REAL "CUTE"

Wasn't it fun to be around children, before you had children of your own? I loved toddlers before I had them. They were so cute. I remember a time in particular when I insisted that my sister-in-law, Kirsten, let me take her daughter, Audrey, to the grocery store with me when she was around 2 years old. Kirsten looked at me like I was a complete masochist. She was puzzled as to why anyone would voluntarily take a toddler shopping. (I was obviously completely ignorant to the challenges of going anywhere with a two year old.) When we arrived at the store, I put Audrey in one of those car shopping carts. As we shopped, Audrey pulled everything she could off the bottom shelves and crammed it into her car. I just laughed, "Oh, isn't it cute?" When we got up to the checkout she screamed for candy. I bought her some because her little fit was so cute.

Oh how times have changed! When we were in Arizona, I begged my dad to take Luke shopping with him so that I could get a break. What a sucker! He totally fell for it! The best part was that my Dad kept sending me these pictures from his cell phone of Luke doing "cute" things in the store.

Here's Luke playing in a car with a sign on it saying to not play in it. My dad thinks it is just adorable.

Here he is jumping on all the bikes. Wow, Luke sure is safety conscious with that helmet on! I'm sure he destroyed the entire helmet aisle trying to find one that would fit his head. My Dad is loving this.

Finally, Luke drives the car into a corner and then starts walking around Wal-mart carrying a garbage can. Wow, that sure is "cute." DO YOU SEE WHY I DON'T WANT TO TAKE HIM SHOPPING?

DECLAWING THE CAT

Is there some great secret about cutting an infant's nails? I have been scratched incessantly over the past week. I have battle wounds on my belly, arms and even neck! You're probably thinking, "Hey, the big secret is NAIL CLIPPERS." However, whenever I try nail clippers I always seem to nick his little fingers, followed by bleeding and lots of crying. It's so bad that I would rather be clawed to death... which is happening as I type this. Ow.

MOVIE REVIEW: KUNG FU PANDA

This was supposed to be a review of the movie, Kung Fu Panda. We decided on Monday to take Charlie and Luke to the movie last night for the family fun night deal at the local movie theater. Right before we went into the theater, I said to Erik, "I hope we're not complete idiots for trying to take both boys." We laughed, oh ha ha ha. Of course this would be a great idea. Luke loves movies. He would watch Toy Story all day long if we would let him.

We are complete idiots.

Luke lasted for maybe two minutes. Five minutes into the movie, Erik and I are both standing in the back of the theater. I am walking back and forth to calm Charlie, Luke is kicking and screaming to go home. I took Luke outside and he entertained himself with the candy machines for over 20 minutes. By that point I had missed so much of the movie that I decided to just leave Charlie with Erik and take Luke to the park where we both had way more fun. The weather was great and I started thinking that maybe we should have just gone to the park in the first place. Besides, why punish Luke for his behavior? He's two. A two year old shouldn't be expected to sit still in a movie theater for 90 minutes. We really are idiots.

So there you have it, yet another family fantasy crushed.

The worst part of the whole evening was not that I paid for a movie I didn't get to see, but that the movie made Erik want Chinese Food for dinner. I picked it up from this restaurant in town that we've never been to before. This is for all those Google searches out there: Do not go to the Great Wall of China Chinese Restaurant in Tehachapi. Gross. It was the kind of food that made me want to eat a slice of bread and drink a glass of grape juice to get the taste out of my mouth.

PREGNANCY WEIGHT LOSS FOR DUMMIES

This post was inspired by Amber's comment on my last post, not because she is a dummy, but because I have been reminded that losing post-pregnancy weight is not as hard as people think.

"Cristin you look amazing! No more fat face- hooray! it definitely doesn't look like you just had Charlie a month ago... any secrets I should be aware of?? :)"

First, I wanted to say that Amber's comment was really flattering because, in my world, I am still really fat. I have 15 more pounds to lose until I am back to my pre-pregnancy size. I'm not very diligent when it comes to eating well or exercising however, so I'm guessing it'll take another 8 months before I lose the weight. (Imagine what I could do if I did exercise or stopped eating ice cream every night?!)

