Le Sigh...

Im bummed! I have to go in for a procedure to correct a minor complication of my surgery. If this complication is the cause of my feeling sooooo icky and nauseated all the time, then I guess I should be happy to have it done. I just hate that this all isnt going perfectly. Im the type of person that when something big is going to happen - I prepare. I read and research my brain out. So when things like this happens, my brain goes, "Wait just a freaking minute! I didnt prepare for this to happen!" ugh

Its called anastomosis stenosis. Basically there is scar tissue constricting the opening and connection of my intestines to my stomach-pouch. This makes anything I drink/eat sit in my tummy for too long...and my tummy wants to send it back up. I go in Wednesday morning to St. Francis in Federal Way where they will knock me out, send a scope down to my tummy and stretch the opening to my intestines with a balloon. Lovely, huh? Hopefully by Wednesday evening, all will be well and I will be back on the road of protein drinks and vitamins galore - making my recovery speed up a bit!

Still on the Mend...

Im still recovering from surgery and let me apologize now for all these posts about surgery and recovering. Thats all Im doing and thats all my life consists of..so, you get to hear about it.

This past week was/is really frustrating. Im sick of feeling sick. Well, not really like Im sick...just not normal. I want to move around, drive, play with my daughter, eat normal things, not be nauseated ALL the time, not hurt, - you know, just be...NORMAL. I appreciate all the help Im getting, but I hate having to have it. PLUS...I lost my Rook and Monroe. That really pisses me off. I had to take out all piercings for the surgery. I got my Rook done in Las Vegas and I hate that I will have to get it redone anywhere else. About 5 days after surgery I tried to put them all back in and those two just refused to cooperate. *SNIFF*

I have major cabin fever also. Today hopefully I can go see Apocolypto with my Dad. He hardly ever goes to the "THEE-ater Showhouse" as he calls it so its always fun to go with him.

So Im just sorta blah and more blah. But I know I am mending. I actually took a shower without ANY assistance today. Its always a milestone when you can scrub your booty without intervention.

One unpleasant thing has started... keytosis. I know because I have an awful taste in my mouth constantly. Its not really bad breath - (imagine my relatives having to check my breath because Im so paranoid.) - Its just a really icky , fuzzy taste.

Im also supposed to be getting down vitamins and protein shakes, but I just cant right now. Even water makes me nauseated. Plus the protein drinks are gagarific. Mom Botts is nagging me TO DEATH about it. She is a vitamin ho for sure and in her eyes if you arent taking vitamins, then you are doomed for painful death. Imagine now that I dont eat anything, AND not taking vitamins. OMG she's on a warpath. If she ever asks, YES you are taking vitamins and YES you are pooping regularly.

Thats it for now.... Thanks again for all your well wishes, cards, and emails!

Ok, so I was wrong...

I really did think I was Superwoman and I would be all recovered and healthy by now. I am still in considerable pain, so I called my surgeon's office yesterday. "Um..Im still in pain, is this right? Is there something wrong?" She said, "Well *pause for a slight chuckle*, I will pass your question onto your doctor, but honey you had MAJOR surgery. You are going to hurt for a couple weeks at least. I had the same surgery as you and it took me a while to get back up on my feet." A WHILE!? I mean I know I had surgery, but even having an emergency c-section didnt set me this far back. *sigh* Its not like I want to go out and operate heavy machinery or anything, but just being able to get up and walk to the potty myself would be nice.

Speaking of all that help I need, I should take a quick second and thank everyone for coming over and helping me so much. Even my dad, who has a crazy work schedule has come over a few times and spent the night while Troy was working so Juju and I wouldnt be alone. My mom, my sister, and my mother in law have spent great amounts of time helping my crippled booty while I heal. Everything from feeding Troy and Juju to cleaning my house, to helping me walk around, to taking and entertaining a two year old who misses her mommy horribly. I appreciate it all. Thanks Fam!

The newest snafu in my recovery is I believe I pulled the muscle in my chest wall. It REALLLLLY hurts too. I think I did that by trying to do too much on my own. *sheepish look*

All my staples are out, including the stray one they forgot and I had to have my PCP do it. It took about 3 seconds and the total time in the office was about 7 minutes, including waiting. I paid an office call for that.....bastards!

Ive started my vitamins and protein drinks, (stop nagging me Mom Botts!) and it has been difficult. If you could imagine your stomach being the size of about 1oz and having to take vitamins plus 4 protein drinks a day... PLUS 64 ozs of water. How do you fit it all in!? There isnt enough time in the day! But eventually, Im told it will happen. In the meantime Im getting down what I can, walking the length of my house until the snow and ice melts and sucking down pain meds like mad.

Small Update

Just letting you all know Im home and recovering. There was no complications. I wasnt prepared for the pain as I typically think of myself as Superwoman when it comes to things that hurt. Im told Im dealing with more pain than a typical surgery because they completed three "surgeries" in one. Gastric bypass, gallbladder removal and hernea repair. I will write more when Im able to sit here longer. Thanks for all the well wishes.

Ok, Here's My Secret

I wasnt going to tell anyone this. And even as Im typing now, Im not even sure Im going to press the "publish" button. But I feel like trying to take this step in telling people.

I am having weight loss surgery.

This decision didnt come lightly. In fact for a long time I thought that surgery was way too drastic for almost anyone. I began researching WLS after I started researching PCOS. (Almost two years ago.) WLS is the only thing that comes close to curing PCOS. This is for several reasons. 1) PCOS makes it VERY difficult to lose weight. However, losing weight allieviates some of the symptoms. WLS makes it easier for someone who has PCOS to lose weight. Although, WLS is no where NEAR the easy way to do it. 2) The type of WLS I am having is called RNY Distal. (See Below.)

The Roux-en-y (or RNY) falls under the area of bariatric bypass surgery and is the most common gastric bypass procedure. In short, the RNY procedure reduces the size of your stomach and reroutes the digestive system.
Three major steps are involved in the RNY procedure: first, the stomach is stapled just below the esophagus, forming a 1-2 ounce stomach pouch above the staples.
The second step includes the division of the small intestines about one foot below the stomach. Then a new 1.5 centimeter opening (stoma) is created in the stomach pouch.
Finally, the open end of the small intestines is attached to the new opening. Food and fluids can now pass from the stomach pouch into the small intestines. The remaining end of the small intestines forms a "Y-shaped" intestinal junction at the base of the stomach. An opening is made to allow digestive juices from the bypassed part of the stomach to flow into the small intestines.

In this instance, "Distal" refers to the amount of small intestines that my surgery will be bypassing. Its the most amount of small intestines that can be bypassed. The reason this is important in my case is because the section of intestines that will be bypassed includes where sugar is absorbed by the human body. My body incorrectly processes sugar and food in general. Because of PCOS, my body turns absolutely everything into sugar, and of course, excess sugar = fat. So, instead of my body incorrectly processing sugar, it wont process it AT ALL. What this means is, after the surgery, I cant eat sugar. AT ALL. If I do, I will get extremely sick. Vomiting, diarrhea, sweating, elevated heart rate and blood pressure are the symptoms of whats called Dumping Syndrome. Basically your body is dumping out what it cant process. Its very painful - Ive seen my Aunt Donna go through it about 5 minutes after eating BBQ sauce that contained sugar. It wasnt easy to see her in so much pain, and I now am a witness of what will happen if I indulge in chocolate.

