it's coming

The little man is SO close to standing. He is getting on his feet and crouching there, working on his balance. I am not ready for him to start walking yet, I am happy for him to take his sweet time. I bet he could if he tried, but the collision last week seemed to slow him down a bit. He is fast on all fours though so I guess running wouldn't be THAT different. He walks all over with his push toys and cruises pretty fast around the furniture.

It's funny how badly I wanted Saige to walk on her own, I remember everyday from about 7 months on, lol, thinking is today the day? Urging her to hurry the whole time. Yet this time around I am quite content for him to stay low to the ground. It might be the lack of any fear on his part, I see lots of ER trips in our future. It could be that he has been so incredibly difficult that I just want to enjoy the last bit if babyness, before full on toddler mode arrives, lol. It could be that he has become fun ( thank god because for a while I wasn't sure we were both going to make it, I am VERY relieved to say that it has been a 100% improvement in the last six weeks or so) and once he gets on his feet for good he will be off being as busy as a toddler can be. It could be the thought of him being my last baby. Even though it's better, I am not sure my sanity could handle another Rylan at this point.

He LOVES the little four wheeler, and he can drive it. He doesn't intentionally steer it or anything but he lights up as soon as he sees it. He knows where the button is and has no problem driving it all over. It's cute, but a scary indicator of the future (all those ER trips yet to come). Now I just need to get BOTH of them to watch where they are going, lol. Saige has been getting a little too comfortable driving around her jeep, not paying attention. She tried to run into me today for the fun of it. I told her it will only happen once, I have no problem tossing it in the dumpster. Her attitude grows by the day. At this rate she may not make it to 10.



This is his normal face, he looks more like a cranky old man than a happy baby. I really hope he gets some hair soon. Six more weeks until his birthday. I would say it flew by, and parts of it did but the area between 4 months and 9 1/2 months crawled by at a snail pace with him, and flew by with Saige at the same time. I love him even more for the hell he put me through but I would be lying if I said there weren't moments I wish it were easier. I now understand why people say having a baby is hard, I didn't "get it" the first time around, in fact it was almost too easy, all of it, from sleeping to potty training, but now I completely "get" it.

Saving money a little bit at a time

I have discovered a new hobby, scouring blogs and forums looking for the best deals on groceries. I've always used coupons but now it's like a game and for the first time ever I can say I had fun shopping last week. I bought a new printer so I could print coupons, and it has already paid for itself. I've heard all sorts of great stuff about the grocery game, but they don't have my local stores, so I did it myself.

My first big trip, I went to Walmart spent 107.96, handed over my coupons and walked out paying 38.09. Last night I sent Robby to Price Chopper so he could see how it works, I gave him a list and coupons. Total for 4 boxes of cereal, 5 boxes of pasta, 2 bottles of Act fluoride rinse, and 2 packages of Oscar Meyer deli meat for 14.58!!! Savings 77%

I am LOVING this coupon thing. At Walmart there was an older couple behind me in the line, the woman was annoyed. I heard her say "they should make a line for these people who need to use all these coupons to save a few cents" I just smiled, then her husband watched my total drop 70 bucks and he told her "you should do that" then I was really smiling. LOL. I am hooked. I will never pay full price again.

I made my first trip to the new Walgreens in Rome on Friday where they happily took my coupons. Saturday I went back armed this time with a list from their ad, and supersaver catalog , plus my coupons. Did my shopping, I had two 1.00 Chex mix coupons, it was on sale for .99 so it should have been free. I also had a $2.00 off any Excederin coupon, it was on sale for 1.99, also free.

I got up to the register, the girl rang me up, I handed her my coupons (some of which were from the Walgreens website) and she very nastily said "we don't take internet coupons" and tossed them back at me. So I said okay but you did yesterday and they came from your site. She said "So? I can't take them it's policy" I said fine, take off everything but the milk. I was ready to go to Walmart and match the prices. She sighed and said then I have to call the manager.... I said fine call her, I don't want it.