While I may not yet be successful with this post-pregnancy weight, I can tell you what I did to lose the weight after Luke. It's called BREASTFEEDING!

Besides all the other major benefits, the average woman will burn 500 calories a day to produce 24 to 28 ounces of milk. The more you nurse, the more milk you produce, the more calories you burn!

There are a lot of excuses why women don't breastfeed. Here are some of the most common -

"It hurts."
Well, exercising hurts. I would much rather burn calories while holding a baby and watching television on the couch. Besides, after awhile it shouldn't be painful if you're doing it correctly. If you continue to have problems or suffer from an infection, there are things you can do to solve the problem without ceasing to breastfeed.

"It takes too much time."
You would have to walk up stairs for 1 hour straight to burn the 500 calories that your body will do naturally if you are nursing. Who has time to walk stairs for 1 hour straight when they are preparing bottles all day for a new baby?

"I ran out of milk. I can't keep up with my baby."
Your body is made to produce milk in response to your baby's need. What you are able to pump is no indication of what you are actually producing. Scheduled feedings (you should feed on demand), pacifiers, and supplementing will interfere with your supply, especially at the beginning. Many new moms don't realize that it is perfectly normal to nurse their baby 12 times a day. Instead, they interpret their baby's need to suck as a sign that they aren't producing enough milk. If your baby is not getting milk, you will know by looking at his or her diapers.

So, I kind of went off on a tangent, but nursing is very important to me. I think it is really crucial for new mothers, like Amber, to educate themselves about the benefits of breastfeeding. I would encourage every first time mom to either read The Womanly Art of Breastfeeding or attend a La Leche League meeting once before their baby is born. Women struggling to breastfeed should seek help from a lactation consultant or La Leche League leader. Believe it or not, but pediatricians do not always give correct advice about breastfeeding! You may encounter problems, but if you are determined to nurse your baby, you almost always can. Plus, how else would a lazy slob like me lose 500 calories a day?

[The major irony of this entire post is that Amber weighs 120 lbs. at 6 months pregnant. She even had someone ask her last week if she should be using the Stork Parking at Babies 'R Us because she doesn't look pregnant. As if someone would park in that spot who isn't pregnant!]

LICKING THE FLOOR IS FUN TO DO

First off, let me just happily say that this post is made possible by this -


and this -


We arrived home this afternoon. The trip went alright. It typically takes 6 or 7 hours. With the kids, it took us 8.

We stopped at the In-n-Out in Indio where Luke laid down and licked the floor. He also picked up an old drink lid off the ground and put it on his cup. This is typical behavior for him. For example, a few weeks ago playgroup was being held at the playland of the Restaurant that Shall Not be Named and he was casually walking around eating the half-eaten food of strangers off of random tables. (The fact that he was actually eating something from that restaurant is enough to gross me out.)

You could say, "Hey, why are you letting him lick the floor? That's disgusting!" And my response is, "I have two kids to take care of now, GET OFF MY BACK!"

A LOVE LETTER

Dear Cozy Crib Tent II,

Life is just not the same without you.

Last night felt like one of the worst nights of my life. Luke would not go to sleep. He would not stay in the pack n' play. When I would try to put him back to bed, he would kick and hit me. To compound the problem, Charlie wouldn't stop screaming unless he was being nursed. It's hard to run after Luke while keeping a baby latched on.

Without you, I felt really alone. My parents were asleep because they were exhausted from going through similar experiences with Luke during the past two weeks. I felt so alone, that if I had a car here I would have driven all night just to get back to you.

I really lost my temper around 11:00 p.m. when I heard Luke run out of the room for the umpteenth time. He escaped out the front door of my parents house and ran into the street. (I know that you would never let this happen.) I grabbed Luke, brought him inside and held him down tightly in the pack n' play. Luke started to laugh at me, so I held him even tighter. I forcefully told him that he must stay in his bed and then he started to cry. I shut the door behind me and listened to him scream for ten minutes until he cried himself to sleep.

I hate the person that I become when I lose my temper with Luke, but last night I didn't know what to do. I really am clueless on how to parent and discipline a toddler. As easy as it would have been to just turn on a movie around 10:00 p.m., I didn't want to reward him for being disobedient. Maybe this problem is my fault because I have become too dependent on you. Since you came into the picture, I have avoided training Luke to sleep in a "big boy" bed. I just assumed you would be around forever.

