T minus 6 days...

I thought I was doing OK with the thought of leaving my family until tonight. My sister decided to have everyone over to her house, to have a family dinner before we leave on Saturday. And I noticed two things tonight:

1) Over the years, it has gotten easier for our family to get together. Ever since my parents got divorced over 10 years ago; family occasions have a slightly strained and stressed atmosphere. Yes, everyone makes an effort to get along, but you can feel the tension and uneasiness in the air. Not tonight. Everyone got along wonderfully. Everyone talked to each other. My mother asked my step-sister how she was doing. My dad talked to my step-father about his computer. Stuff like that. And it was great.

Last week, we got together with some friends, and my friend Bryanne was having trouble with her in-laws. They were having trouble being in the same room with each other, which made Christmas difficult. And I mentioned that sometimes family just has to put their differences aside, to make an effort for everyone else. And that's what happened tonight. It made me really happy.

2) And it made me really sad. It hit home tonight how lucky I am to have such a good relationship with my family. And how lucky I am to have them living so close.

A Very Happy Birfday...

Well, I am back from my 10 day long start in Seattle. I think we've found a house (waiting on final confirmation,) I met all my co-workers, and saw my little cubicle. I'm sure that I will have lots more to say about my time away from my family (for those that saw my posts on Facebook.)

Right now, it's all about this guy.
Who changes every single day. I swear, I think he grew two inches while I was gone. He's grown up so quickly, it makes me a little nostalgic. Our teeny tiny little baby with the giant feet is gone. In his place is a tall, smart, talkative little boy with giant feet.

Who set the table tonight for the first time, and did it correctly.

Who devoured his plate of chicken, broccoli, and carrots tonight, and asked for seconds. Last week, you couldn't get him to eat anything but PB&J and hot dogs. Don't get me wrong, I'm not arguing. But it's the third night in a row that he has asked for seconds at dinner.

Who runs to the door so happy to see me, and is so affectionate. He loves to give hugs and kisses.

Happy third birthday, Sutton Button. Daddy and I love you.

Thankful...

In all the craziness of the next few days; I will be noticeably absent from blogging. Just giving you all a heads-up. Here is my schedule for the next week or so.

Friday-Day After Thanksgiving. Otherwise known as insanity in the retail world. Eat your Wheaties and get your sleep. You're gonna need it.
Saturday-See previous comment.
Sunday-I work from 8-5. Try to squeeze in some quality family time before I leave. Attempt to start packing.
Monday-work 1-10. Freak out because it's about 10 degrees in Seattle and all my nice work clothes are short sleeved. WHAT AM I GOING TO DO? I AM GOING TO FREEZE, THAT'S WHAT!!
Tuesday-work 8-5. Say goodbye to everyone at work. Try not to be a blubbering mess.
Wednesday-leave for Seattle at 7 AM.

I am going to try to blog my new adventure when I can. But lack of computer access may make that tough. Maybe I'll bring my iPod, to see if I can blog that way.

In the meantime, I am thankful for all of the good luck and warm wishes being sent our way. I'll be sure to keep everyone posted.
Until then, I am also thankful for these two. Who have supported me without fail in any endeavor I pursue.
Dave-I love you more every day. Thank you for allowing me to chase my dreams, and I love being your wife.
Sutton-I consider it a blessing to be your mom, and watch you become the crazy, lovable, independent little man you are today.

Moving on up...

You heard it here first folks. The MacDonald family is packing up and moving, much to my mother's dismay and heartbreak.

I have accepted a new position in the company, and we are moving to Seattle, WA.

Am I excited? Yes. Am I scared? Hells yes. Is this the right thing for my career and for my family? Yes, and Dave agrees. I need to do this to advance my career, and the job market is Phoenix is dismal, to say the least. Dave seems to get more and more discouraged every day. So we made the decision when I first applied for this job; that if I got the position, we would move.

Now, this wasn't an easy decision. I have been spoiled my entire life. I have always had my immediate family close to me. I went to college only 20 minutes away. I lived with my sister during my last year of college. I talk to my mom about once a day. And my mother has watched Sutton for one day a week for the first two years of his life.

I think that's the hardest part for her. That she won't get to see him every week. But thankfully, there is Skype. And phone calls. And as my mother puts it, she'll come visit him every six weeks.

In my heart, I know that this is the best decision, and I'm really excited.

But that doesn't mean that I'm not going to miss my mommy.

This next week is going to be crazy. I'm due in Seattle by the first of December. I'll post more when I can. Hopefully, I will have some sort of computer access when I'm there.