So the manager came over and informed the girl that they DO take internet coupons. At least it wasn't just me because the cashier stood there with an attitude and argued with the manager too. The manager was really nice, thankfully because my second trip to Walgreens was quickly about to be my last. She ( the manager) ended up having to re-ring everything and then when she got to my Chex coupons she told me she could only take one because her register would not let her ring in both because they exceeded the price. So I said okay, I'll take one bag, to which she said she can't take any then. I put the Chex mix back, lol. I don't really like the stuff but it was going to be free, lol. The original cashier stood there scowling the entire time.

I stood there debating on whether or not I should mention that her register took the Excederin coupon that also exceeded the price with no problem. I didn't push my luck. I guess long story short, in two trips, three different employees, and not a bit of consistency between them. They definitely don't make a point to make their employees know policies. I think some store will give you overage if the coupon exceeds the price, others will cancel it out and it will just be free. This was my very first refusal.

On a final note I got super lucky at Aldi's today, they had the 5lb packages at 50% off because it was use or freeze by today. I got 10 lbs of burger for 10 bucks!!!!

Altogether I have a full months worth, and then some, of groceries for under 100.

three monkeys in a tub

All three of them love baths, and luckily my tub fits them all so it is the easiest hour of the day, lol. I say SIT DOWN about 7 thousand times in that hour and Zailor hates his hair washed, but otherwise it's my favorite part of the day. My kids will happily stay in there until they are blue shriveled and shivering. Saige will tell me she is NOT cold through her chattering teeth. She gets so mad when the boys don't play her way or do what she tells them to do. She kept telling Rylan to hold the duck, then she hands it to him and he throws it. She also informed me that it's a good thing she is a girl because she "has more fun in the bathtub since she doesn't have a penis to play with" apparently leaving her more time to play with toys, lol. She has a point, those diapers come off and both of them spend half the time in the tub playing with themselves. I figure it keeps their hands busy, and they aren't hitting each other, so it's fine by me.

These are all kinda old pictures, I haven't uploaded any in a while, I should but I'm lazy. I was looking through earlier showing Saige, I only have like 20 pictures on my laptop. Out of those, these two caught my eye...I went upstairs and looked through older pictures and fact is, a lot of my pictures come out like this, my kids look stoned. LOL I'm pretty sure they aren't, at least if they are they aren't sharing, but for whatever reason their eyes come out looking like this in 25% of my pictures.

He looks nothing like me, not even a little bit. He could pass for his daddy and he looks a lot like Saige did as a baby, but balder. She looks more like me than Robby now but as a baby she resembled Rob more.

tired, oh so tired

I have had two extra kids since Friday. We just took Zailor home a little while ago and I am exhausted it has been a LONG weekend. I have a new found appreciation for moms with two less than a year apart. Kyra is still here but she's 12 and I probably wouldn't have survived the weekend with no break without her. In fact she's awesome, I told her I'll throw RJ out so she can move in, lol. She makes me feel old though. I very clearly remember her at three being a little brat and kicking me any chance she got.

We ordered Sweeney Todd PPV. I'm disappointed, and it's very hard to be disappointed in Johnny Depp. It's just too "fake", I like the older version with Angela Lansbury much better. I think I'm going to bed, maybe I will finish it tomorrow.

Zailor spent the night last night, I'm not sure I care for that much. He is great, but I HATE getting up in the mornings. That's Robby's job, but he will only do it for our kids :( Zailor would sleep in like me, but Saige just wont let him. Rylan woke up at 11:30 last night and didn't go back to sleep until 3am. He was happy, I brought him in with us and he happily spent hours in the dark trying to climb over us, sitting babbling away and clapping his hands, and just screeching for the sake of screeching then laughing at himself, and slapping me in the head and laughing. I had no choice other than stay awake with him, if I left him alone in his crib he would have had a fit and woke the other two up, but I had to stay awake to keep him from jumping/falling on the floor.

He sleeps with his head jammed on the headboard, or the rails in his crib. He wakes up with huge red dents, and they take forever to fade away. Poor guy I wish he had some hair, it's getting thicker in the back, its' very blond, but the top is still just bald. It makes him kinda scary when he's mad. I know what kind of mom says that? LOL but it's true. He is adorable when he's happy and smiling but it's a whole different story when he's mad. His eyes get dark and beady and his entire head turns bright red like a beet.