Last night's experience without you has caused me great concern. You see, we are planning to go camping in August. I don't think I want to go camping anymore since I can't take you along. Do I really want to be up all night while Luke is running circles around us in the tent? Even worse, how I will I keep Luke contained in the tent? You and I both know how much he likes to "go bye-bye." I really need a fun vacation, and sadly, camping without you will definitely not be fun. Don't get jealous, but if I can find something similar to you that works on a pack n' play, I am going to buy it.

I am counting down the days until we will be together again.

I miss you, desperately.

Love, Cristin

EXTREME HEAT ADVISORY

Since it was 111 degrees today at my parents house in Goodyear, I decided to take the kids out of this extreme heat into the much cooler city of Phoenix to the Arizona Science Center. My sister, Kaci, met me there and we had a really fun time chasing Luke everywhere. Of course, neither of us had a camera, so you'll just have to imagine Luke sliding through a giant colon.

We attended this same exhibit in Santa Barbara last year, except that it was only 1/10 the size of the one at the Arizona Science Center. Luke had a blast and so much more fun than the last time we saw it. There were a lot of hands-on things for toddlers to play with. I definitely recommend this to anyone in the Phoenix area with children. The best part is that children under the age of three are FREE!

Could I feel that one degree difference in Phoenix? Oh totally. To cool off even more, we went to Kaci's house in Mesa afterwards for dinner where it was only 109 degrees! Isn't that weather map of Phoenix the biggest joke? Anything over 100 degrees feels exactly the same to me. I have been in a perpetual state of sweat since I arrived in Arizona. Excuse me while I wipe down the keyboard.

My Dad, on the other hand, likes to play golf in this weather because he gets 90% discounts on expensive courses when he plays during the day. The other day I told him not to go out because there is an "Extreme Heat Advisory" according to the news. My Dad told me, "Oh, Cristin, those extreme heat advisories are only for fat people," and then preceded to tell me a story about a "heavier" fellow who had a heart attack on the golf course from the heat.

Needless to say, this Chubby Bunny will not be playing golf during her stay in Arizona.

THE DOLLAR STORE BOUNCER

When my mom used to cook in the kitchen of our little Camarillo rental, she would always say, "I feel like I'm camping." That isn't exactly the kind of compliment you want to hear about your home. (In her defense, when the renters after us cleaned behind the stove they found a sticker affixed to it that said "For Recreational Use Only.")

I've been here for five days and without all of my baby gear I feel like I am camping. I have to bathe Charlie in the kitchen sink since I don't have a baby bath. Without the crib and it's glorious crib tent, Luke is a pain to get to sleep. No bouncer or swing means that I am forced to actually hold my baby all day long. Eee gad. All of this parenting is seriously digging into my vacation plans.

My original plan was to cram as much baby gear into one of my suitcases. Unfortunately, United changed their baggage rules at the last minute and now charge $25 for a second bag. My only alternative was to buy a travel swing at the Wal-mart down the street from my parents house for $30. Although it was really cute, it didn't do the job so I took it back after three days and desperately tried to find other alternatives. This meant that I had to go to Babies R Us.

I am convinced that only three types of people seriously shop at Babies R Us -

1) Parents-to-be
2) People shopping off a baby registry
3) People who buy $500 gliders

Parents-to-be love Babies R Us because they offer Stork Parking which is a special handicapped parking for pregnant ladies. Even when I was big and pregnant I wanted to walk. It's after the kid is born that I want to park as close to the door as possible. Another way to lure in rich clientele is to offer every item of baby gear in the trendy color combination of brown and your favorite color. Kudos to whoever was able to make the traditional color of poop brown insanely popular again.

So back to my search for cheap baby gear. Since my life is now organized into two hour increments of time and I had left Charlie with my mother [I really need to pump and try giving him a bottle one of these days] - I felt it was necessary to utilize the Stork Parking. Of course no one asked if I was really pregnant because it's on the honor system and I obviously have no honor.