It's Been A Loooong Time!

I apologize for the tardiness in my blog posting. I have been so busy, and am so tired when I get home, I barely have the energy to spend time with my family, let alone blog.
But that's not to say that I haven't found time to stalk other blogs, however. I am currently up to date on all my friends' goings-on (congrats on the pregnancy, Bryanne!)
So, I'm enjoying a cup of coffee with Sutton runs around with the dog like a crazy person. Looking at gift ideas for a certain little boy who is about to turn three. WTF, where did the time go? It seems like yesterday he was just this size.
Now he's about this size...
That's his Halloween costume. He was a pirate. He's saying "Argh!" when I took the picture.

So, what are some good gift ideas for high spirited, very active little boys? I've been looking at some things, but could always use more suggestions. Grandparents are starting to ask "what should I get Sutton for Hanukkah/birthday/Christmas?"

Here are some ideas I have.
http://www.fisher-price.com/fp.aspx?st=10&e=viewlargerjs&pid=56423&image=1

Sutton is very into cars right now, and this looks super cute. I think he would love watching the cars go spinning down.I think I'm going to get him this. I love that it showcases Hanukkah.

I found some really great electronic toys as well. Because, of course, he is Dave's son.

Fisher-Price iXL 6-in-1 Learning System (Blue)

It looks just like Dave's Nintendo game that Sutton is obsessed with. He steals the stylus tool and hides it all the time.

V.Reader Animated E-Book System

This looks really cute too, and Sutton loves to be read to.

So, there are some ideas that I've seen. It's funny-both Dave's and my birthdays are also in December, and I've been trying to look for ideas for us. But everything on the wish list is for Sutton. And let's be honest, he's going to get the most presents, right?

So, for now, I'm going to enjoy this day with my favorite almost-three-year-old.

Back in the land of the living...

Whew, it has been crazy the last few weeks! First of all, thank you to those of you who sent love my way via the interwebs. I needed the chance to vent, and this blog gives it to me. But it's nice to know there are people out there who read what I write, and feel my pain; so to speak.

So, what has been going on, to take me away from writing and venting? A lot. First of all, my store is going through a remodel. For those of you who don't know, I work for a off-price branch of a major retailer (rhymes with "ORDSTROM"-silly, I know.) And our store is getting a brand-new facelift. Exciting, yes, but stressful at the same time. It involves a lot of moving stuff around, finding new and temporary homes for said stuff while the floors get stripped, or the walls get knocked down. That kind of thing. And for my department in particular, it means moving A LOT of stuff. Which means that I have to come in early, work late, and come in on my days off to help with the move. Today is the first day in nearly a week that I haven't had to get up early to go into work. Which may explain why I'm still in my jammies with the nastiest bedhead I have ever seen. Be glad I don't have Skype.

Secondly, we have a little boy who refuses to sleep past six-thirty in the morning. And then he stands outside his gate (we still have a gate on his door, to prevent him coming into our room at the ass-crack of dawn.) and he yells "Mom! Dad! Get me outta here!" So, when he gets up, I get up. But today, ahh today. My lovely husband got up with the prisoner (he rattles the bars of the gate; and Dave swears he's going to start yelling "Attica! ATTICA!") and he let me sleep in. Until almost 9 am!! Unheard of! But boy, did I need it.

What else? I've been reading lots of yummy recipes lately, courtesy of my friend Bryanne's blog, and this one from Annie's Eats. LOVE her recipes. I swear, this woman amazes me. She's a doctor, a mom to a 2-year old boy, and still manages to make delicious food, and take amazing pictures. She makes her own pita bread and her own hamburger buns, for G-d's sake! If I knew her, I'm sure that she would be the type of person that I would love/and be viciously jealous of at the same time.
But my kitchen is so incredibly tiny, with no counter space to speak of; that these recipes get printed, but hardly ever made. Not to mention that most of my kitchen paraphernalia is still packed in boxes, since there is no space to put anything. I'm tempted to go to my mom's house, just to use her kitchen and her counters. Bryanne, it's an idea! Lots of room to bake!

Just random other stuff...
My sister and brother-in-law came over for dinner last night with my nephew, which was nice. Little Jonas is now 10 months old, and creeping all over the house. He's fast too. But it's hysterical to see him get down into creeping position from sitting up. He leans down until his tummy is on the floor, with his legs in full splits position. But then he can't quite get his hips turned so his legs end up behind him. So he gets mad, and starts crying. So someone has to help him! I wish I had a picture; it was so cute! He and Sutton had a great time together, too. Sutton even shared his toys, which was so sweet to see.