On a sad note I just read an article about canceled TV shows. I'm ticked. It should be easy to give up my dvr before long. I am not starting any new shows ever again! LOL I swear everyone I like gets canceled, on the other hand, I watch more shows than I can keep up with. I'm very disappointed to lose Jericho (again!), Big Shots, October Road, Shark, and Journeyman. Most of all Just For Laughs, that was my favorite, it was hilarious. A few others I watched for some unknown reason, I didn't really like them, so no big loss there. I suppose as long as there is still House, Boston Legal, and Two and Half Men I'll be content.

On a great note, well for me not so much the people behind in me in line, lol. I went to Walmart spent 107, handed over my coupons and brought the total to 37.48. I'm thrilled, I read about far better deals than that, and I'm learning, but I don't think I did too bad.

Dish Network Sucks....

The kids were all good, just loud, lol. I think Rylan almost took a step. he stood up and was holding the wall, he let go of the wall and looked like he was gonna attempt it.... then Zailor came running around the corner, slammed into him and they both fell. Poor Rylan did a back flip and slammed his head and screamed for 5 minutes straight. Zailor cried too but he landed on his butt, I wasn't as concerned with him at the moment. I wont blame Rylan if he decides to just stay on the floor after that. I saw the whole thing, I was 2 feet away but there was nothing I could do. Oh well, I'm sure there will be plenty more of that ahead.

My new receiver, the one they sent today and swore was brand new not refurbished DOESN'T work either. (insert me screaming and ripping my hair out) This has ruined my whole day, I am so cranky now. Every phone call has pushed me more and more. I hate recorded voices, I hate talking to a robot. Apparently they don't factor in that some people have kids in the background, and I just kept getting the stupid animated voice saying "I'm sorry I didn't understand you" over and over. Which lead to me standing on the porch screaming "give me a god damn human!" Just to have the voice say "you want to add programming?" yeah I see the similarity in those statements.

The screen keeps going black and then popping back on, changing channels all on it's own, and it wont record. I was disconnected three more times and then sat on hold for 30 mins. So they set up an appointment for tomorrow- maybe. This was 9 pm, I have to be here between 12 and 5 and then he says he may not make it and if not he might call. he might call? might? Then he has the nerve to tell me I will be charged if I don't cancel within 24 hours. I asked him if he saw the problem there... he said no.

It's 9 pm.... tomorrow between noon and 5... if I need to cancel I need to do it 24 hours ahead of time? he says yes.

I was like seriously? I know I insulted the guy because I couldn't help myself, I had to ask him if you have to fail an IQ test to work for Dish network? How can 1 company have so many idiots? I have talked to at least 10 different people from there this week and only 1 has been helpful in any capacity, and that wasn't anything to get excited over either.

I find it mind blowing that they tell me I have to be here between certain hours and then say they may or may not show up. What about people with jobs? They don't know I am a SAHM, do they just expect people to take time off in hopes that maybe the tech guy can be bothered to make it that day? How is it that companies manage to operate like this? What happened to customer service, do they just not care anymore?

I forgot to order the cable to hook up my printer. I am hoping Rob can find one when he gets home.... the way tonight is progressing I think maybe I should wait until tomorrow before I attempt to hook it up anyway. Something has to work sooner or later.

today has been too easy

childwise, anyway.
Both my kids have been happy all day, no whining!!!!!
Zailor came at 1:45, went for a nap at 2, Rylan went for a nap at 2:30 and they are both still sleeping. This is the first time they have napped at the same time, and it's nice, lol. Somehow I think they will more than make up for it as soon as they wake up.......

My new DN receiver came, I'd love to program all my recordings but the damn guide wont show any info for local channels, all the other info is there, everything but what I want. My second TV doesn't work at all. They have hung up on me 7 times now today. Most were disconnects while they transferred me, twice I think they just plain hung up. Rob will have to fight with them, I am so done. In fact after the last few days, I am ready to send it all back anyway. There are only a couple shows I can't watch online.