I couldn't decide between which overpriced swing or bouncer I wanted. That's another problem/good thing about Babies R Us. They have a lot of choices. Do I want the brown and green one with elephants that rocks five different ways? The brown and orange one with lions that converts into a toddler bed? Or the brown and blue one with polka dots that encourages your child to have good self esteem?

I eventually decided that I was too cheap to buy anything in that store, so I went back to Wal-mart and picked up the cheapest bouncer ever. I undoubtedly could have bought a similar version at the Dollar Store. The fabric will probably give him a rash and the harness system makes him look like he's wearing a bathing suit. Also, notice how it doesn't bend back like normal bouncers. I'm considering sitting in it for a few hours tonight while I watch a movie to get it to lay at a normal angle. Oh well, it'll have to suffice for the next few days until we get back home to our precious baby gear.

The good news for anyone considering visiting my parents house is that I am leaving this lovely dollar store bouncer here for all the future grandbabies to use. How generous of me! You can thank me later.

One more thing - why does my baby who never goes in the sun look more tan than I do?

HAPPY BIRTHDAY LUKE

Yesterday was Luke's birthday, except don't tell Luke because he thinks his real birthday was over a week ago when we celebrated it at home before he left for Arizona so that Erik could watch him blow out the candles.

It was a really nice party. We got the same d.j. as we did last year.

The banquet hall was also nice enough to give us half off since we had his first birthday party there too.

So that I didn't feel like a bad mother, we sang "Happy Birthday" and had him blow out some candles on his real birthday also.

So, Luke is now two. This means that I have to start paying for him at places, i.e., on airplanes, at the movies, when we go to the pool down the street from my parents' house. This whole "having kids thing" is getting expensive.

I also thought that since it's his birthday, I will share five semi-interesting facts about Luke:

1. He loves to pretend he's playing golf.
2. He can recognize and say all the letters in the alphabet.
3. He can sing "Happy Birthday."
4. His favorite phrase is, "No Mommy."
5. He hides in the closet or behind something when he's going poop in his diaper. (Just like his Daddy! Just kidding.)

Happy Birthday, Luke!

AN EPIPHANY

Today I had a Father's Day revelation: My children have a father. We know who he is. He supports our family. Period.

My sister brought over a young woman and her 4 month old son tonight for Father's Day dinner who is currently meeting with the missionaries. (Oh, I'm in Arizona at my parents house by the way, picking up Luke. More about that later.) This girl originally was living in California. When her baby was five days old, she and her boyfriend rode a bus for 36 hours to Mesa. Once there, her boyfriend rarely worked, cheated on her and claimed that he couldn't possibly be the father of her baby. The other night he said he was going out with some friends and he never came home. When she investigated further, she realized that he had taken all of his clothes and belongings with him when he left. Nice.

Talk about putting things in perspective. I worry about which shoes to buy and how to go on vacation with two children, while this poor girl is trying to save up a hundred dollars to fly back to California. Her son is getting too big for his bassinet, but she can't afford a crib. She works at McDonalds. She lives off the government.

My children have a father. A really good father. I have no reason to complain today. Hallelujah for dads that stick around.

IN LOCAL NEWS...

Here's a sad story for a Friday afternoon:

I like to call Tehachapi the "City That Tries." For a place that is located in the middle of nowhere, with not much going for it, they sure are trying to make it nice. Since moving here over a year ago, they have made huge improvements to their historic downtown area by renovating old buildings, creating a cool walking tour, painting new murals, and piping in music. During the summer there is a special event almost every weekend (tomorrow is the Chili Cook-off and Car Show). During the summer, there is a weekly farmer's market, movie in the park, concert in the park... anyway, you get the point. The town is trying hard to be a cool place to live.

The frosting on the cake of the downtown renovation was supposed to be the historic train depot. Local residents have been working for years to get this unique building restored. It was one of 6 specially designed train depots remaining in the United States and was listed in the National Register of Historic Places. For the past few months, I have really enjoyed watching the improvements to the building. They were painting it this happy, bright, yellow color. Everyone was very excited about it. Numerous activities were planned for the re-opening of this historic depot.