More random stuff...
Every Friday night, we have MacDonald Movie Night. We order pizza, make popcorn, and eat on our bed. We watch movies, which lately have been the Disney Pixar collection. So far, we have seen almost every movie except A Bug's Life. Sutton's favorite of the moment is Cars. While the movie is playing, he runs around our room, making "Vroommmm" noises, and pretending to race. He tells the cars "Go! Drive fast!" So, my mom bought him a set of plastic cars from the Disney Store. And he LOVES them. Except one of them. He didn't like it, and it's now hidden somewhere in the house; we just don't know where. Anyway, he is so obsessed with Lighting McQueen. Guess what his birthday party theme will be??
I think that's all for now. I'll be sure to write more soon.

It's Not All Bad...

Thank you to everyone for reading my rant, and sharing some love. As the title says, the MacWorld is not all bad. Enjoy our little video of DJ Sutton beatboxing. Thanks to Yo Gabba Gabba and Biz Markie for teaching our kids to how do this...

Not Happy...

I don't know what it is lately, but I have been feeling really out of sorts. Restless, and irritable, and frustrated with my life and with my MacWorld. And yes, frustrated with my family. I know it's not their fault, but I feel so out of control right now.

I guess it started when we got back from Cape Cod. We had a week of "no-school, no-camp" time that just left Sutton and Daddy home together. But, when we got home from the Cape, the sleeping situation got really bad.

See, when we were staying in Cape Cod, Sutton shared a room with his grandma. So he got used to having company in his room. But when we got home, he had to go back to sleeping in his room alone. And I don't think he liked it. He would get up several times at night, crying. And then it would come into our room. I was on this kick of "let's take the gate down and see if he can stay in his room like a big boy." Turns out...he couldn't. Fast forward to almost one whole week of him getting up night after night. After one night of his getting up at 12:30, 1:30, 3:30, 5:30, and having to be up for work at 6, I decided to try putting the gate on the INSIDE of his door. Yeah, he learned not only how to climb the gate, but how to pull it down too.

So, now we installed a higher gate; one we used to use for the top of the stairs when we lived in a two-story house. It was an improvement...until this morning, when at 6:30, I heard him unlatch the gate and let himself out. Crap.

We've also been having quite a few issues with listening. Like today at swimming class-which is NOT going well. He refuses to do anything that the teacher or I ask. He won't kick his feet, he won't blow bubbles, he won't put his face in the water, etc. The only thing he likes to do is get out of the pool, run to the deep end, and throw toys into the deeper water. And today, he wanted to RUN around the entire pool. The teacher had to catch him, because I couldn't. So he ended up in timeout in the corner.

I know this is typical behavior for a two-year-old, it is SO frustrating to deal with Sutton sometimes. I find myself yelling, threatening, putting him in timeouts, etc. And then I have to take a time-out, because I get so angry. My dad keeps telling me that this is normal; little boys just act out sometimes. But I feel like he is SO strong willed and high spirited, that either there is something wrong with him, or there is something wrong with Dave's and my parenting skills. Because sometimes, I just don't know what to do with him.

And then he gets contrite, and comes to kiss me, saying "I sorry, Mama. I didn't mean to hit you." And then I feel so horrible for yelling, and being angry.

Then there's the work situation for Dave. He still hasn't found a new job. Now, that's not for lack of trying. But it freaks me out, because we need both incomes in order to pay for bills, rent, food, etc. The thought of trying to pay for all of that on my salary alone makes me tear up, and I get a knot of worry in the pit of my stomach.

AND, to top it all off, we were told that the house we are renting is being put up for a short sale. AGAIN. Two times in as many years. So, when this lease is up (or the owner sells the house, or goes into foreclosure) we have to figure out where we are going to live. And hopefully, by then, Dave will have some kind of job, because I don't know if we can qualify for any kind of mortgage or rent on my salary alone.

It's a lot on my plate and on my mind at one time. And I've been trying to hold it all together. But Dave knows me too well, and sees the worry lines on my face and the tearstains on my cheeks. And I feel so bad for stressing, because none of this is his fault. And he feels bad, because he hates causing me stress or pain.

So that's what making me unhappy.

Taking Some Time Off

Just wanted to let everyone know that I will be back to blogging after the end of August. I have inventory at my store this month, and it takes up all of my time. So, when it's over, I can return.

Thank You Cape Cod, It's Been Fun!