Emotionally, I feel like I am prepared to do the surgery. Taking this final step in telling people by broadcasting it on my blog is what I feel like - my final preparation. Its been such a long time coming and only VERY few people knew about it. I feel like Im coming out of the closet! HAHA So if you are feeling slighted that I didnt include you, please dont be. No one knew as I prepared. Aunt Donna knew first because she herself is one year out from her surgery - so I picked her brain like mad. My husband, my parents, my sister, and two other very close individuals to me are the only ones who knew about it - and they only got to know about a month ago. For those of you who I told I was having gall bladder surgery, I didnt lie. LOL They are taking my gall bladder out at the same time. I just omitted... Im sorry. :-)

Ive been overweight in some capacity all my life. It makes sense now that as the PCOS got more extreme, so did my weight. In preparation and research for my decision, I came across some interesting statistics. Only 5% of people who lose any kind of weight keep it off for over 5 years. Think about it....who do you know lost some weight - only to have it come back, (plus more), within 5 years? I only know one person who has kept weight off for that long. Carol L. She is awesome and VERY disciplined. She looks amazing! But that isnt the normal, and I know she constantly works at it. Ok, take some like me who has PCOS, and hereditary issues like the obesity gene, diabetes and thyroid disease. Someone who has all those strikes against them only has a 1% success rate of keeping weight off. Oh, and of that 5% of people who are successful?.... some of those are made up of people who have had WLS. So... this decision became a no-brainer on tail end of almost 2 years of research.

Life after surgery for me will be drastically different. Not just because of what I will be eating. Because the surgery causes extreme malabsorbtion issues, I will need to take vitamin supplements and protein drinks every day for the rest of my life. For the first 8 weeks I will be putting nothing in my body but water, clear liquids like broth, sugar free jello, and crystal light, vitamins and protein drinks. I will be taking about 22 pills a day, plus powdered calcium. Im a weenie at taking pills too,....so it will be a challenge!

I suppose I will eventually be posting pictures so you all can see my progress. Right now, Im not that brave for you all to see pics - or know the magic numbers. I know most of you see me often, but still...seeing my chub and my chub number on the internet is not something I want to do. HA

So...wish me luck and pray for me. My surgery is scheduled for Tuesday November 21st. TWO DAYS!

My Icky Eye...Oh yes, The Never Ending Story

So I once again tried the, "ignore it and it will go away" method of dealing with my eyeball. This only resulted in my eye getting worse. It doesnt like to be ignored, and like an obsessive ex-girlfriend, my icky eye keeps reminding me its still there.

Ive had several bloodtests recently to check my thyroid. My doctor seems convinced something is wrong with it. She said she is concerned about Graves Disease. Me...? Not so much. Even tho one of the symptoms is red bulging eyes. Im still going to do the thyroid scan this thursday. I go in to the hospital I swallow some radioactive iodine. I then go back 4 hours later and have a scan done of my thyroid. The iodine will have made its way through all my veins and organs and it will highlight the problem area - if any!

My preliminary bloodtests were not off the charts by any means. Which suggests that Graves is not an issue. Im still within the normal range - just high-normal. Also a symptom of Graves and hyperthyroidism is unexplained weightloss. *blinks* Well THAT certainly isnt happening! I just have an icky, rebellious, unrelenting eyeball.

Sadness

I wont mention any names out of respect for the family and my friend, but I do feel like I need to write about it. This is probably out of selfish reasons...trying to make sense of a senseless death...trying to pull a situation full circle after the circle had been interrupted prematurely. Closure in my own way I suppose.

I loved her...she was my friend. We connected on a few life details...even if they seemed shallow, we connected. She loved Jesus, make up, fun. Me too. She reached out to me. Sent me a note - told me I was an amazing person that made her feel good. That made me feel good. Then life changes. Life changes you. Life changes things. Choices are made. Lifestyles separate. I hadnt seen her in so so long. But she was still that girl who was my friend. The pretty fun girl with the gorgeous eyes and the gorgeous kids.

I should have reached out. Should have done more. Should have told her she was amazing and special. Should have kept the connection. Should have called her. Maybe the outcome would be different? That sounds arrogant. That my reaching out could have changed things. Who am I? But I cant help but wonder....and probably always will.

I'll miss the light she brought. Her laughter, her voice, her funny way of having a conversation while minding 3 effervescent boys. I'll miss my friend.

Sharing Pictures...

I know I talk a lot about Dylan and Mak on here, but I dont often post pictures of them. They are soooooo good with Jubilee. She loves them so much. Here are some pictures we had taken of all of them and some with just Juju too.

A Scary Looking Bunch!

Pumpkin Carving!!

Tonight was Pumpkin Carving night. Holly, Dylan, Makayla and Baylee came over and brought their pumpkins. We spent lots of time carving and scraping....here is our end result!

Jubilee enjoyed the pumpkins. Last year she would only touch the pumpkin guts once. This year she really loved digging in!

Happy Birthday Jason!

Today is my brother-in-law's birthday. He's old. But fun. We love him. As Juju as said all day today, "Happy Burtday Unc!!"

Im Now a Dove Girl

Ive never bought Dove products before, but Im going to start.

Anyone who knows me, knows Ive not always conformed to the mainstream concept of beauty. Stick thin waifs with fake boobs, a mystic tan, and a head full of bleach blonde hair extentions will never make my, "Wow, she's gorgeous" list. In fact, like most realistic women, I have come to hate the Hollywood/Media machine that takes talented beautiful women and turns them into Britney Spears or Lindsey Lohan.

I once had a friend,...who married another one of my friends - and they'll remain nameless. He became addicted to porn. Porn in all mediums that escalated to the break up of their marriage. His reason for leaving his wife and two children? "She wasnt good enough." The standard by which he was measuring his wife was a Porn Star. The perfect hairless body, the perfect fake ta-tas, the perfectly fake sexual experiences. To him, a woman should be, act, and look like the actresses, (using that term VERY loosely - no pun intended...hahaha), in porn films. I think society, the entertainment industry, and the media are doing the same thing. Creating these fake, unrealistic goals of what a woman should look like...most of us fall short and are being taught to be ashamed of it.

Check out this video: http://www.campaignforrealbeauty.com/ I love that Dove has put this together...and put it out there for everyone to see. Plus the Self-Esteem project is just what I think young girls need these days. If I had a ton o' money, I would put together a similar project. I think low self-esteem in pre-teen and teenage girls is an epidemic. I mostly certainly know, (partially by experience), that it is a pathway to drugs, eating disorders, self-image distortions, and a poor judgement and problem solving. Particularly when it comes to men. Imagine if some of those poor choices and self-hatred could be untaught? Or warded off all together? Imagine what an intelligent, confident young woman would not have to overcome if she didnt buy into the "Im not good enough" cult?

I am hoping I can instill those exact values in my own daughter. Spending her life comparing herself to her own goals and gifts and not those fake concepts of beauty and worthiness set forth by those around her. Believing in herself. That would be a beautiful thing.