So, this morning I'm out for my morning walk. I actually said to my friend, "I wonder what they're going to put inside the train depot when they're done." We turned the corner, and gasped! The building had burned to the ground overnight. Nobody knows yet if it was arson or an accident. It breaks my heart that after all the work people went through to restore that building, that it could be destroyed so quickly. I really felt sick to my stomach about it. There were people standing in front of it crying and cops everywhere.

So... yeah. Sad story. Have a good weekend.

EAT, SPIT UP, POOP, REPEAT

Charlie. Dear, sweet, Charlie.

Because of you I do a lot of laundry. A LOT OF LAUNDRY.

Is two loads a day normal for a little family of four? It seems excessive to me. I thought the laundry would slow down a little with Luke out of town. I was wrong.

I never thought a little baby could spit up so much.
I never thought I could leak so much milk.
I never thought you could blow out your diaper in so many different ways.

The laundry is so extreme that I will put a burp cloth over the puddle of spit up on my bed and lay down on top of it. I will look at a baby blanket and think, "Hmmm, now which corner is still clean?" while strategically folding the blanket over Charlie's boogers and barf to get a little more use out of it. The cover on the changing pad only has a little spot of poop, so it doesn't need to be washed just yet.

This is getting disgusting.

LET'S PRETEND HE'S OKAY

Day 4 without Luke.

I call my mother about 5 times a day for a "Luke Update." According to her, he hasn't been sleeping well, has a difficult time taking naps, runs out the front door, won't eat, only wants to watch television, is often grouchy, and a real pain to take to the grocery store.

What mother wouldn't be proud?

Just kidding. I hate that he is being so difficult for them. I called my little sister and apologized since I'm sure him being there has ruined the chance for any other future grandchildren to be watched by my parents until they are at least in kindergarten. Then again, why did I expect Luke to act differently for my parents than he does for me? I tried talking to him on the phone, but the conversation went something like this:

Me: Hi Luke.

Luke: Hi Mommy.

Me: You need to be a good boy.

Luke: Good boy!

Me: You need to sleep.

Luke: Sleep!

Me: What are you doing?

Luke: Doing!

Me: (Realizing that he's just repeating the last word of everything I say.) Oh, whatever, bye.

Luke: Bye-bye! (Tries to hang up the phone on me.)

It's hard to rationalize with an almost 2 year old, especially when he looks like he's 4. My dad sent me this picture the other day of Luke contemplating whether or not to get in the pool and he looks like he's aged 3 years since he went to Arizona. My dad titled this picture, "I think I can do it."


I just wish we could pretend that Luke is doing okay, and then I wouldn't feel like such a bad parent. It's difficult. On one hand, I really want a kid that is curious and active like Luke. On the other hand, one that doesn't run away and is obedient would be pretty nice too.

PARENTING URBAN LEGENDS

A huge pet peeve of mine is when people tell exaggerated stories. For example, I hate when Erik begins something by saying, "Just the other day..." when it really happened two years ago. I'm not asking that he recite the exact date, but COME ON!* I'm sure I'm guilty of doing it a little on my blog, but I try not to since it bothers me so much.

So, lately I have been inundated with a plethora of unbelievable stories. I have been so bothered by all this nonsense that I've been trying to do some fact checking, with no success... probably because these stories or claims are untrue.

Here are some that I've heard recently:

Unbelievable Story #1 - A friend of mine told me that her friend's friend was sleeping with her baby in bed, when she accidentally rolled onto him/her and killed the baby. I did an internet search for this story and only came up with a grandma on drugs accidentally smothering her grandchild in bed. According to my friend, her friend's friend was really obese and didn't see the baby.

Unbelievable Story #2 - An acquaintance told me that her friend got her baby taken away from her because she failed to give the child immunizations. When I pressed her for further information (like how did the authorities know the baby was not immunized), she said that child protective services asked to see the 4 month old's yellow immunization record. When they discovered it was blank, they took the baby away from her.

Unbelievable Story #3 - I met someone on Sunday that told me she couldn't believe my ObGyn with Luke or midwife with Charlie would allow me to gain over 30 pounds during each pregnancy. I told her that my midwife said it was fine that I gained 45 pounds with Charlie and she said that no doctor or midwife would ever allow that. Her sister is an ObGyn and she lost all of her pregnancy weight by pumping the same time she was breastfeeding. Every time she nursed from one breast she had the pump going on the other side. By the end of the month they had to buy a bigger freezer to store all the breast milk.