So, we got home on Tuesday evening, and I'm just now getting around to blogging about it on Friday. That's not too bad, right? And I've been back at work for two days as well, so I don't feel too badly.
So, our trip. It was so much fun. We can't thank Sandy and her family enough. They really welcomed us into their house with open arms and hearts.

We left the house REALLY early Wednesday morning. I think we hit the road at about 5 am, to make it to the airport for our 7:15 flight. We got to the airport, dropped off the car, made it through security, etc without too much trouble. But man, traveling with a little kid can be tough! You have so much crap to bring with you! Between the three of us we had: three separate suitcases (blame me for overpacking!) a car seat, an umbrella stroller (priceless when it came to getting through airports quickly, or walking with a resistant toddler to the beach) three carry-ons. That's a lot for two people to carry!

We got on the plane, strapped Sutton's car seat into the seat, strapped Sutton into the car seat and settled down for a 3 1/2 hour plane ride to Chicago. Sutton did really well on the plane. He slept through most of the first leg of our journey. He only had problems when he got restless and wanted to get down, or when his ears hurt due to the pressurization.

After a plane change in Midway, we got to Boston around 5 pm. We met up with Dave's mom Linda and got our rental car. Then we drove about 2 1/2 hours to Chatham. Of course, due to traffic, it was longer.

Ahh, Chatham. Such a fun little town. We walked around town, we went to the penny candy store.
We went to the beach...
We ate homemade ice cream from the ice cream shop. The scoops were the size of your head!
We ate lobster. Mmm, lobster.
We admired the view from the back porch.We made great new friends, like Ali and Robby.

We mocked Matt for his birthday present. Seersucker shorts with skull and crossbones embroidered on them! Hysterical!
There's so much more to talk about. I'm starting my scrapbook now, and as I finish pages, I'll post them online. But I want to include a video that we took. We were out on Sandy's dad's boat-which was the first time that Sutton had ever been on a boat. He liked it, until he realized that we didn't bring any snacks with us. Then all hell broke loose. Lesson learned-must take snacks. Or he'll make us walk the plank.

Cause we're leaving...on a jet plane!!

Well, we leave for Cape Cod tomorrow morning. EARLY tomorrow morning, which means that I have to be up even earlier, to make sure that my sleepy-head boys get up in time. I've set my alarm clock for 4 am, which is just wrong on so many levels.
I've emptied my digital camera of old photos, stocked up on double-A batteries, and I will be taking lots of photos. Which probably won't be posted until like two weeks after we get back. You know how it is.
See you in a week!

All my bags are packed; I'm ready to go...

OK, so later this month, the MacDonald family will be descending on Cape Cod, MA. And by MacDonald family, I mean ALL of us. Dave, Sutton, Cory, Matt(my BIL), Sandy(my SIL), Finley, Alex, and Linda(my MIL). YAY!! We are all staying at Sandy's parents' summer house on Cape Cod for a week. I cannot tell you how excited I am. OK, yes I can. I AM SO EXCITED!!! I CAN'T WAIT!!
Just to have a real vacation is great, yes. But I finally get to meet my twin nieces. And Matt and Sandy get to see Sutton. The last time Sandy saw Sutton, he was five days old. A lot sure has changed!
So, being the obsessive compulsive person that I am, I have been making lists, organizing, shopping, etc like crazy for the past few weeks. So, last night, I started bringing out the suitcases. And Sutton decided that he wanted to help.He kept saying "I pack. I pack."
So he packed his duckie, his blankie, his binkie, various plastic food toys. And then he decided to pack himself.
Looks pretty innocent, doesn't it? And don't you just love the urine stains on my carpet, courtesy of my dog?
Look closer.
Here's a better angle.



A look inside the bag.You think he's excited too?

Potty Time

For the last few weeks, we've been experiencing somewhat of a regression in the world of potty training. Sutton has absolutely no interest in becoming potty trained, and no amount of books or stickers will convince him otherwise. So we had to break out the big guns.

Candy.

Yes, I know. It's not the world's best solution, but it's one that works for us. For a while, we were using M&Ms, but I gave him one, and he drooled blue dye. Yuck. So we've been using jelly beans.

So, if he sits on the potty, he gets a jelly bean. But here's the problem. He will only sit on the potty with a diaper on.
But he REFUSES to sit on the potty without a diaper on. Tonight, he wanted a jelly bean. So we told him that he could have two jelly beans, if he sat without a diaper on. Cue the screaming and crying. I mean, he FUH-REAKED out!! I've never seen him so hysterical. He was pointing at his diaper, begging us to put it back on.