I am very impatiently waiting for the FedEx man to bring me my new printer. I have had major printer issues this week, that resulted in me chucking one of the two POS printers I have, out the second story window. LOL I felt much better afterwards, although I still have to go pick the pieces up. I'll probably chuck the second one out to for the hell of it, I'd like to set them on fire and dance on them. Technology has proven to NOT be MY friend over and over. The kicker is I have spare ink for both of them :( Ink is unbelievably expensive, so we have wasted hours trying to give them both back a little life, a printer SHOULD outlast the ink. In fact it may be cheaper to buy a new printer than to replace the ink.

(almost) the worst day ever

First off, sorry to anyone who read my post from this morning that disappeared. It was about having my dog put to sleep... I didn't do it, and I am happy to say the old man is still kicking around. My mom and Rob were pushing me into doing it and I just couldn't. I know sooner or later I will probably have to, but for now I will just hope he dies peacefully in his sleep one of these nights. The vet came to do it... and left. He is having a good day, he's been walking more than usual and I figure as long as he can eat, drink, walk, and goes outside to go to the bathroom he is good to go. I think when it's time I will know it, today did NOT feel like the right time. Seeing him tonight I am SO glad I didn't let them guilt me into it.

I was so upset, I didn't sleep at all last night, I couldn't stop crying, lol, and I don't cry. He's my baby, I got him when I was 13, I turned 28 Wed. We've been through a lot together and if I could I would go back and do it all over again in a heartbeat. I would go as far as to say I think the damn dog saved me a few times over. It's hard to see him so old, he's losing muscle and he looks frail but he's still got some life left. So for now I wont be thinking about it, I'm just going to enjoy whatever time he has left.

After the vet left the day greatly improved, until my dvr died. It says it has a corrupted hard drive. I had two weeks worth of stuff recorded and it's GONE. I am NOT happy. I didn't watch House yet, and there were a lot of season finales on there. So I called dish network. again. I got a guy named Dave. Dave wasn't speaking English all to clearly and he was pissing me off. I had to shut the receiver off and unplug it, I told him that I did that BEFORE I called, this is like the 20th time, I knew what to expect. He insisted that I do it again. Guess what? it didn't work. So I asked Dave (full well knowing he wasn't in the US) if he was in America? He says I'm in India. How is some thick accented guy in India going to help me with my dvr here in NY? I told him that when I signed up the woman on the phone spoke perfect English, yet haven't spoken to another person through them that does since.

I kinda feel bad for Dave, obviously he is just doing his job. I have nothing against people in India, or any where else. I do have a problem with outsourcing jobs, but that falls on the company trying to save a buck, not poor Dave. It's not his fault dish network and everyone else has decided to take the jobs servicing American customers- out of America. Why not? who wants to pay a decent wage and health insurance to people HERE. At least they could go somewhere that the people are understood. Finally I got passed to a woman in Colorado. Woohooo! I asked how long and how many jobs they outsource... she wouldn't answer me other than to say there are "a few service centers" here in the US. I wanted to know how many are a few? Is it just the ones that sign up new customers and plead with the pissed off ones to stay? She said she didn't know for sure, I bet I do, the two departments I just listed.

So onto this woman- I tell her I have had enough, I would rather not have any tv then to have to keep dealing with this bs monthly. So she started her spiel... she offered me a new HD box at no charge (for the box... apparently there is a monthly fee) I told her I don't have an HD tv. She says that's okay it will work with a regular tv. So I say... I don't have an HD tv, yet your solution is to send me something that raises my monthly bill for a service I can't use? no thanks, cancel me.

She say we have more options. I can get two different dvr receivers instead of the dual one. I said sure, we have had nothing but problems, this is the THIRD dual box. Then she put me on hold for 20 minutes to came back and say sorry they no longer offer single dvr boxes, but I can still get two and use my vcr to record. Obviously she was too stupid to understand the ENTIRE reason I have dish network is for the DVR. Why would she, I only told her that 4 or 5 times. If I wanted to use my vcr I would break out the rabbit ears and save a bundle every month.