Whats Happenin'?

Well, the short answer to that question is, not much. We're just living life and the days seem busy even thought there is not much to speak of. Just the daily grind of being the very entertained mom of Jubilee and what not!

Saturday we went to the Harvest Carnival. Its a fundraiser for Jubilee's Pre-3 school. We made a family trip of it taking Holly, Dylan and my Dad. Mom Botts was in Seattle with Aunt Jan. The five of us piled into the Grocery Getter and went to the local community gym where the parents of the Co-op transformed it into a Halloween/Harvest fun fair.

It was fun seeing all the kids in costume and even some of the parents in costume. It was also quite interesting to see all the kids, their parents, and how Juju interacted with them. Jubilee doesnt get much socialization with kids her own age beyond her one day a week at school. Once she hits 3, that will change since there are lots of activities for 3 years and up at our church, but until then, we're limited. And its something we need to work on, really! How do I know this? Well, I got my first clue upon entering the "play area" at the carnival and seeing Jubilee announce with moxie that every toy was, "MINE!!" When I explained to her that she had to be polite and say please, she would run up to a toy and say, "Kids! Please my turn? Kids! Wait! My turn please!" The other startling clue was when she went up to a boy Winnie the Pooh and pushed him because.... well, Im not really sure what infraction he committed - besides dressing up as Winnie the Pooh. But she wasnt happy. Jubilee was made to apologize to Pooh. Other than those mishaps in the play area, Jubilee had a good time. She ate pizza and candy, got her face painted and even had a picture key chain made with her cousin Dylan.

Among the adult activities was a silent auction and raffle. Nothing in the auction caught my eye, but the raffle had two packages with really good photographers so I entered both of those. Holly bought a bunch of tickets and spead them around to the various prizes. Including, and Im not sure why she did this, in the bag that went with the prize that she put together, and the Peninsula Daily News donated. It was a DVD player with a basket movie kit. It had soda, popcorn, and tons of candy. In fact, she bought all the candy and soda herself to go with the PDN DVD player. As she dropped her ticket in the bag she said, "Watch...the one thing I win will be the stuff I donated." Sure enough...she called me the next day to confirm her premonition. She had won the DVD and movie basket. HAHA

After the carnival we dropped Dad Botts off at his second home, The Eagles. Its a club, bar, pool table place. You have to be a member to go in and we sat in the Grocery Getter waiting for him to cross the foyer and enter the bar area. I like to do that because it seems like such a forbidden place. Im not a member so of course I want to go in. I like to look in the door as he opens it to see what sort of secrets lay inside. As my sister pointed out, we expect him to open the door and everyone to yell, "DAVE!" like they did for Norm on Cheers.

Jubilee is still doing great with using the potty. However she is no where near ready for no diapers at night time. She still has a very wet diaper in the morning. Yesterday I forgot to put a diaper on her when she took a nap and she woke up wet. The only day time accident she's had is at the store. Holly, Dylan, Juju and I went there to pick out stuff for the above mentioned movie basket. Jubilee loves balloons and I let her pick out one to take home. No sooner did we get back to the car when the balloon flew off her wrist and into the air. She stared at it for a minute and said, "Oh no!" Then the suprise turned to utter shock and sadness when she realized it wasnt coming back. She stared up at the sky and her balloon drifting away and cried the most pitiful cry. "My baaalllllooooooooooooooooooooooon!" Holly, the dutiful Auntie, took Jubilee back into the store to pick out another balloon. I was just going to let Jubilee mourn the loss of her Micky Mouse balloon, but Holly would have none of that. They went inside the store, got the balloon, and got in line to pay for it. This is where Jubilee stated she had to go potty. In these situations you can usually ask her to hold it and she will. But just then a man cut in front of Holly. The wait was more than Juju could bare, and she peed right there in line, on the floor. Holly said that instead of Juju feeling bad she had an accident, she just announced to everyone as loud as she could, "I PEED! I PEEEED!"

Thats all thats happenin'! I do want to do a special shout-out to my cousin Janet who made this AWESOME water hose art for the silent auction. She works her booty off all day and still had time to do that. Thanks Janet!

Conversations with Jubilee

"Mom-mom?"
"Yes Juju?"
"nooooo... I Jubee!" (Jubilee)
"Oh..Ok, Yes Jubilee?"
"Mom-mom?"
"Yes Jubilee?"
"Nooooo... I Gorgeous!" (Nickname from her Dad)
"Ok, Yes Gorgeous?"
"ummm...Hi!"
______________

"Jubilee, what would you like for breakfast?"
*finger tapping on her chin...* "hmmm.... woooorrrrmmmmmsss!"
______________

"Mom-mom?"
"Yes?"
"I want a baby brother."
*blinks* "You want a baby brother??!!" *wondering where the heck that came from*
"Yeah! PLEAAAAAAAASE baby brother! I want a baby brother!"
"Baby brothers arent all that fun. They stink, they steal your toys, they will toot in your face and they pee with the toilet seat up! Do you still want a baby brother?"
*pause thinking about it all* "..... YEAH!"
"No, we wont be getting a baby brother...sorry."
*crying hysterically like I just refused to feed her for a week* "PLEEEEEEEEEEEEEEZE!"
"No baby brothers. How about a popsicle instead?"
"...Okay!"
______________

In Safeway in a VERY loud voice:
"OH NO MOMMY! I tooooooted!"
*hurrying to hide on the next isle* "Ok, what do you say then?"
"Scoopsy" (excuse me)
"Can you use your quiet voice?"
"Cant! I HAPPYYYYYYYY!"
"You can still be happy and use your quiet voice."
"Like in library? I TOOTED AGAAAAAAIIIIIN!"
"Juju. Be quiet please. Yes, like in the library."
"Scoopsy..... I STINKYYYYY!"
________________

Thank You Steph!!!

I just had to post a little thank you to Steph who gave me a great idea for Juju's ill-fitting pants problem. I spent a couple hours, (yes hours, I know about as much of sewing as I do football), sewing hooks and eyes on Juju's pants. Right now she is comfortably wearing a size 18 month embellished jeans and they arent falling off her tooshy! Thank you Steph!

Ma Petite

I have run into a bit of a problem when it comes to Jubilee and her clothing. I say "a bit" even though it annoys me to no end because in the grand scheme of life, this is nothing to complain about. But, when you buy your kid an adorable outfit that you just love to see them in, you want it to fit, right?

Jubilee has always been on the small side. Even in the womb she was small. During the endless ultrasounds I was given, I never failed to hear, "Her limbs seem a little small...". Most of my family is short so Jubilee never really had a chance to be statuesque. However, as she has gotten older and grown, she has always stayed on the same growth curve....right around the 1-3 percentile. So, there was no alarm for her size....shes just petite and thats ok!

Except now, Im annoyed with how clothes are fitting. Its not uncommon to see Jubilee running around hiking her pants up. And, since she is potty trained, there is no bulk of a diaper to hold up the pants. So you get an idea of her size:

Weight: 23lbs
Height: about 31 inches

For comparison sake, look at Mr. Marcus stats here. Marcus is the handsome boy of some friends of mine in North Carolina. Jubilee is just a few pounds more than a 6 month old baby! Yikes!

