Girls' Day Out

Carlee and I have been enjoying our day together.  I return to work in a few days...Monday to be exact. weep.  Last night Carlee slept in her big girl crib and her own room.  double weep. 

I couldn't part with Connor as a baby. He stayed in our room for his first year.  Big mistake.  He never wanted to leave us.  He is taller than me now and still trying to get in bed with us.  This time we put Carlee in her great big crib in her own room.  Even though her room is right beside us, I felt like I was sending her to China (and it feels like you are walking that far just to replace a pacifier at 12, 1, 2 am).  She is already growing so fast. 

Last night she was quite fussy, so we started our morning sleeping late.  Next on the agenda- coffee and the Today Show, an insurance meeting at school, talked to Big Brother Connor who was caught NOT behaving (triple weep), ate lunch with our pal Mrs. E and Pod 200 teachers,  and then we hit the beauty shop where I begged Ms. T. to take me back as a client (see hair repair issues here and here).  She lectured me on using a cheap coupon, and then she worked her magic to give me a little style while we had great conversation.  (Basically at the end of this journey in order to save money and get a cute bob....I lost about five inches of hair and thirty bucks.)
Later Carlee and I got ourselves an old fashioned Cola Float and went for a drive. It is a beautiful day.  When we got home we checked Facebook and was surprised to learn that Carlee's brand new friend, little A., was born today!!!  Carlee is certainly excited about that.  Overall, we had a fun day and I'm enjoying the girl time.



 Before- School Marm Hair

    

After- Sassy Short

Carlee gives my hair two Coos and a Smile. 

Darren, my husband, gives my hair two 'shut the heck up about it already'.

NOT Loving My Hair

Not that I am one to OBSESS or anything...but I have narrowed my NEW hair down to five looks.

The MICHAEL DOUGLAS (Greed era).  Hey, I might can pull this slick look off with a 500.00 suit, a gallon of hair gel, and a fancy diamond money clip (and some foundation, close up alert- YIKES).

                

The TANGLED   (after she cuts her hair with shard glass).   

                         

The JOSH GROBAN.  What can I say...I'm in trouble if it rains.

                              

The JUSTIN BIEBER except I'll sing 'I just had a baby, baby, baby...ooooooooooo.'

                     

Looking at the bright side- I can atleast pull off the 'hairband with big flower' look. 

I know what your thinking, 'it's time for you to really get back to work now'.  I swear...I'm putting the camera down now and walking away...I'll be over my hair soon...I promise. (But I am NEVER using a hair coupon again.)

10 Lessons for the Week

Gather around kiddos because this week I have ten important lessons to teach you about my crappy week.

Lesson # 1

When one goes out to eat with a friend, pause the conversation long enough to drive.  I drove our mini-bus into the back of someone’s car, causing some major dentage to both van and car.

Let me tell you, it was no joy bringing that info. home to the little husband.

Lesson # 2

Just because you see a 6.00 coupon in the paper for a haircut doesn’t mean you have to use it.  I think the hairdresser didn’t understand the meaning of a shoulder length bob.

before



after

what just happened here??
the short layers are cut all the way to the top of my head.



Lesson # 3

Don’t look at the calendar, because it will tell you what time you have to return to work.

Lesson #4

Be cautious when cutting open the ham package because you may stab your hand.

Lesson # 5

Be even more cautious when cutting the actual ham because you might cut another part of your hand.

Lesson #6

Don’t wash and wax the floor right before a major storm.  Look what the cat dog...son.. husband drags in…..

 

Lesson #7

Retail therapy is hard to hide from the checkbook Nazi.

(But I found awesome deals!)

Lesson #8

Don’t email or text volunteer request for vacation bible school, because no one will email or text you back.  I might have to pull some Mafia type home visits.

Lesson #9

Don’t email or text volunteer request for babysitter requests, because no one will email or text you back. 

Lesson #10

It’s not wise to take your stress out on chocolate chip waffles, because then you have to replace the box before your family finds out.



The Many Faces of Carlee A.



"What do you plan to do with that thing doctor? no. seriously."

  

"You think I'm a fool?  I know this thing doesn't give me food....Melting Down in 3...2...1...."

"DO NOT DISTURB this Princess or you will pay (I don't care if you do have a white horse)."

"It is so tiresome being cute ALL day, I don't know how I'm going to pull the overtime."

"If someone doesn't get me out of this Bleeping Bumbo seat I am puking in 3...2...1...."

"...And then she said her sugar daddy got her those pacies....GIRL,  I could tell her pacifiers were silicon from a mile away...."

"Pick me UP or the FROG GETS IT!!!"

"Tell me more! Mom your stories are sooooo entertaining, you really have me hanging onto every word." 

"I LOVE CAMERA, CAMERA LOVES ME!"

"Now Daddy, lets keep it real, you KNOW I have more hair than you, quit playing."

"What do you mean I'm related to him??  For REAL?  like my brother for LIFE!?"

