Three, Three, Three days in one!

I am so far really lovin Netflix. Everything has been going smoothly and the movies arrive quickly and best of all I don't have to pay any postage! I have watched Benjamin Button, I Love You Man, and I have Slumdog Millionaire here but keep putting it off because I am afraid it will be depressing and sad. I like funny laughing movies that help me ESCAPE from reality. LOL. But I will watch it. Maybe this spring? Thank god there aren't late fees! haha!

The Secret Life of Bees is on its way and will be here tomorrow, which is cool. I have read the book a LONG LONG time ago. So long ago that I barely remember it. I was ecstatic to see that Netflix has all of the Tori and Dean season's on DVD, so I can catch up on Inn Love which I never saw.

This evening was our 2nd round of H1N1 shots for the kids, because they are young they need boosters. It was really slick, we went to the clinic that is at the pediatricians and it was in and out.... really quick. Both kids did really well. Of course, now that we are home, Ardyn is being hysterical about everything (unrelated to the shots and more related to the fact that she's ornery and didn't nap much (just the ride to the Doctor's)

I am noticing that Marek is not putting up with her crap anymore, and is very vocal (growling, squealing and screeching in general when she tries to take something or do something that makes him angry) and I am laughing. But tonight he bit her (lol, can't help but giggle) when she took a toy away from him that is HIS, and then she hit him in the head in retaliation. We had a discussion about Marek being a baby and that he doesn't understand that biting is wrong. We included that next time Marek bites her she should come tell mommy and not hit Marek (right) and that if she doesn't want Marek to touch her or her things, then she should take them into her room and play there. (riiiiiight.) So, the fun continues for the next, oh 30 years, right?

In other news, I have no money. LOL. None. zip. As in "we need bread, but how in the WORLD are we going to get it?" kind of broke. As in "how long can we live without power?" broke. It's just one of those "lotsa bills" weeks. Ugh. So you know that yesterday I made bread. Well, I am pissed at Betty Crocker. In the Betty Crocker cookbook, there was a recipe that I thought I would try for wheat bread because it's been so long since I MADE wheat bread that I don't even know what recipe I used. The directions were all screwy, and told me to heat the water on the stove until it was 225-230 degrees and then add it to my yeast? Um. No!? I have made plenty of bread and anything above like 110-115 degrees is too hot and will kill the yeast. That's just Breadmaking 101. but then I did that thing where you second guess yourself. You know, where you say "come on, this is Betty CROCKER here. Seriously, how could Betty Crocker screw up something so basic as the temperature for water added to yeast? And then I worried that my memory for water temperatures had been erased by double pregnancies and whatever brain cells I may have burned during natural childbirth and sleepless nights. So I thought, Betty must be right.... Right?

No. As soon as I sunk my hands into that dough, I just was NOT feeling it. It was too hot. it just did NOT feel right at all. I had a baaaaad feeling. This dough was not going to rise. And two hours later, I decided it wasn't going to happen. So I made another batch, which I did completely differently (added ingredients more to my liking and experience, and added water to yeast at 110 degrees.) and it did rise. But I was still seriously unimpressed with the dinky loaves and the taste was too heavy and dry. Then in frustration I found a new recipe online that I am going to try hopefully by Wednesday (because we are out of bread. LOL)

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Fast Forward to Tuesday night.
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Got my hair colored today. I think I mentioned that I am "swapping services" with my hairdresser Kelly, to get my hair colored for "free." It turned out awesome. She asked me what color/s I wanted and I told her that she could do her thing. She has excellent taste and talent and knows what I like. And of course it turned out awesome!

Tonight Evan is "Christmas Shopping" and I am hoping for fabulous gifts from my list like hot glue sticks, brown acrylic paint, a scissor sharpener, and a nursing tank top. (yes, I am serious. All the things that I like.)

I should be sewing. I should. I still haven't sewn stockings. Or Allison's iSpy bag. I am a bad bad person. Santa hates me. Michele hates me. Hates. I will get to them. Tonight after bed we open gifts. And I don't mean our own gifts. I mean the kids gifts. Take them out of the packages and get rid of all that cardboard and those crappy choking hazards (twist ties, strings, plastic waste, etc) and prepare them to be given and played with in an instant. This morning Ardyn discovered that a drawer in her bedroom was still home to a secret stash of mommy's barbies. It took her over two years, but she found them. She got out every tiny barbie shoe and perfume bottle. I had two barbies in boxes that I had bought on clearance about 10 years ago for $5 each. They came with full wardrobes... I thought they would be good to have on hand for impromptu gifts or if we had someone over who needed entertaining. Well, Ardyn was super excited when I told her we could open one. It took me FOREVER to unstitch the poor doll's hair from her box. When Ardyn finally got ahold of her first ever barbie, she walked her over to the couch and said "Hello Barbie, How Very Nice To Meet You! I'm so glad mommy cut you out of that box!" I laughed. How cute is that?!