If anyone knows the people mentioned in these stories, please confirm whether or not they are true, because they're driving me nuts! COME ON!*

*When I say "Come on!" I'm saying it like Gob on Arrested Development. You know, "Come on!"

EXERCISE

I can no longer use the excuse, "I just had a baby" to avoid exercise. Dang it. I hate this.

Due to my short attention span, I need some sort of gimmick to get excited about an exercise program. That is how I acquired the Dance Dance Revolution game, numerous exercise DVD's and those "massive" five pound weights.


Someone gave us Darrin's Dance Grooves video as a wedding gift. Of course Erik was too cool to learn the choreography to Britney Spears' "Crazy" video. As you can see from the cover, one of the first moves Darrin teaches is to rock back and forth, pat your head, and rub your tummy, all at the same time in beat to "Bye, Bye, Bye" from Nsync. It was a little too advanced for me.



A few years into our marriage I bought Dolphina's Bellydancing DVD to "bring out the goddess in me." Although I had to close the blinds while I did it, I enjoyed myself until I hurt my neck doing one of the moves. In case you were wondering, Dolphina's DVD's have a great resale value on Ebay.


Just last week I shut all the blinds again and did my Denise Austin DVD. I really enjoyed making up stories about the girls behind Denise (the "Austinettes" is what I call them) while I was exercising. Were these girls also exercise instructors? Were they Denise's friends? Were they jealous of her? How much do they get paid? Are they all roommates? Are they fake smiling or really enjoying themselves? However, by the end of the DVD I wanted to scream if I heard Denise say "Rainbow Arms" one more time. I also got grossed out during the abdominal section when I had to lay on the floor and look underneath my couch. That's where all my sippy cups went!

Erik is currently doing this program called Crossfit. Don't bother going to the website, I'll explain how the program works: You go to Crossfit.com and they have all these videos of abnormally strong women doing an "exercise of the day." Their exercises are the kind of things seen in those Al Queda training videos (monkey bars, hopping through tires, etc.) The hope is that the men will feel stupid if they can't do the exercise because they watched a woman do it on the website.

What really happens (at least in my home), is that Erik watches the video (or "Exercise Porn" as I call it) and gets mad at me because I can't do the stuff like the "amazing" girls in the video. For example, in this Crossfit video a pregnant woman does a bunch of pull-ups -



Gee, thanks pregnant lady for making me feel like a wimp in front of my husband.

No matter how many times I tried to explain this to him, Erik did not comprehend why I could not do 50 pull ups while 6 months pregnant. A normal female can't even do one pull-up - RIGHT? (Just play along with my assumption so that I'll feel better about my physical capabilities.)

My other problem with Crossfit is that this is real exercise. It gives me awful flashbacks of having to meet those Presidential Fitness Tests in Elementary school. Plus, how can I be expected to lift 50 pound weights, when I can't even lift the bar?

There's got to be an easier (and more fun) way to get in shape.

PARTY TIME!

Luke left with my parents this morning to spend 5 days with them in Arizona. It's very bittersweet. Part of me feels sad that he's gone, but an even bigger part of me feels like I am on vacation! WOO HOO!

Oh, how my perspective has changed with Baby #2! It's funny how life seemed so hard when Luke was a newborn. Now that I've experienced an active toddler, I think, "Wow, you mean all I have to do this week is wake up every so often to nurse a baby and change diapers?! This is great!" I have a whole list of things I hope to accomplish while Luke is gone -

Go to a movie
Go out to eat
Sew something
Clean the house
Go shopping
Exercise
Go to the DMV to register the monster truck

Notice that these are very basic things that most people take for granted, but with Luke have been difficult to accomplish without a babysitter or help. Another irony is that I am really looking forward to playgroup this week because I will actually be able to bring a lunch and actually sit at the park without running after Luke the entire time. There is also a monthly La Leche League gathering that I am unable to take Luke to because he terrorizes the place. How funny that these things are supposed to be kid friendly... all except for my kid.