I am still trying to figure out if they only hire idiots or if I am just so lucky that I get one EVERY TIME I call. In the end they agreed to give me a free month and a NEW dual box. When I said that I was sick of getting new boxes and being stuck without service for a week she told me the first three boxes were all refurbished. GGGGRRRRRRRRR If I could have reached through the phone I probably would have killed her. I had three kids running around so I had to refrain from telling them what I really thought. I'm pretty sure my sarcasm went right over her head, in fact I think almost everything went right over her head. I have no idea what she looked like, but I bet a few blonde jokes were written with her in mind. Nothing sets me off quite like dish network, except maybe the insurance company but that's another story.

So almost an hour later she tells me the new box will here in 5 business days, and wanted to know if I wanted free installation for my troubles. I told her I would prefer a carpet. Two years ago Rob and I installed a brand new almost white carpet in our living room. The next day the dish network guys came, wandered all around outside, taking no notice of the mud. They refused to take off their shoes and wouldn't wear booties. To say I was livid is an understatement. Not only did they permanently stain my brand new carpet down here, but upstairs as well, they dented and scratched my dresser and left mud everywhere. I told her there was no way in hell that anyone from there was ever again making it past my front door without me shooting them first. We will do it ourselves. In fairness the carpet didn't last that long anyone and we replaced it with laminate but still...... even Rob was mad and he doesn't get mad about anything.

This is it... I know I said that last time, but I really mean it this time. It can't be good for my blood pressure, I can feel what little patience I have slip away as the phone rings to them. I would rather have two root canals than to waste another hour of my life on the phone with them. Next time it ALL goes back and I will watch my tv online. I should have just done that anyway.

On a final note and my personal favorite I went to the doctors for this weird rash on my legs and I have poison ivy. I am extremely sensitive and allergic to all that stuff. He says he thinks I got it from laundry, that someone else (Rob or Saige.... not to mention any names, lol) got into it and I got it from touching their clothes or washing mine with theirs. If I had actually touched it, it would be far worse. It's not so bad during the day, but at night I want to saw my legs off they itch so bad. I scratch them in my sleep and they bleed all over, my sheets are about ruined and I am out of peroxide :( Hopefully with the steroids (that with three little ones, I didn't get filled tonight) will have me better tomorrow or at least stop the itching.

I guess I should be thankful, I do know that it could be worse, it's only my legs. I remember when I was 12 or 13 I got poison oak all over. It turned into huge blisters, actually more like one huge blister and took FOREVER to go away. I spent the summer in a chair covered in bandages watching everyone else swim while I waited for my skin to grow back, it sucked, lol.

the test

Tuesday we took Saige for her echocardiogram. To say it was not fun, is a huge understatement. She had the biggest, longest fit over the sticker things they wanted to put on her chest. She immediately shot up off the table, as soon as the girl peeled it back to put it on. She screamed, she cried hysterically, I think everyone in the hospital heard her. I doubt they have noise like that coming from labor and delivery let alone one little girl. I do have the loudest two children in the world.
They said if she didn't calm down we would have to reschedule. I was NOT going to reschedule. It will be a couple weeks before we hear back anyway. Rob took the day off of work and I didn't babysit. It was a 45 minute drive. Rob asked if they could just strap her down, they said no she has to be calm. Reassuring her wasn't working, and well some things in life just have to be done like it or not. A guy put the stickers on her back while she was standing and screaming, she ripped them off. They finally said they would do it without the stickers. Too late she was already hysterical. I held her down and told the girl to start so she could see it didn't hurt and we could move on. She was hesitant but she did it. I told Saige as long as she kept fighting it would never end, I was out of patience.
That seemed to work and she calmed down. 5 minutes later it was over. It only took 45 to calm her down. By the time we got to the parking lot my little angel was back asking for ice cream.

ouchies and flowers

Today was a busy day. Zailor spent the night, and the day. What a handful, not him, he is a great baby but chasing him in one direction and Rylan in the other at the same time tired me out. They both want to play on the stairs, we went to my moms and she has no baby gates up :( Zailor seems to see the stairs but he just keeps walking anyway He goes up just fine, down not so well, also thinks running towards the road or trying to jump in the ditch are no big deal, lol.