Jubilee is 2 years and almost 5 months. In shirts and dresses she can wear 24 months...they are baggy but they are just long enough to accomodate her long trunk. Well, long in comparison to her legs. In skirts and shorts she can easily wear any thing from 6 to 12 months. For long pants and jeans....practically nothing fits. Either the legs are too short, or the butt and waist is too big. Its fall here now and Jubilee has no long pants to wear! We are resorting to lots of dresses, skirts, and even shorts with thick cotton tights. (which are ill-fitting also - bunching the length of the tights up around her thighs.)

So whats a Mommy to do? I cheat. Yep, Im that annoying person who switches sizes on the outfits in the store. Just last week we got Jubilee the cutest pink and burgandy jogging suit that came as a set. Top and jacket - 24 months, bottoms - 12 months. Somewhere someone is going to buy the same outfit in the reverse sizes. Oopsy! Hopefully some parents with a pair-shaped kid will be very happy.

I have also resorted to pinning Jubilee's pants in the back. Ive tried safety pins, (they are NOT deserving of their moniker), an office supply clip, and those gatherers that they used to put on the back of sack dresses people wore in the 90s.

Hopefully her little bum and legs will grow soon. Otherwise as an adult she will look like a tomato on toothpicks and we'll have to change her name to Bob.

Where Is My Little Juju?

Where did my little girl go? Everyone told me it goes by fast...watching your kids grow up. But seriously, did someone take my baby and replace her with this two year old going on 12?

Yesterday we spent an hour cleaning up Jubilee's room, packing old clothes up, and rearranging for her toddler bed. Up until now we were still using the crib and I kind liked having a place to corral her. But since she became totally potty trained for day time, she's been waking up at night wanting to go potty. So I figured it was time for a bed she could get out of on her own so she could start learning how to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night too.

Like almost every big change in Jubilee's life, I try to read up on it first so I know what to expect. I have heard some not-to-pleasant stories about kids being up all night, bouncing in and out of their new beds with the new found freedom. Bedtime suddenly becoming a nightmare and a power struggle and making the parent wonder if their child should ever have come out of the crib.

So I was prepared. We got some new Dora the Explorer bed linens. This was something that I wasnt thrilled about. I dont really like to put my kid in "character" type stuff. Especially clothes. I swore she wouldnt own any apparel with Disney or other cartoony characters on it... and to this day I only caved on a pair of super cute Boohbah tennis shoes that she only wears for play and a couple sets of Dora pajamas. But when we went to this really great 2nd hand store for kids here in town called Twice Upon a Child, I couldnt resist the Dora the Explorer sheets, pillowcase and blanket for 10 bucks!

Dylan and Makayla were here after school and they helped us rearrange her room and convert the crib into the toddler bed. As we were doing this, Jubilee got very agitated. She was VERY worried about her crib being taken apart. When we took the mattress out she kept telling us, "put it back! put it back!". I tried explaining she was going to get a big girl bed and that it was going to be cool....but she just didnt believe me. That is, until we got it all set up, Dora trappings and all. Well thats all it took! She climbed in and out of her own bed probably 50 times just because she could! When it was finally bed time we kept the same routine; shower, brush teeth, jammies, mommy's bed for one cartoon, read a story, then bedtime. She layed right down, snuggled her babies and went to sleep. No struggle, no up and down out of bed every 10 mins...nothing! Piece of cake!

Its almost 6am now and she should be waking within the next hour. We'll see if she gets up on her own or calls for me like she did in the crib!

Seriously tho, shouldnt this growing up thing go just a little bit slower!?

My New Parrot!!

I have a new parrot! She is very colorful, has blue eyes, and loves to talk up a storm! She has a playful personality, is so very friendly, and loves to play with all her toys. She is mucho smart too. In fact, she is so smart that she has taken to repeating everything we say! Even things I dont even realize are a part of my regular vocabulary. My new parrots name??
JUBILEE!

Oh yes friends... the time has come. The time where you stub your toe and a little curse word comes out in the painful aftermath - only to hear said curse word over and over again in joyful child-like tones for the next 10 mins. ACK!

Jubilee has always been a talker. She may have rolled over, crawled and walked late, but she talked early on and never stopped. I may have ignored the signs that my little parrot would be coming in full force soon. Like the time she busied herself in my bedroom and found condoms ....only to decide they were better kept in the microwave. When I pulled them out with surprise she asked, "Whats that!?" I answered truthfully...still in shock at seeing condoms in the microwave, "...condoms". So for the next 20 mins I heard a singsong of cheerful delight, "condomscondomscondomscondoms....CONdoms!!!!!!!"

There have been other words along the way she picked up - temporarily of course. When we camp Mom Botts makes the best breakfast concoction that my sister endearingly named Breakfast Crap. When Mom Botts once decided to stray from the original design of The Crap and got creative to make a different, (and not so good) version, my sister lovingly donned it, Crap the Sequel. So of course The Parrot soon picked up "crap". Once my Mom gave Jubilee an ice cream cone of a different color than she normlly gets at Mema's house, and Jubilee looked at it confused and perplexed... Mom asked her, "What do you got? What is that?", of course expecting Jubilee to say, "ICE CREAM!!!". Instead, The Parrot looked at the green ice cream and said, "Crap!"

So given all her history of picking up questionable words for a two year old's vocabulary, I probably should have been watching what I say. For the most part, I dont swear a whole lot. When Im angry I can rival a truck driver, but thats never around Juju - usually around Troy tho....hmmm. ;-)

Imagine my surprise when The Parrot came bouncing into the living room after her nap, found her new white dress shoes, picked them up with surprise and awe on her face and said, "OH MY GAWD!!" Not only did she just exclaim this, but she said it so crystal clear and with such gumption that she sounded like an old jewish woman gossiping on her stoop! It was then I realized that "oh my god" was a very regular part of my vocabulary and even tho it seems non-eventful when I say it, its quite the different story hearing it come out of a two year old's mouth! So...needless to say, we are now working on saying, "Oh my goodness" and hopefully The Parrot will follow suit.

Its October! Halloween is Coming!

Halloween is coming.... LOVVVVVE Halloweenie! Cool thing about Halloween now is I have a little person I get to dress up! Until she gets to the age where she wont let me pick out her costume anymore, Im going to have fun! Bonnie, a very nice lady Troy's Mom works with, gave Jubilee this dress:

We're going to add some black wings and a gold crown with some black feathers and call her a graveyard fairy. Fun!


Dylan and Makayla got costumes that are similar and we will be haunting various households on Halloween night! If we show up on your door step you better give them candy or we will unleash the fury of the graveyard fairy on you and your descendents! MUAHAHAHAHA!!

Oh Yeah! The Blog!

I have been awful about keeping up on this lately. Not that Ive really forgotten about it...my life just hasnt been interesting lately. Well...wait - I take that back. Lots has been happening, just nothing I can publicly talk about. There is one major thing going on in my life....it really has nothing to do with anyone else but me, but its big - to me. However, only a few (and by few I mean 4) people know about it and I like to keep it that way. So basically I just wrote that to let you know Im going thru something huge and you dont get to know. Neener!