Why is he so scared? Is it the feel of the plastic on his tush? I honestly don't know-and it's not like he can easily tell me. We put Buzz on the potty, to show him that it wasn't scary. He kept telling Buzz "No! It my potty!"

We're going to try giving him some diaper-free time, to let him get used to the feel. Or even putting big boy underpants on him, with no diaper.
What worked for your kids?

Shut-In

While at swimming class today (more on that in another post) I overheard two moms talking. The one mother was talking about how her daughter gets up during the night. "I even have to put a velcro-lock on my fridge," she was saying. "Otherwise she opens the door, and leaves it open during the night."

And that got me thinking.

Back in a previous post, I talked about Sutton's bedroom door. Well, it's not technically a real door. It's two folding doors. You know the ones I mean, where they come together in the middle and close. Here, I'll give you a picture.We originally wanted to remove these doors and install a normal door, with a doorknob. But this is a rental house, and we needed to get permission from the owner to make the changes. The owner was OK with it, provided that we used a licensed contractor, and had the rental company inspect the work when it was completed. Then we found out that it would cost us $400 to do it; and that's not even including the paint. Umm, forget it. Thanks.

So, what have we been doing? Well, we switch off between two things. First, we shut the doors, and use a baby gate to keep them closed. For example.

And that works. Until he wants to get up. Then he bangs the doors against the gate, screaming and yelling for us until we get up and take down the gate.

Or we try leaving the gate off. And he gets up during the night. We've caught him sneaking around the dark house at night. And trying to get him back to sleep takes FOREVER. Not to mention that he gets up at the crack of dawn, since his room gets a lot of sunlight. And yes, we have blackout curtains. And it's STILL bright in his room. Go fig.

I feel terrible about having to lock my child in his room at night, but I don't know what we should do. Either option is not the ideal situation. Does anyone have suggestions?

What We've Been Doing

While I might have been going stir crazy thanks to being cooped up inside (115 degrees on Friday!) Here's what Sutton has been up to. Our little boy has discovered Toy Story. Now, it's all about Buzz, flying, etc. He likes to wear his blanket around his neck like a cape, run around and call himself "Super Sutton."



Please forgive the state of my house. It's a small space and we have a local hurricane by the name of Sutton.

I'm Still Here...

It's been a while since I posted last, but I've been in a little bit of a rut. Summertime is difficult in Arizona. It's SOOOOO hot, and it's hard to keep little kids entertained. We can't go outside and play, because it's SOOOO hot. So we stay inside most of the day, which means watching TV and movies. Not that there's anything wrong with that. But after the first viewing of Toy Story (1 of many) I get a little stir crazy.

So I've been cooking, and trying to find new things to keep myself busy while Sutton and Dave zone out in front of the TV. (Don't worry; I let them do it for an hour or so, then I insist that we get out of the house, just to change up the pace.)

I'll go more into detail later, but I need to get ready for Sutton's swimming lesson. I'll let you know how it goes.

One Step Forward, Five Steps Back

Remember my last post, when I said that swimming went so much better? Yeah, just forget about that. Today's class was not so successful. He screamed and cried the whole way through. But we hung in there. Our instructor Laura was very patient with us. She told me to keep working with him on it, but Sutton was just not in a swimming mood today. In his defense, the water was really salty today (they have a salt-water pool, to avoid using chlorine) and it was burning my eyes, and I didn't even go under the water. We did a couple of submersions and Sutton DID NOT like it. He started crying even harder.

I think he was a little scared of swimming today. This past Sunday, we went to the pool at my mom's house and he fell under the water. It was in the baby pool, but he couldn't get his bearings and stand up properly. Luckily, I was close enough by that I could grab the back of his swim shorts and haul him up. To be honest, it scared ME more than I think it scared him. As I went to sleep that night, I kept seeing Sutton floating facedown in the water. That is the very reason he is taking swimming lessons. So if he ever falls in, he knows what to do.

Another problem that we're having is that he would rather play in the water, than actually try to learn anything. He HATES floating on his back. HATES IT. We're supposed to float them on their back, with their head on our shoulder. But he tries to jackknife his body up, and he is STRONG!

I know it's because he doesn't like being held down, when he doesn't want to do something. It's the same thing with changing his diaper, brushing his teeth, putting on sunscreen, etc. You know, those everyday things. He thrashes, screams, struggles, etc. Dave and I have just learned that it's easiest to hold him down, do it quickly, and distract him as soon as it's over.

