 15, 2011 by Erin

So as of today I am officially unemployed. They laid off a big group of developers at my company and so here I am. I’ve been trying ever since then to decide what to say about it here, but really even 3 weeks later (my last official day was yesterday and at this point I’m just so relieved that it’s done) I still don’t have much to say! Ideally they would have waited another month or so before hand, but overall I’m not too bummed by the whole thing, really. I mean who doesn’t love having an extra paycheck in the family, but really I’m lucky that we make it on one income so there’s no panic and rush get out there and find another job.

Instead I plan on relaxing at home (and working on my resume) and spending time with Jack (and catching up on my DVR shows and chores around the house).

It’s funny, I mean when we found out I was going to have all that spare time on my hands (my mom is still going to take Jack on Wednesdays and Fridays) my to-do list was suddenly huge and it seems to be growing daily.

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It’s a Girl!

Posted on October 28, 2011 by Erin

It’s official, in March Jack will have a baby sister. I have to admit on a practical level I had been really looking forward to reusing all of Jack’s old super cute boy clothes, but on the other hand I am also really looking forward to purchasing some really cute girl clothes. If there’s one thing I’ve noticed in the last year and a half it’s that girls have a WAY better selection than boys.

It also makes me want to redecorate our already gender neutral nursery. I mean the whole reason we picked that set (it’s really cute, and it’s definitely neutral) was so we could reuse it, but now I want a new one! I think I’ll have to settle for a new girly sheet or something like that instead. And maybe some decorative pillows to go on her big girl bed. Getting too far ahead of myself? Maybe.

So while I’m talking about little ones I wanted to share some conversations I had with Jack  yesterday after his swim lesson (which ends at 11:30).

After his swim lesson, still at the gym:
Me: Time to go home and have lunch!
Jack: Chicken nuggets!
Me: You want chicken nuggets for lunch?
Jack: McDonald’s!
Me: Sounds good!

In the drive through:
Me: So you wanted chicken nuggets, right?
Jack: Chicken nuggets! And french fries (which comes out more like fromp fries)! And chocolate milk!
Me: Don’t press your luck.

So in the end I did cave and get him chocolate milk, but I diluted it at home with regular white milk. That stuff is THICK!

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Bed Time!

Posted on October 10, 2011 by Erin

As Nate is putting him in his crib…

Nate: I love you, buddy!

Me: I love you, Jack!

Jack: I love you, Dump Truck!

Umm, what?! I mean he rarely says “I love you” at all, he’s still learning that one… but as we’re telling him we love him he chooses to say “I love you” for the first time as he’s going to bed.. and he says it to his dump truck.

Figures.

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Hard Work

Posted on October 5, 2011 by Erin

So over the weekend my mom took Jack with her after his Little Kickers soccer camp thing. (It’s not like real soccer, it’s like a bunch of 18-24 months olds running around together and there are also soccer balls). Nate and I then went home and started The Yard Project. He dug holes, I inserted, fertilized and watered plants (while wearing gloves). He shoveled 2 yards of mulch into the wheelbarrow countless times, I spread the mulch out with a rake. I would say I definitely got the good end of that deal.

All done

When all was said and done we planted 6 new plants, moved one plant, and had enough mulch leftover that we went ahead and mulched over the pine bark in our front beds. I put down a ton of weed barrier so hopefully that will help us out in the future. Over all I think it turned out pretty well.

I think I finally know the names of all of the plants in my back yard. I’m so proud of me! And we’re growing Lady Banks Roses up the side of that mini-pergola thing there so help block the view of the neighbors’ back yards. When that fills in I bet it will be amazing!

Also, I’d like to introduce you all to my new friend, Bird.

Hi, bird!

While I was shoveling the mulch around in the back, Bird was hopping around watching. He actually let me get pretty close to him. I was starting to worry that he was injured and we would have to make a trip to the bird sanctuary place, but turns out he was just eating the berries off my beautyberry bush and he wanted them badly enough not to mind that I was there raking mulch in the area at the time. I got that plant specifically because I wanted it to attract birds and I was excited to offer them a treat, but 3 years later this is the first time I’ve actually seen anyone eat off it!

So it took us umm.. around 4hours total I think? Not bad! It looks SO MUCH BETTER it was definitely worth it.

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