Jubilee started Pre-Three School last week. She loves school. At this age school is nothing more than play, crafts, singing and reading...but she loves the interaction with other kids. I stay home so day care to us means grandma takes her overnight to give me a break occasionally. Socialization will be something I need to work at with Jubilee since Im hoping to either home school or some how afford private school. Jubilee loves to socialize, but getting the opportunity to do so is another thing. So in addition to school this year, we have started going to Pre-K Play Zone. Its sort of like Ghettosville's version of Gymboree. We show up 3 times a week to tumble and play with other kids. Jubilee is totally digging it. She is the only kid in both preschool and Play Zone that is potty trained.

Speaking of being potty trained, Jubilee continues to have no accidents most days. She had one due to being sick to her tummy, ( THAT was fun to clean), and you could tell she felt horrible about it. She kept crying, "My panties! Oh noooo my ponies, my panties!!!" (She was wearing My Little Pony panties.) When we are in the car and she says she has to go potty, I tell her to hold it and she will clasp her hands together really tight and say, "I hold it!!", and she makes it to the big girl potty once we get home. Good think everything in Ghettosville is only 10 mins away. The next step is potty training for night time. Im still waiting for her to wake up with a dry pull-up. Now may be the time to change the crib over to the toddler bed so she can get up when she needs to go potty. Am I ready for her to be uncorralled at nighttime?! ACK!

Jubilee has been two for 4 months now. I keep waiting for "the terrible twos" and they just arent happening. ....yet anyway. Jubilee really is a good kid, easy to discipline and seems to be learning manners and lessons. I know this will change at different ages and phases, but I guess I just keep waiting for it. Dont get me wrong, she spends time in The Naughty Chair with her nose on the wall, but I havent yet seen the big temper tantrum or any acting out that you normally see at this age. Makes me wonder whats coming! HAHA Some say it isnt the The Terrible Twos at all, and really its The Terrible Threes. We shall see.

One other notable thing I must brag about is I have given up soda. Some of you may be saying, "yeah...so....?", but if you only knew how addicted I was to Diet Mt. Dew, you would be patting me on the back! I used to drink at least 3 a day and at any given time had what seemed like 100 cans littering my computer desk. But I knew I was not getting enough water and in an effort to be more healthy, I decided it was time. I mourned for a day, then just quit cold turkey with caffiene withdrawl headaches that would bring a masochists to their knees for about a week. I now drink nothing but crystal light and water and I dont even miss Diet Mt. Dew!

Ok, Im done boring you with the trivial details of my life.....for now...:)

Mocha, Latte, Chapstick Grande Please...

Sorry for not having a post for you all the past few days. (Altho, I think I have all of a 2 member readership.) Both Jubilee and I had been feeling under the weather with some sort of sinus ickiness, but we're both feeling better today.

Today we went on a long walk and then decided to hit Costco. I love Costco. Where else can you get 36 rolls of toilet paper for cheaper than dirt? While we were there, Jubilee made friends with the young and old alike, always asking, "What doing? Shoppin'? What you name?" As I've said before, its a good thing Im not shy.

I was going to hit Safeway, (Or Safeco as the cool people call it ;-) ), but Jubilee was about to fall asleep by the time we got back to Port Angeles. Ah well, ...the much needed Cheerios and Raspberry Crystal Light will have to wait.

When we got home I put away the Costco groceries and Jubilee busied herself playing with my Garfield coffee cup. She spent lots of time and in great detail making the coffee. We dont drink coffee in this house. Ive never drank coffee, and neither does Troy, so we're not sure where she learned how to make it or even call it coffee. I know my mom and Troy's dad drinks it, but I dont think they have her in training to work for Starbucks. In any case, Jubilee knows all about coffee, sugar, and creamer and I bet can make a mean cup!

Besides my Garfield coffee cup, Jubilee has also taken to playing with my chapstick. Yes, I admit it. I have an addiction. I am a hopeless Chapstick fiend. It has to be Chapstick, and it has to be original flavor. I have been known to use the Strawberry kind now and then, but for the most part, Im loyal to original. I have tubes of Chapstick on just about every surface of my house. I have tubes scattered in drawers and cupboards so Im never out of arms reach of at least 3 tubes. Jubilee has discovered this. She now loves Chapstick too and I have passed my addiction onto my spawn. Before Jubilee came along, I was very particular about even the shape of my Chapstick. I knew how far up I wanted the lip balm sticking out of the top, and I applied the Chapstick in the exact manner it would take to get the perfect, smooth, round shape for optimum application. Now, after Jubilee has been invading my special Chapstick resting spots, all my chapstick has little grooves and gouges in them and looks like a little mouse has been nibbling on my perfect little lip balm for a snack! Good thing Chapstick isnt poisonous.

So after enjoying a nice, hot, pretend cup of coffee, (stirred gently with Chapstick), I put Jubilee down for a nap. I think I will take one too!

"Whoa, The Girl I Love, She's Got Long Wavy Back Hair"

Now Im going to have that song in my head all day.... Meh, thats ok. There are worst to have stuck in your head than Led Zeppelin. For example, yesterday it was the Go, Diego Go theme song. Dont you hate it when you have a song stuck in your head and you dont know all the words? This is what I was singing all day yesterday: "Go Diego Go...Go Diego Go! .... something something in spanish.... Go Diego Go!" After that, for a brief couple hours it was the Silly Songs with Larry favorite, "Barbara MANATEEEE! How I long for THEEEEEEEE......." *sigh* All of a sudden I really feel like I need to listen to some Disturbed. HAHA!

I have totally gotten off subject of what this post was supposed to be about and thats MY HAIR! I understand that for some of you this post can be filed under, "As if I cared..." But, like every girl needs to, Ive got to talk about my hair for a minute.

Its really grown.....long. The back, in the longest layer, is down almost touching the tattoo on my lower back. I wear it up a lot. Chasing a two year old makes that a necessity unless I want to use peanut butter and marker for a hair product. For those of you that have known me forever, know that Ive always colored my hair. At one time or another my hair has been every color in the rainbow. Sometimes those colors were on my head all at once! But for the past couple years Ive been dying it jet black. After having Jubilee it just became easy and cheap and, well, lets face it....I can rock the black hair. Naturally, my hair is a mousy ash brown. Not the brown that is rich and full of deep highlights....its a brown that makes you think of dog poo thats been dried in the hot sun of the Arizona desert. Was that too graphic? Well....you get the idea.

Lately I had been missing the fun of having different colors in my hair and decided it was time for a change. Knowing that lightening up box-dyed black hair was going to be a challenge, I researched for a good colorist in my area and came up with a quirky perky girl named Kristen. I brought pictures of the red/violet and blonde streaks that I wanted. Kristen did a GREAT job....however it is difficult lifting black dye off of longgggggg hair. So it didnt come out exactly how I pictured it.... but she still did a great job.