I'll give you an example. Last week, Sutton had a dentist check-up. The technician asked if they were any problems we were having. I told her how we have to fight Sutton to brush his teeth. She made some agreement noises, but didn't say much more. When the dentist came in, she attempted to clean his teeth. I say "attempted" because Sutton put up such a fight. He kicked, screamed, thrashed, cried, and made such a struggle that I had to hold his hands down on his chest, so he couldn't grab the dentist's tools. Then the technician says to me, "You weren't kidding!" I said, "This is what it is like every night!"

We've tried all sorts of ways to get him to brush his teeth. If we let him do it himself, all he does is chew on the brush and suck the toothpaste. So we have to bite the bullet, so to speak, and do it for him. And then we limp away to lick our wounds, and do it all again the next night.

I know this is normal, but it really can be painful.

OMG You Guys-SO Much Better!!

Based on all your comments from my previous post, I decided to do something about swimming lessons. I called the facility and asked to be switched to a different class. It's at 10 am, rather than 11, and it has a female instructor. I hoped that it would be a good change of pace for us.
We're very lucky this week to have my mother-in-law in town. She hasn't seen Sutton since Christmas, and she has been having such a good time with him. She came with us today to class, too.

When we got there, the owner was chatting with us, and asked how it was going with our lessons. I told her, "Well, we've been struggling." When she asked why, I explained that I felt that our previous instructor was too impatient with Sutton. She apologized, and explained that he was only 19, but that he may need to work on his patience level. But when I told her what he had said ("Wow, he's really a crier, huh?") she turned a little red. She said to me, "Well, he shouldn't have said that, and I apologize for that." Now, I'm not a person who wants to make a big deal out of something, but when it comes to my kid-I'm TOTALLY that person. Who knew?

Our new instructor is named Laura, and she has a kid around Sutton's age. She was so upbeat, and cheerful. All the kids in the class were around the same skill level, so Sutton felt more comfortable. There was even one kid who screamed and cried the whole way through, so I didn't feel so bad. I even think they egged each other on a little.

BUT-Sutton did great!! Yes, there were some tears, and some "Stop It! Stop It!" But he did the monkey crawl on the wall (where they hang on to the edge of the wall) The teacher said to me, "Wow, he did that so fast. How many times has he done this?" I told her, "Never. This is the first time he has felt comfortable doing it."

So, I feel so much better for having spoken up and doing what I think is best for my child. I will never doubt a mother's intuition again.

We also discovered a great Middle Eastern grocery store next door to the swim place, and they have amazing hummus and pita bread. I can totally see that being our weekly routine now.

After swim class, my mom came over with my little nephew Jonas. I got a few pictures before my camera died. Here they are.


He's such a cute little kid.

Water Woes, Part Deux

So today was the second swimming lesson. I had to work last Thursday, so I wasn't able to take Sutton to the lesson. We just skipped a week.
We left the house around 10:20, and we got there WAY early. The place is only 10 minutes away, so I drove around a little to kill time. And Sutton fell asleep in the car AGAIN. So he was cranky AGAIN. So the lesson did not go well AGAIN. He cried or whined the whole time. AGAIN.

Which leads me to my dilemma. Do I just cancel the lessons, since it upsets him so much? I feel like the instructor is frustrated with us. There were more kids in the lesson today, and he spent more time with them. He told me that I needed to do a better job of holding Sutton away from my body, so he wouldn't want to cling to me so much. Any time he would try to work with Sutton, he had a crying toddler on his hands. At one point, he said to me, "Is he always this timid?" Are you kidding? This kid is fearless sometimes. I almost feel like he doesn't like the instructor; maybe that's the problem.

I feel so frustrated and upset. If I'm spending the money each month for these classes, I want it to be worth it. I don't to force Sutton to do swimming lessons, but living in Arizona, you need to know water safety. There are swimming pools everywhere. And I myself didn't learn to swim until I was almost 10 years old. To this day, I still don't like to put my face in the water. I don't want that to rub off on Sutton.

So what do I do?

Sutton

My co-worker reads my blog, and she said to me the other day, "All you do is talk about the negative stuff." That comment took me aback a little. This blog is meant to be an outlet for me. A way to vent some frustration. A way to express what I'm feeling, and know that other moms feel the same way, and have gone through the same thing. I don't want Sutton to read my blog entries one day, and think that I always trash-talk him.