After he went home, I left the kids to play with Robby while I planted some flowers, dug up and replanted some others. My MIL gave me a bunch of plants from her flower beds. Then Robby yells Rylan's bleeding and that was the beginning of the end, lol. His poor little toe was sliced and bleeding all over the place. Saige was crying, because HIS toe was bleeding. I rinsed HIS foot off in the sink and she started screaming, he was pretty okay with it though. Then I poured some peroxide over it, she went hysterical, screeching nonstop at the top of her lungs like I was sawing off her leg. After hearing Zailor have a crying fit, I am once again convinced I have the loudest children on the planet. She didn't stop until after he had a bandaid on and I picked her up. If it hurt him he didn't let on, he was staring at her, silent the entire time. She insisted I carry her around for awhile after that, she never fully recovered, lol, she ended up having a fit and stomping up to her room, she was asleep two minutes later. I am SO glad she wasn't the one bleeding.

Robby was letting him do something that I have told him not to over and over not to do. He makes it absolutely no fun to be right. Things that I think of as common sense Robby thinks of as fun and it goes no further than that. I can't take my eyes off of them for a minute, sometimes I think I should get a babysitter for when I leave them alone together.

10 months

Rylan turned ten months old Tuesday... and I forgot, lol. Last night I realized it was the 8th, the days are getting away from me. He's a little monster, he is really fast! he has become obsessed with the stairs and wants them in the worse way. This presents a problem because we can't block them off the way they are and Rob hasn't come up with a solution yet. We have two steps and a landing before the rest of the stairs. We can gate them at the landing which is what we did with Saige, but she a month older when we built them, and she was very cautious, went up and down the two perfectly and carefully. He isn't cautious and would think nothing of launching himself backwards. Figuring that out, even if it means building a wall is on the agenda for tomorrow so I can relax and not have to use the pack and play to block off the entire corner of the room. This bugs me because I have given ideas and Rob disagrees because it wont look nice. This from the a guy who deserves a nomination for redneck of the week. (one of these days I'll get past the embarrassment factor and post some pictures, lol) We currently have like 439 projects started and abandoned by Robby, not looking all too pretty. I bitch about these all the time and how nice it would be to have one completely finished room that looks nice, but this one tiny insignificant thing sets off Robby's sense of style. We wouldn't wouldn't want to sacrifice that for the safety, he will never cease to amaze me ;) I pray everyday that at the very least, I live long enough to be assured my children are old and smart enough to survive daddy's bright ideas, lol.

Back to Rylan... He is extremely vocal (and still VERY loud) and now he "talks" constantly like he is having a conversation that only he can understand, lol. He is cruising around furniture and we are just waiting for him to take off at any moment. I'm not a hurry, he's hard enough to chase on his hands and knees or feet or combo of the two, lol. Walking is just a quick stop before running, plus thats another level of stuff for him to get into.
He finally has some hair, in the back. It's very blond but getting long and thick, I hope the rest catches up soon. He is totally a daddy's boy. He easts like a horse and prefers to do it himself. He will eat baby food but he really wants the good stuff. I'm hoping his top teeth will pop through at any moment and give us all some relief, his gums are so swollen and the drool is outrageous, lol. He likes playing with Saige's matchbox cars, he pushes them back and forth and drives them all over everything he can reach. He loves to get hugs and kisses, and he loves to give "kisses" too. Basically he opens his mouth as wide as he can and slams his face into whatever body part is closest to him and drools on you. It's adorable and if he is across the room and I say kisses he will come over and does it to my leg. Saige thinks it's hilarious but runs away every time in fear he is going to bite her, lol, he does look like he is ready to eat you.

Today I had him sitting on my lap and he was playing with the remote. I wonder if there is a limit to how many times dish network will replace them, this one is shot too :( Anyway he is pressing buttons and he keep holding it up and handing it to me. We went back and forth, then he lifted it up over his head and smiled at me before he wailed me in the face with all his might. IT HURT! I think he bruised my eye socket, it's still really sore. He thought that was the funniest damn thing he ever saw. He sat there laughing uncontrollably while I tried to wrestle it away from him, he wanted to do it again! He did manage to get it later when I was in the bathroom. I heard a crack and him start laughing, he had Saige's doll and was slamming it in the face with it. Uh oh, he is going to be a brute.