I have heard in the past that Santas elves deliver toys to good little girls and boys that are unwrapped and unpackaged, all joyous and ready to be played with. So this year I am taking a hint from Santa's crew and going to have everything ready in advance, to be sure that we don't have Christmas morning meltdowns, and parental headaches, and then everything will be primed to play with and fresh with batteries. Ahhhh.....

Fast Forward. Wednesday after lunch:
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This is why I can't blog. I can't finish one complete thought, let alone a whole post, without being seriously interrupted! Last night was a serious case of the toddler meltdowns, brought on by the issue where MIL doesn't want to make Ardyn nap, and therefore poor child had been up since 7am and and fell asleep on the couch before supper (after I got home from getting the hair done.) I was blogging while she napped, and did NOT want to wake her, but then she peed her pants and woke herself, and then went right into hysteria.... complete with excessive snot and tears, and completed with the refusal to eat supper.... which she punctuated by throwing up on the dining room table because she had herself so worked up that she choked on her own snot. Yep. Attractive. Pleasant. Exactly how I like to end a nice relaxing day away from home. By this time Evan had bailed to do his Christmas Shopping, so it was a one woman show. Marek was very clingy because he was afraid that I might leave with my boobs again. I fed him supper while Ardyn napped, and then she woke up and I attempted to feed her.... she ended up being so worked up that she went right into bed with a few drops of Bach's Rescue Remedy and some requested Scooby Doo on TV, which calmed her down to the point of finally being able to form a coherent sentence. Then while she chilled down a notch, I took a nice hot bath and read some of my book (Love in the Time of Colic by Ian Kerner and Heidi Raykeil) and then when I got out, she was happily playing in her room and ready for storytime. Just then Evan arrived home complete with his shopping, and bringing supper for the two of us. So I read Ardyn about 5 or 6 Christmas Stories, and then Evan and I settled in for supper and some "elf work" before bed. And I was tired. So I climbed into bed and then remembered that I was "chick of the week" on my mom's board and probably had a few questions to answer. So I pulled the laptop into bed and spent an hour and 20 minutes answering them, and then collapsed.

This morning Marek woke up with a snot fountain and a fever. Poor guy. He is really not feeling well. Sleeping and waking alternately, very lethargic and just cuddly. He doesn't really care for much of anything, but I do get some smiles and occasional jabber out of him, so I am not overly concerned. Just a cold it seems. After nursing him this morning, He lay right down next to me and fell asleep. When he woke about an hour later, his fever felt higher, and so I checked it at 101.3, and decided that he was now miserable enough for Tylenol. I gave him 3/4 of a dose and then about 90 seconds later he threw up all over me (freshly bathed) and the sheets on our bed (freshly laundered.) Too much snot I believe. So a call to the ped to see if I can re-dose him after he puked up the drugs, and then Evan moved the rocking chair from the nursery to the living room, where I have spent the last 6 hours alternately nursing and rocking him to soothe his ailments. Oh and putting saline spray in his nose, sucking out snot, wiping up sneezes, and reinserting pacifiers. And don't forget a couple of temperature checks. Ardyn was pretty chilled out so we just hung in front of the TV and watched BOLT via netflix. It was good. She enjoyed it. Then we watched Kipper's Christmas episode and then lunch. Luckily Marek went down for a real nap (meaning he actually let me put him down) and Ardyn and I ate and now she is in the tub because she had spaghettios from her head to her feet. What is it about the phrase "don't touch anything on the way to the bathroom" that makes a child put her icky hands right on the white wall or the doorknob, or my shirt? Yeah. Or in my hair. Did I mention I just took a bath LAST NIGHT!

So now I am sitting on the bathroom floor in front of the heater with my laptop while she swims and floats and swishes like a mermaid. She just counted to 10, and then 16, 14, 16. LOL. She doesn't know it yet, but her nap is on the horizon. I have the dishwasher running, and although I wanted (needed) to wash diapers and bake bread today, I am not sure that is going to happen with Mr. Cling in the house.

Oh well. Hopefully at least she can nap and he can be awake, and be rocked and soothed.

So that's the story. Sorry it took so long to come to a close!