I might go back for the blond streaks since some of my hair is lightened up enough to get them actually blond instead of that brassy orange that bleaching dark hair always brings. My mom didnt hate it as much as she thought she would...so that tells me I need a little more done to it. hehe

That picture was taken a few weeks ago the day I got the color done. Today its still as bright as that. Like I said, she did a good job. Although I only wash my hair once a week....maybe once every 8 or 10 days....and that helps a lot with keeping color. If I wash it any more than that, its WAY too clean and I cant do a thing with it. Besides, considering my shower drain already looks like a black and pink Chewbacca owned the tub, I may be bald if I wash it any more than that!

Camping Freaks

Oh What a Weekend: chapter two

After The Pickle Eating we got down to some serious camping business. This included eating and especially drinking. I didnt drink much since I had Juju, but I did enjoy some concoctions curtesy of Janet's and Holly's imaginations. My favorite was something we now call The Smartie. I think that one was vodka, grape juice and diet Squirt. Tasted like a Smartie!

Kim Cleavland and her husband Carl camped with us this time. I hadnt seen Kim in a long time and she looked gorgeous. She is one helluva cook too. She and Carl brought all their "kids" including Calvin. Calvin is a HUGE rottweiler...I bet he easily weighs 150lbs but he acts as docile as a sedated bear ready to settle in for hibernation. His head is as big as Jubilee...all of Jubilee! I think Janet has a pic of him she is sending me.

While we were drinking Smarties and sitting around the campfire, we started discussing tattoos. Janet had given everyone henna tattoos earlier in the day and this had inspired talk of Mom Botts and Janet getting real tattoos. We decided one day the four of us; Holly, Janet, Mom Botts and myself were all going to get a tattoo together. We discussed at length....while getting tipsy... what our tattoos would look like. We settled on a tasteful, pretty campfire with weenie roasting sticks and hot dogs hovering above it. Holly's would say, "Big Weenie", mine "All Beef", Janets, "Kosher", and Mom's "Lil' Smokie". *blinks* This has to be the reason tattoo artists refuse to give ink to drunk people.

As we were sitting around the campfire, lots of talk and laughter ensued. I even unintentionally did my sprinkler laugh that I have taken great time and skill to avoid. What spurred this fit of laughter was my Dad drinking his drink which contained a Cheeto puff Makayla and I snuck into his glass. We watched from the corner of our eyes for a good 20 mins while he sipped on his Loudmouth with a ever soggy Cheeto in it. At one point he even was swirling his glass around looking at the ice inside. Still he did not notice the Cheeto. At last he finished his drink...flinging the last drops of it into the fire with flare....the Cheeto along with it. How could you drink a whole coke and whisky with a Cheeto puff in it and not notice!?!? The only thing we could think of is he liked the taste. What would you call this drink: 2 parts Coke, 1 part whisky, 1 part Cheeto puff? (Make sure to leave your answer in the comment section.)

Dad sipping on his Loudmouth and Cheeto.

Oh What a Weekend!

It was Labor Day weekend. The big last hurrah for the camping ho's in our family. At first I didnt want to go....the last camping trip I had was ...well... not so fun. So I adamately proclaimed I wasnt attending this last big get-together. However, as I previously reported, Holly promised to eat a pickle if I camped.

The Pickle Eating was the first thing on the agenda. Afterall, I had to have incentive to stay. Before leaving town, I stopped at the store and got a giant pickle....the biggest I could find. No way was Holly getting away with just eating a baby kosher dill. Nope. She was going to consume a Big Papa Dill. It was roughly the size of a 16 oz. water bottle packaged in a plastic bag with neon yellow pickle juice. I love pickles and it looked grody even to me. The juice was thick and turned her tongue and teeth an icky shade of puke green. She of course immediately regretted her promise, and begged to not have to eat it, but what kind of sister would I be if I let her take back her promise!?

Oh What a Weekend Continued in Next Post....

General Babbling

Not too much going on recently, just potty training, (altho Im not sure there is much training going on still....she's pretty much got it after the first day), and regular life stuff.

Today my two favorite boys from Bellvue, Jamie and Jeff, stopped by while they were in town. Its always fun with them around. I introduced Jamie to City of Heroes and he is definitely going to get it he says. Once he learns the game it will be one more person I can team with to powerlevel me past Jackson Harold. *snicker*

While they were here we played King Mau with Mak and Dylan. We play some hardcore Mau I tell you. We penalize for ANY little noise made. God help you if you have to burp.

This weekend is the big end of the year camping trip for the family. I REALLY do not want to go since the last camping trip was such a fiasco. But, my sister Holly, - who hates pickles with a hellfuried passion - has promised to eat one if I go camping. There arent many terms of the agreement except she has to eat an entire pickle and I get to pick the pickle. *evil grin*

Potty Training: By George, I think She's Got It!

Im still not sure if its ok I say, "She's got it!" after only four days. But man, I think she does!

Today was the real test. An hour and half in the car there, trekking around to various stores where bathrooms may or may not be in close proxicimity, and then the mall, and then the hour and a half drive home. What made the trip a success was the little potty chair I brought with us and kept in the grocery getter. So anytime she had to go potty, we would just pull over and let her do her business in the potty chair - which actually, was only once each way! When we were in a store, she was really good about telling us she had to go. She even napped for a bit in the stroller without going potty! Up to then, I had always put a diaper on her for sleep. I was impressed she didnt wet!

We've had no accidents in 3 days....thats since the first day trying. Not bad!!

Potty Training: Day 3

Day 3 of Operation Big Girl Potty was a total success! She has gone 2 complete days with no accidents. I cant believe it was this easy. I am a little wary anyway to say that because I might jinx it all - but dare I say she might be potty trained in 3 days???

Today was our first real test outside of the house. (It was very strange leaving the house without diapers for the first time in over two years.) Today we went to the Peninsula Daily News picnic where there was MUCH to distract her from keeping her panties dry. There was games, tons of kids, baseball and the park. All that distraction and still not one accident. Go JUJU!

Potty Training: Day 2

Its Day 2 of Operation Big Girl Potty and all is going well! Im very impressed with how quickly she is picking this up this time around. I was fully prepared for a week of constant accidents in her big girl panties. She seems to be getting the hang of it so far! She has been telling me before she goes in her panties that she has to use the potty and doing it consistently for the past 3 hours! YAY Juju! I'll be back later with another update!

3:00pm Jubilee is still doing great! She woke up from her nap with an ALMOST dry diaper and she went potty immediately when we took her to the toilet. She is really getting the hang of this after just two days! The pair of panties she put on this morning are still dry! Meema told her she was getting a prize this weekend for going potty in the toilet and being such a big girl. She is very excited!

Potty Training...It has begun.

Today is the first day of potty training. As of now, 5:45pm, Jubilee has had two successful potty trips. Two out of about 18. I know it doesnt sound very successful, but when you are cleaning up pee and washing tiny little panties all day long, you are thankful for those two times.

I was pretty convinced that when it came time for Jubilee to potty train, she would pick it up in a flash like she does most things. She didnt. Although I may have started too early. Some of you may remember that we tried potty training the first time at 20 months. Jubilee had all the "readiness" signs as the books say. But that day we tried, it was a miserable failure. Failure to actually use the potty wasnt what told me it wasnt time, its that she was miserable. By 3pm, she wouldnt even go near the toilet no matter how positive and fun we made it. So today was much better even tho we've only had two sucesses. (WOOHOO! make that three! She came and told me she had to potty while I was typing this! YAY Juju!)