Throwing this one in here too, lol, thought it was something else.

These are Saige's "guys" as she calls them. She sleeps with all of them, well the two dolls sleep on the floor next to the bed but the other FIVE sleep with her. They all come down with her in the morning and they all go up with her at night. She has never insisted on bringing them anywhere and spend the night elsewhere without them fine just likes to "take care" of them. Two half bear, half blankets, one butt ugly piggy, one octopus, one baby alive doll. Most recently added to the line up one dog/berry thingy that smells like strawberry and one cabbage patch ice cream doll that smells like vanilla. Occasionally the furreal kitty gets dragged in the mix (not so much since her batteries ran out, lol). Seriously how many kids drag around 8 toys?

Today we got RJ moved to the basement so as of this afternoon my kids officially have their own rooms. Everyone cross your fingers that this will let us all get some sleep!

the big kid park

Sunday we went to Robin's, she lives right next to an elementary school, AND she has sidewalks, lol. We don't have those here, it's just the edge of the 55 mile an hour highway- so we we don't ride at home, it was a great chance for Saige to get a chance to ride her new bike. I had to keep giving her push as we went up the sidewalk, her tricycle she can pedal forward or backwards, on the big girl bike pedaling backwards brakes. She braked A LOT. We made it to the "big kid park" that's what she kept calling it and telling me because it was too big for baby brother and that's why he couldn't come. Most of it was too big for her too, but she had fun on the slides and the little rock climbing wall. I thought the cool swing was fun, mostly because I fit in it, too, lol.


Then she saw a little girl riding a strawberry shortcake bike and immediately wanted to ride her bike around the parking lot with her new 6 year old friend with battle wounds from falling off her bike. All of a sudden she could ride all by herself and took off following and talking to this little girl for a good 15-20 minutes non-stop. It was nice to see her talk with someone who has as much to say as does, lol. Saige fell off her bike once but got right back on without a word and listened as the girl told her all about EVERY time she has EVER fallen off her bike, while she followed in circles asking questions, lol.

Then Robby and Rylan drove the 25 feet over to pick us up to go home. I told Saige to say good bye and ride to the car. The little monster took off! She kept right on pedaling, I chased after her and told her to get back to the car, she went to the car and kept going in the opposite direction. She is growing an attitude way too fast.

Notice below, her looking one way and the bike going the other. She pays attention as well as her daddy. I don't even let her see me when she is riding her jeep around the yard, because if she does she just looks at me to see if I am paying attention then where she is going. It makes me nervous, lol, so I watch from the window and she does fine.
I swear the old barbie jeep is faster than it's suppose to be.
I can't prove it but knowing Robby it probably is.
He swears it's not but I still wouldn't put it past him. Either way that jeep cruises pretty fast and she rides it in giant circles around the yard, all day long. The battery never seems to die either, hmm. Only further convinces me that Robby has done something to "pump" it up a little. I married a redneck, lol. The other day I went out and caught the baby in the wagon hitched to her jeep and she was pulling him all around the yard. Then I had to explain WHY this was NOT a good idea. I also had to explain why it is not a good idea to let him ride in the jeep-with Saige, where there is no seatbelt for him. I can't take my eyes off any of them even for a minute.

Twice in a row

Twice in a row now I have published a post with a misspelling in the title. I haven't noticed until I see the post pop up in my yahoo. Yes I get my own blog feed- it's the easiest way to get here, no typing or looking just a click and all my favorites are right there. I never proofread, I should but... firefox kindly points out all my dyslexic typing, except in the titles. So thanks to all of you who posted a nice comment and resisted the urge to point out that I can't even spell birthday right, lol.

I was right Vista will take some getting use to, it's strange. Some parts I'm loving and some I am hating.