"You guys crack me up, no really, you all ARE totally nuts....LMDO (laugh my diaper off)."

Why I'll never write a HOW TO PARENT book

This week my kids don’t like me.

So I have figured out apparently ‘end of year’ means ‘I don’t have to do a thing because I’m burned out’ in my six year old’s mind, and apparently my baby figured out who her family is now. 

Please don’t misunderstand this post, I love my family, my children are Beautiful Blessings, I would do anything for them…I like them just great……………it’s just that they don’t like me this week. 

If only life were like a commercial…the cute little boy spills his juice, mom swipes it up in two seconds with a super absorbent Bounty towel (not the whole roll like me), and they hug and laugh the rest of the day.  Or a Huggies commercial where the baby giggles and coos into her mother’s eyes while wearing super absorbent diapers!  Maybe I need something super absorbent.

This week I could make a commercial for anti-anxiety drugs.  Just picture it (if you will)...The cute little boy with big blue eyes comes bounding into the house with a note from school that says he is "a bit unmotivated", aka. doing nothing all day long, his parents ground him from all wrestling and television, he stomps his little foot and runs up the stairs to slam the door and screams he is NEVER SPEAKING TO YOU AGAIN and  PLANS TO RUN AWAY FROM HOME and WE ARE UNFAIR!  Then picture a sweet little baby with big cherub cheeks.   You pick her up to sing a soft lullaby….(camera zooms in) and she pukes all over you and screams bloody murder. 

Man, am I good or what?!?   I smell a second job as commercial writer.  Why stop at drugs??  I could sell alcohol, bus rides to California, abstinence, and lotto tickets with that commercial!!!

Just to recap the week-

Carlee’s response to me feeding-

Cry.

Carlee’s response to rocking-

Cry

Carlee’s response to sweet talk-

Cry.

Carlee’s response to baby massage-

Cry.

Carlee’s response to changing-

Cry.

Connor’s response to helping with homework-

Sassy mouth

Connor’s response to dinner-

Sassy mouth

Connor’s response to bedtime-

Sassy mouth

Connor’s response to getting ready for school-

Sassy mouth

Connor’s response to punishment-

Sassy mouth

We are actually doing a parenting study in Sunday School that encourages tells us to look toward the scriptures with our parenting.  Due to a lack of sleep I couldn’t find the bible scriptures that speak about sassy mouth, so I just open it up and tell Connor the bible says ‘thou shall not sassy mouth! God says'.  (I may need to work on my technique.)

Two questions I always get when I go out- 1.  Is Carlee a good baby?  2.  Is Connor enjoying the baby?  People really don’t want to hear the answer to those questions.  They look at you like you are a two headed monster if you answer truthfully….so I lie... yes she is good, yes Connor enjoys her, yes life is a sunny commercial.   What does being a good baby mean anyway?  One who massages your feet and brings you caviar on a platter. And how is a six year old suppose to enjoy a baby whose world consists of changing, feeding, and rocking??  It’s not like they can wrestle and play football together.   

Well we all know I love a challenge, and parenting brings challenges, so maybe next week we can be a better commercial.

On the plus side, I made steak and heated frozen French fries for dinner the other night, so I think my husband likes me.

Free Time

I have been hard at work.

As you can see, I have been very busy writing Thank You Notes for all the wonderful gifts given to Carlee.  I am about 10 thank you notes shy from being complete (that is not symbolic or a metaphor people).    I think note writing is a lost art, and I think my first five were written beautifully.  However, at this point I am lucky if most of my notes 1. make sense and 2. don’t have ‘riddiclous’ spelling mistakes.

my hand hurts

Not only do I need to complete my thank you notes, I also need to start planning this year’s Vacation Bible School, and finish laundry, etc.  I like to joke we are getting high at church this year because our theme is Sky.  (It is important to know some people don’t find that funny in church.)

Must Get Prepared

Currently I am what you call in some countries 'muy flojos' (I think that means ‘very lazy’ in Spanish because that is what my Spanish teacher said to me a lot in highschool). 

Instead of working, I decided to take a nice, long bubble bath

It takes a few minutes to adjust, but I love the bath pillow!

and finally read some of these books.

This one started a little slow...so on to the next book for now....

A bit predictable, but I love Mary Balogh, and the heroine doesn't have baby spit up on her shirt.

(It is also important to know that when one wants to relax you should never read anything too thought provoking.)

You may ask, Amanda Dear, how do you get to relax in a bathtub and read a book with a new baby???
Well the answer is this:

Who needs lullabies when you have a blow dryer?

Some crazy person filmed themselves using a blow dryer (white noise) for a half hour, and another crazy person (me) looked it up on YouTube. I placed the computer by her head, and this had Carlee snoozing like a….well like a…baby.  YES. My brilliant mind at hard work again.  Score one for mom and zero for screaming baby (at least until 2:00am).

dreaming of being the United States President with
good hair and even better styling products