We are committed to not going back to diapers. Except at night, (because she is still in a crib and a sound sleeper), Im not going to expect her to stay dry at night. Im hoping that by Saturday she will be able to tell me consistently that she needs to potty before hand. Saturday we are going to Silverdale to shop for school clothes with my sister, Dylan, and Mom Botts. An hour and a half there and back, plus trekking to about 10 different stores should be interesting!

Any veteran potty trainers have any advice?? Leave me a comment!

A Day in the Life

I thought I would give you all a little glimpse into what its like to be the keeper of the Juju Bean. Those of you with little kids wont find this too fascinating, but then again Jubilee always puts a funny spin on things.

6:30am: Some people get woken by the alarm, some by the morning light shimmering through their bedroom windows, some by the internal clock of their lives after years of waking at the same time. Me? I get woken by Jubilee waking up. Jubilee doesn't wait until she is fully awake to make her first noises of the day. She makes them as she is waking. It sounds like a mash-up of a bear cub and the sound the creepy thing made in The Grudge. I have a recording of it...if I can figure out how to put it on my blog, I can let you guys listen.

7:00am She is for sure fully awake by now, and if she isn't I would be sticking a mirror under her nose. If Im not awake, showered, and dressed by now, it aint gonna happen for a few more hours. Jubilee is probably most demanding in the morning time. If I haven't gone to get her from her crib yet, I will start hearing, "Mommy? Where aaaaare youuu??" If I take any longer to go get her, she will be naked with every single thing she wore to bed, plus a blanket, binkie, two babies and a carebear are all on the floor in protest.

7:15 - 9:00am She is in the TV room checking to see if Mak and D are here. If they are, then she forces them into some sort of play time. If they arent, like today, she plays with her toys and color crayons. Sometimes we play with stickers. This is also breakfast time. Jubilee is very specific about breakfast...

"I am VERY hungry."
"What would you like Juju?"
"Hmmm.... Popsicle."
"You cant have popsicles for breakfast. What else do you want?"
"Hmm... Cheerios."
"Cheerios...good compromise."
"In a bowl."
"Cheerios in a bowl...got it."
"A spoon."
"Cheerios in a bowl, with a spoon. I think I can make that happen."
"Milk too."
"Cheerios AND milk, in a bowl with a spoon. Anything else?"
"Hmm... Popsicle?"

I try to get some time on the computer or doing some laundry while she eats. But if Im out of sight too long I usually hear, "Mommy? Mommy? Mommy?"
"Yes?"
"What doin'?"
I tell her whatever I am doing at that moment...
"Mommy?"
"Yes?"
"What doin'?"
"The same thing..."
"Mommy?.... Mommy?! MOMMMMMY???"
"Yes Juju?"
"........What doin'?"
"Going crazy!"
"Crazy! Right!"

9:00am This is sacred Dora the Explorer time. Usually watched from my bed.

9:30 - 1pmish Play time, chores, maybe a walk, maybe running errands, and lunch. Lunch usually consists of fruit, some sort of wrap or sandwich, and milk. But today Papa took her to McDonalds where she got fries and a "ham-mer-mer". He also took her to his workplace where apparently everyone fell in love with her.

1pm - 3 or 4pm Lovely, cherished nap time. Jubilee loves her nap time as much as I love her nap time. She will tell me she is tired and ready for her "nappy". Sometimes I nap with her if I haven't been sleeping well or if the kids are over I play a game or two with them. And again, The Grudge noise happens over the monitor as she wakes up.

4pmish Jubilee is very energetic after her nap. Today she spent a solid 20 mins dancing to her favorite CD her Aunt Holly made her. Its chocked full of hits like, Youre a Goofy Goober, Itsy Bitsy Spider, You are my Sunshine, and the theme songs to Blue Clues, Dora, and Spongebob. She also made sure I couldnt take my eyes off her, "Watch ME Mommy!" as she danced and pretended to fall down over and over again.

5pmish Dinnertime! Jubilee again was "VERY hungry" and had BBQ pork ribs, baked potato, salad and milk. How this girl only weighs 21lbs and some change....I have no idea.

5-630pmish After dinner we spent some time playing with the desk Meema got her and practicing her ABC's. She can sing the song almost perfectly..but saying and knowing B comes after A is harder. She can recognize A and the number 5 and 8 consistently. Shapes and colors are old hat for her. We also have a talk about big girl panties and not wearing diapers anymore. She is not convinced its as cool as I say it is. We read her two favorite Dr. Seuss books, Hop on Pop and the Dictionary Jackson Harold got for her.

6:30pm Troy takes over and gives her a shower. From the bathroom I hear, "Juju, dont get Daddy wet." I hear this phrase several times with Jubilee giggling after it each time. Somehow I dont think she takes him seriously.
Soon she is in her jammies and ready for quiet time. Quiet time is spent in Mommy's bed watching PBS Sprout or the VeggieTales Lord of the Beans DVD.

7:30pm Its Bedtime. A ritual conversation:
"Juju is time for bed."
"Noooo... Mommys Bed!"
"No.. Juju's bed."
"Juju's bed?"
"Yep....time to go to sleep."
"Its getting dark."
"Yes, when it gets dark, its time to go to sleep."
"Everyone's sleepin'?"
"Yes, everyone. Meema's sleeping, Papa's sleeping, Dylan's sleeping....."
"Maks sleepin', bugs sleepin', airplanes sleepin', flowers sleepin'"
"Yep! So you know what that means?"
"Juju sleepin' too?"
"Yes, time for Juju to go to sleep too."

Sometimes its the same people all going to sleep at the same time. Sometimes its a variation to Uncle Matt and Andy, the kitties, the puppies, and even Dora.

As she goes to sleep I can hear her playing with her babies and rubbing her fingers over their hands in that comforting way she always does. (When I used to hold her as she fell asleep as a small baby, she would do the same to my fingers - rubbing her fingers between mine. Sometimes if she is tired, and just wants me to hold her, she still does it - I love that.) Sometimes she goes over the things that happened that day. Tonight it was, "Papa's truck! McDonalds...fries!!"

A day in the life!

Paging Dr. Jubilee....

My sister and my mom went on a marathon yard and garage sale trip. I was supposed to go too, but the thought of getting presentable AND lugging a two year old in and out of a car seat every few blocks was WAY more than I wanted to accomplish today.

After searching Ghettosville high and low for treasures in other people's junk, Mom Botts and Holly showed up at my door with armloads of stuff for Jubilee. Lots of books, some authentic Port Angeles High School cheerleader pom-pons, (we'll burn those later in an anti-cheerleader ritual), a real school type desk complete with an alphabet peg board and attached seat, and a Dora Halloween DVD were among the coveted items. What Jubilee seems to be enjoying the best is a stethoscope! Yes, a real working stethoscope. She knows exactly how to use it. She will put it in her ears, walk right up to you and say, "I doctor! Listen to heartbeat?" (Although she seems to think your heart is in your belly button.) When I asked her what my heart was saying she said, "Its happy!!"