Things I will not be doing while Luke is gone:

Watching Super Why, Caillou or Finding Nemo
Eating peanut butter jelly sandwiches
Listening to Raffi all day long

I love Luke dearly, however, I am really looking forward to this little vacation. Does that make me a bad person?

See you Saturday, Luke! Thanks Mom and Dad, you're the best!

I ALWAYS WANTED A JETTA

I always wanted a little, cute, and trendy car, but it looks like it was never meant to be. *Sigh*

Erik called me a few weeks ago while I was at Young Womens to inform me that he was bidding on a truck on Ebay and that the auction was about to close. 15 minutes later I found out he won the truck. "Yay," I said sarcastically.

[Erik's theory is that since I don't fix the cars, he gets to pick what we (the family) drive. I can't really argue with that since his auto repair skills have undoubtedly saved us thousands of dollars over the course of our marriage.]


Flash forward to today and here I am running errands around town in this big diesel monster truck. (For comparison, this truck is the same length as Erik's parents' 14 passenger van that resembles an airport shuttle.) The whole time Luke is sitting in the back saying, "Noisy truck! Big truck! Vroom vroom VROOM!" Except that I can hardly hear Luke because the truck IS really noisy. Peoples heads turn to look at me as I drive down the street. I'm trying hard not to grind the gears as I shift. I pat myself on the back for not hitting the post office's drive through mailbox.

I keep telling myself that it's okay because I only have to drive the truck during the day every other week when Erik drives the carpool to work. However, I do find myself lusting after small cute cars that I pass on the road. It just doesn't seem fair. (I know, I should be grateful I have a good reliable car to drive.)

The bright side is that I can now buy all those good deals on furniture I see on Craigslist because I'll have a truck to pick them up in. I can also fit the double stroller in the truck bed with no hassle. It also gets better gas mileage than the Explorer. The best part, according to Erik, is that if the world runs out of gasoline and diesel, I can create biodiesel in my kitchen or convert the truck to vegetable oil and drive, while towing the old boat and old car, past all those losers who can't find enough gas to fill their cars (I just know Erik has fantasies about this).

In the meantime, if you hear a really loud truck coming from a mile away, don't be scared. It's probably just me stopping by to say hi.

THE WINNER OF THE WORST MOTHER OF THE YEAR AWARD GOES TO...

Moi. Me. Yours truly.

Today, while at the park, Luke escaped past me and ended up in the middle of the street. Where was I? Oh, just obliviously sitting under a tree, holding Charlie and jabbering away with same ladies from church. (Thank goodness for an observant friend who chased after him.)

There is nothing worse than the feeling that I inadvertently let Luke slip out of the park, into the middle of a street, unattended. People keep telling me that two children will become easier. But how so? Once Charlie becomes mobile, then I will have TWO children to make sure don't run into the street. How will it be any easier than it is right now?

One thing I do know for sure, the next time we go to the park I am dressing Luke in something bright, more specifically, a fluorescent orange hunting vest.

WHAT A BLESSING

We blessed Charlie at church yesterday. I was really happy that so many family members were able to attend. I know I've mentioned this numerous times on my blog, but I LOVE when people come visit us.

I don't think it's required that you dress your baby in white for a blessing, but we did it anyway. Since I am super cheap, I just put Charlie in white pants and a collared shirt. My mother said he looked like a Mexican folklorico dancer. That made me laugh really hard. Here is a picture of a folklorico dancer -

All we need to do is to add a red belt and hat to his blessing outfit and Charlie will have the perfect Halloween costume this fall.

Surprisingly, we were able to fit everyone in our house for dinner. Thanks to the church for letting us borrow the chairs...

It was really nice having a lot of people around to hold Charlie.

Tyler and Candace brought this huge wreath that Tyler made from all the sticks hanging around their house. The plan is to eventually take it out to the desert, burn it, and ride a bicycle through it while it is ON FIRE. We wanted to do it yesterday, but ran out of time.

Here is the family picture we took after church yesterday. This has got to be one of the worst family pictures ever! It was super windy so everyone looks goofy. Click on the photo below for further explanation -