So, in honor of Mother's day tomorrow, here are a few of the things that I love most about my little button.
1. How he loves our dog Auggie. He always calls for him, and wants to hug and kiss him. It's cute to watch them lying side by side on the rug together.
2. His developing language. I love to hear him mimic what we say. As he was eating his dinner tonight, he yelled "Auggie, eat your kibble!" Of course, in his language, all I could really hear was "Auggie....kibble!" But I could put the rest together.
3. His passion for electronics. This started from an early age. He has always loved remotes, and stuff like that. At about one year old, he could turn on our DVD player by himself. Today, he turned on Tivo, and selected the show that he wanted to watch. Dave and I just stand there with our mouths open.
4. His little face.
5. His smile.
6. His sense of humor. He cracks me up sometimes, with his silliness.
7. How cute he is with his little friends at school. He runs down the hall to see them, yelling "C'mon Mom! Let's go!"
8. How he LOVES to watch movies and snuggle in our bed. He climbs up, and covers himself with the covers. Then he leans back with his hands behind his head, and waits for us to start the show. So stinkin' cute.
9. How crazy he is about my mom. When she walks in the house, he's so excited to see her. He yells "Bubbie!" And he constantly asks me, "Mom? Where Bubbie?"
10. His love for his duckie and blankie. It's adorable to see how these items comfort him. He rubs his face in the duck, and that's how I know he is tired.

Of course there are lots more things that I love about my boy, but those are just a few that I can think of off the top of my head.

Happy Mother's Day to all the moms out there!

Water Woes

I signed Sutton up for swimming classes and today was the first lesson. I was kind of excited to have an activity that guaranteed that we would get out of the house. Like his dad, Sutton is perfectly content to lounge around the house, watching TV, eating snacks and hanging out in his jammies. But when you only have one day off during the weekdays, you try to pack as much as you can into the day.

I bought a new swimsuit, because I only have tankinis, which I didn't think would be appropriate for a little kid swimming class. Sutton is in level 2, which has the parents get in the pool with them. So I got a black one-piece from Old Navy, and figured I was set.

This morning was the big day-first lesson!! We left the house pretty early this morning, since I wanted to run some errands before the class. I picked up some Mother's Day stuff at Target, and we headed over to the swim center. Wouldn't you know it, on our way there, Sutton falls asleep in the car. Now, when you wake a sleeping Sutton, you get a grumpy Sutton. Sure enough, as I park the car, he wakes up and starts crying. I haul my purse, our swim stuff and a crying Sutton and go inside the swim center.

They give us a brief tour, and I get a key for my locker. I quickly change clothes (how hard is it to change clothes or use a public restroom when your toddler knows how to open the door!!) and get Sutton changed. The center requires that non potty-trained kids wear reusable swim diapers, not the disposable ones. So I bought this one that looks like a little pair of swim trunks. But they have a swim diaper lining. So cute!

By now, Sutton is a whiny, clingy mess. He only perks up then he notices the HUGE box of Dum-Dum lollipops by the check-in desk. Of course, he wants one. As he put it, "Want one NOW!" I tell him that he can have a lollipop after swim class. Cue the crying and mini-tantrum.

Finally, it's our turn for class. There are only two students in the class-Sutton and another little girl. The instructor tells me that Sutton can walk down the steps into the pool, until the water reaches too high for him. That was as good as it got. After that, Sutton refused to let go of me. The entire time. He cried and whined the whole time. In between whines, he told me, "Stop it!" (I was holding him under his arms, as per the instructions. Sutton kept telling me that it hurt.) At one point, he told me, "Want go home!!"

The other little girl? Floating on her back, kicking her legs, blowing bubbles, etc. Sutton? He just wanted to squirt me in the face with the water toys. That is, when he wasn't clinging to me like a spider monkey. I asked the instructor, "Do you think he's too young for this?" He told me "Nah. He's probably just a crier. We can work through that." Thanks for telling me that my kid is a whiner. Appreciate that.

After 30 minutes, the class is over. We get out, and shower off. That part-Sutton liked. He liked the water spraying him in the face. Go figure. Oh, and he LOVED the lollipop at the end.

And my swimsuit? Epic FAIL. When Sutton was scared, he tried to climb my front. His foot got caught in the neckline of my swimsuit and he pulled it down to my stomach. Classy.

I'm A Big Kid Now!!

So, we've been dealing with Sutton's nighttime routine for some time now. And it's getting easier. It's by no means EASY, but we're getting down a routine, which is important for Sutton. He's a slave to his schedule, as most kids are at this age. But now we come to a new hurdle.

Potty-training.