Yes, my little miracle baby...it certainly is!

FILL IN THE BLANK!

"When I look at this picture, I am reminded of __________________."

Itsy Bitsy Spider

Instead of the Itsy Bitsy Spider crawling up the water spout, it crawled up me. Or dropped down on me....I dont really know or care. The point is, IT WAS ON MEEEEEEEEE!!!! HUGE...horrific...GINORMOUS spider. There he was perched on my neck like he belonged there...as if he rented out space on my skin. I didnt even know he was there until I walked into the bathroom to do my business and checked the mirror, (like every good beauty queen does), and thats when I saw him.

I would like to think that I am near invincible. I have been through enough in my life to officially say, "Yep, I am a strong woman...hear me roar." I have been through some things that most people would turn inside out having gone through. ....and I almost have. Besides considering myself emotionally strong, I also believe I have an incredible tolerance for physical pain. I like the feeling of tattoos and I have yet to get a piercing that really hurt bad. Ok, there was the time I asked the man who gave me an epidural before my c-section if he would marry me. BUT! I still endured 12 hours of hard, constant, complicated labor with no pain medication. I am a rock.

That is unless there is a spider ANYWHERE in a 200 mile radius of me. Yes, of course I believe there are no spiders in that bubble spider-free zone if I cant see them. I am choosing to believe they do not exist. So imagine my utter horror to find one content to lounge on my neck! *skin crawling while I think about it*

Here I am, rock of womanhood, staring into the mirror gathering the strength and bravery it would take to muster up a polite request to my husband to come retrieve the spider from my body. However, my polite lady-like request came out a shrill, panic-stricken scream, "SPIIIIIIIDERRRRRRRRRRRR! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAACCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCK TROYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY SPIDERRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!!!!! ITS ON MEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!" Im not sure how long it exactly took my molasses-moving husband to get into the bathroom, but I can tell you it wasnt fast enough. For some reason, maybe it was my loud shreiking, the spider decided to move. YES MOVE....crawling along my neck down to my chest and was heading for my clevage under my shirt. At this point I only knew two things, 1) This spider was looking for a space to claw its way into my body and lay eggs. and 2) Troy was not going to get there in time to save me. Immediately I did what any Rock of Womanhood would do. I jumped up and down stamping my feet screaming at the top of my lungs loud of enough to rival any Hollywood scream queen.

I must have had my eyes closed because when I open them again Troy is there plucking the spider off of my chest just before it darted into my bra and Dylan and Makayla are standing in the doorway looking at me and looking for indications of why I was screaming bloody murder. I look at Troy expecting him to be the Knight in Shining Spider armor, but he is just laughing at me. Bastard. The spider, now squished and ready to be flushed down the toilet, was foiled.....for now.

After washing my neck thoroughly, I went to find Jubilee. She looked up at me and asked, "Itsy Bitsy Spider on Mommy?" Since learning the song, every spider is Itsy Bitsy. I said, "No, this spider was HUGE Juju... not itsy bitsy." She corrected me by singing, for about the 10th time today, Itsy Bitsy Spider.

Dinners Done Right

Look what just opened up in Sequim!! Dinners Done Right! I have been longing to do this ever since Elizabeth started talking about it. Anything that could potentionally make my life easier, Im all over that.

The concept is making 12 meals at once that you can store in your freezer and take out to cook at your convenience. The beauty of this is, its not done in YOUR kitchen. Therefore, no dirty dishes and THEY clean up your mess. LOVE IT! The price is reasonable too - for a family of our size its just $99.

Holly, Janet and I are going to try this out soon. I will let you all know how it goes!

Rubber Ducky...Youre The One!

You Are Ernie

Playful and childlike, you are everyone's favorite friend - even if your goofy antics get annoying at times. You are usually feeling: Amused - you are very easily entertained You are famous for: Always making people smile. From your silly songs to your wild pranks, you keep things fun. How you life your life: With ease. Life is only difficult when your friends won't play with you!

The Sesame Street Personality Quiz

Would This Sweet Face Lie?

"Juju, did you color on your face?"

"nooooooooo!"

"Jubilee Nevaeh, did you color on your face with the marker??"

"ummm...no?"

"Jubilee, you are only supposed to color on paper. Paper ONLY!.... Jubilee? Listen to Mommy... Pap..er.. Oh forget it."

"giggle giggle giggle"

Being Silly With Papa

Puppies, Puppes, Everywhere!

This is Veda. She is an Austrailian Cattle Dog owned by my Aunt Linda. The puppies were born yesterday. There are five... 3 boys and 2 girls. So cute!!

"No Bath! ...Shaw-wah!"

Jubilee has decided that taking showers instead of baths is all the rage. When I ask if she is ready to take a bath she says, "No bath! shaw-wah!" The first couple of times I got in with her thinking she would fair better that way. But soon it became obvious that I was not needed. I sit closeby on the toilet seat and watch my baby grow up in front of my eyes as she takes a big girl shower. She gets her hair wet all on her own and even washes up on her own and does a pretty good job. I help with washing and rinsing her hair as well as stand by with a dry washcloth to dab water from her face when she says, "Mommy...eyes please." As soon as she has dry eyes she is back under the stream of water head first giggling. She even gives Dora a shower too. (She has a little Dora the Explorer bath toy.)

I was quite enjoying watching Juju gain a little independence with the whole shower thing ....that is until last night. We got home late from dinner out with family. (Aunt Jan is in town!) We decided a quick shower would be best instead of a long playful bath before bed. Jubilee was doing her routine of standing under the stream of water and asking for her eyes to be dabbed. She turned to go back to the stream of water when her feet slipped from under her and she fell back, all 21 pounds of her, slamming onto the back of her head. It made the most horrible noise. Have you ever dropped a full bottle of shampoo on the bottom of the tub...hearing that loud crash? Thats exactly what it sounded like. It was a horrible sickening noise knowing it was my daughters head. Either it was my mommy-panic, or that icky noise, but I fully expected to see blood and for her to be knocked out. Immediately she was screaming and Troy scooped her up. She was crying so hard with that long pause between screams while she is running out of breath then taking another that tells you its going to be LOUD. I wrapped her in a towel and took her to my bed to inspect her head. Not even a bump that I could see. I gave her some Tylenol in case of a headache, and by the time she realized she was getting medicine...she was fine. I got her dressed and Troy took her to the store with him just to keep her awake....we didnt want her sleeping in case there was a head injury.

After they left, I cried. I thought for sure I had broken her. I let her stand in a shower with no non-slip things on the bottom of the tub. I felt horrible. No Mom of the Year award for me. I cant believe she wasnt more hurt. I think the noise was worse than the fall.

I know these things happen...kids have accidents, they get bumps and bruises all their life. However, I just feel like Jubilee and I should be excused from that. I should get a free "No more bumps, bruises, accidents, or serious illness" pass. I think God should put invisible bubble wrap around Jubilee so we dont have to worry about her well-being. I think we put in a lifetime worth of worry in her birth and first year of life. I deserve it. .....right?

Jubilee is just fine this morning. No bruise, no cuts, not even a little bump from her fall. Thank God! ...hmm... maybe he is using the bubble wrap!