I got an early birthday present

My mom gave me a laptop! It's a first for me, I've wanted one forever and contemplated buying one so many times but in the end I couldn't bring myself to spend the money when I had a perfectly functioning desktop. I was about to finally do it because my computer is dying an awful death :(

I'm so excited, lol. Thanks Mom! No more being stuck in one place it's little, I can go outside, I can go hide from Robby and the kids, I can take it with me. If you saw me sitting here you would be laughing at me

It's strange, the keyboard is compressed and the mouse isn't a mouse, lol. It will take some getting use to, I am very dependent on my wheel and I keep reaching for the side. Oh and it has Vista, that's will take some getting use to also, I would happily keep XP for another 10 years. I was just getting use to it, lol. So far so good.

A bit late but....

Last Friday my mother took BOTH my kids for the night. I had 24 full hours to myself without having to take care of anyone, well mostly, she didn't take Rob, lol. It was nice, I missed them but it was nice to miss them both at the same time. I would love to be able to say I did something constructive but... I did the opposite. RJ needed a ride to go get his bike in Brewerton, when I dropped him off I had this brilliant idea that Brewterton was the other side of the lake (Oneida) and since I was headed to Rome and the roads all connected I should just keep going as opposed to turning around and coming back home THEN going to Rome it couldn't be much farther right?

I was wrong. Very, very wrong. I was much much farther away than I thought. I drove and drove, wasted gas and an entire afternoon, it was after 8 by the time I made it to Rome did some errands and got home. I can now attest that Oneida lake is just as gross and stinky on the other side. In fact the entire town of Constantia stunk unbelievably. Maybe not the whole town but I was gagging going 30 and I couldn't get away fast enough. When we were in high school, RJ and I use to walk since we lived less than a 1/2 mile down the road. If we rode the bus we were the first stop and then had a 45 min ride to get to the school we could walk to in 5 minutes. One May someone hit a deer and the town left it to rot in the field between the school and home. The smell was too much and we rode the bus for the rest of the school year. It was the same smell. I'm sure the whole town doesn't always smell and my sense of smell has greatly increased since I quit smoking but I am in no hurry to ever go back through there again. LOL

Rylan is everywhere... and fast. He walks behind his push toys, and has started cruising around the furniture. His crawling is mostly on his hands and feet. He doesn't hold still for a half a second. Changing his diaper is nearly in impossible, I have to wrestle him and he screams bloody murder at being forced to hold still for 7 tenths of a second. I dread poopy diapers because I have to wrestle and pin him down so I am not scrubbing everything. I bet my neighbors think we are torturing him. As long as he is getting his way and his teeth aren't hurting to badly he is a happy baby, but he is stubborn as all hell. His top teeth are coming in and he is not a happy baby ;( and that means he hasn't been sleeping.... again :( We are all tired. Hopefully it will be over soon, I gave him some Tylenol earlier and he was much happier, poor little guy. Hylands teething tablets seem to have NO effect on him what so ever. Tons of moms swear by them but Rylan doesn't, lol. He is 19 lbs 5 oz as of yesterday at his 9 month checkup.

Saige is 36 lbs and 39 inches, she had her 4 year checkup. This was their first visit with their new doctor. She heard a heart murmur on Saige and wants her to have an ECHO? (Ultrasound of her heart). She says it's just to be extra careful and not to worry. Why is it the very words don't worry, make you worry? I guess I am not that worried, a little but I have one and as far as I know it's not a huge deal. I know it meant I had to take an over abundance of antibiotics anytime I needed to see a dentist and being born with bad teeth genes I became immune to them over the years. Every time I need them, I have to have something stronger. Saige is excited, she remembers the ultrasound is how we saw her brother and wants to see inside her too, lol. She piped up as soon as the doctor asked if I minded her having one that she wants to see her next brother in her. I wont even start on what is wrong with that statement, lol.

Saige told me today she doesn't want to go school anymore, I told her she will have to wear shoes in order to go. She hates wearing shoes... they have to come off the second she gets in the door- socks too. She drives me nuts taking them off and putting them on a zillion times day. Playing on her jump house thingy she wants me to put them on and off five times as often. The thought of wearing them for four hours straight while at school is apparently going to take some getting use to for her.