A question to you moms out there-how did you do it? I had a co-worker who had success with the potty-training boot camp. Letting your kid bare-bottom it for about three days or so. He swears that his kid was potty-trained in a weekend. But here's the problem. You have to wake your kid up an hour after they went to bed, so they can use the potty. If I wake up Sutton after he's gone to sleep, he's up for the rest of the night. Which means that I am up for the rest of the night. Not the best solution for me. So, I mentioned using Pull-Ups. Which my co-worker informed me, negates everything you're teaching your child.

So, what do I do? He can now tell me, "I make poopie." Which, sure enough, he pooped his diaper. Then he lets me take him into his room, he lays down on the floor, and I change his diaper. He watches us use the toilet (I know, awkward) and he says "Mama go pee-pee." Or "Daddy go potty." So, he knows what it is. But anytime we try to pull down his pants, or get him to sit on the little potty, he FREAKS out. Crying, and trying to pull his pants back up.

How do I get him to get over this fear?

I wanted to show some pictures of Sutton's bathroom. It turned out so cute! We went with a Dr. Seuss theme, to coincide with his room.
We got these adorable towels from Pottery Barn Kids.
We got the larger one with his name on it! Cute, huh?
The next picture is my favorite. I found these amazing little paintings on Etsy. The shop is named "Meandmypaintbrush" and she makes Dr. Seuss themed paintings for the bathroom!If you can't see it very well, they say "Wash Face" "Comb Hair" "Brush Teeth" and "Wash Hands." They are so cute, and really make the bathroom complete!!

Transition

There have been a lot of changes in the MacDonald household lately, and I think it's taking its toll on all of us. But especially on Sutton. He's growing up so fast, and I think all the new stuff going on in his life scares him a little.

When we first moved into our new house, we immediately tried to make Sutton's room as normal and familiar as possible. We hung up his pictures, and we put his books into his little bookcase, and pulled out his comfort items. (I call them the "trifecta"-his blanky, his binky, and his duck) But nighttime was still hard for Sutton. Whenever we would put him into his crib at night, he would cry for about five to ten minutes, then settle down and fall asleep.

Then he learned to climb out.

He's tried to climb out of the crib before, with no so good results. As Dave puts it, he learned that gravity is a constant and a bitch. But this new house has carpet in the bedrooms, where our old house had wood laminate floors.

So I get a call at work last Friday from Dave, who tells me that Sutton woke him up. I say, "You mean with his crying?" "No," Dave says. "He came into the room and woke me up." Uh-oh! Sutton's crib is a convertible crib, so it can be switched to a toddler bed. But Dave wanted to wait until Sutton did it more frequently. Uh yeah, for the next three mornings, Sutton climbed out of his bed and came into our room. Time to switch the bed over.

So, on Sunday, we changed the bed to a toddler bed. And that's when it became a LOT harder to get Sutton down for bed. Usually, he went down anywhere from 7:30-8:00. Now, it can take up to two hours for us to get Sutton in bed.

It's a struggle of reading books, playing with his toys, rocking in the rocking chair, etc. Like last night. It was my first time putting him to bed by myself. Dave had put him to bed on Tuesday night, and said that Sutton cried for an hour. Luckily for me, Sutton was very tired due to a full day at school. He snuggled with me on the rocking chair, then agreed to lay down in the bed with me. I stroked his forehead and rubbed his back. He turned over to his tummy, which was a good sign that he was ready to go to sleep. Which I love, because that's how I sleep. Like mommy, like son.

But when I left the room, that's when Sutton started crying. Sutton's room doesn't have a real door, it has two folding doors. So Sutton can push them open at any time. So we had to start putting a baby gate on the other side on the door. But the noise of setting up the gate wakes him up, and he starts screaming and crying. We're trying to get our landlord to let us put a regular door on his room, but so far no luck.

All you parents out there, please tell me that this transition gets easier. Right now, I hate how upset he gets. I know he thinks that we're leaving him, and he is still not used to his new room. I hope he;ll get over this. Oh, and now, he's showing signs that he's becoming ready to be potty-trained. He tells us when he's pooped. Only he runs in the other direction when we try to change his diaper. One big boy thing at a time. So we'll wait a little longer before we start potty training.

In closing, here are some pictures of Sutton's room.
This is the view from his doorway.
His little toddler bed, complete with the guard rails.
Another view of his bed, with books on the floor.
His adorable Dr. Seuss bedding, which my mother-in-law got for him.
The other side of his room. See the horse on its side? It was a present from my dad and step-mother. It whinnies and neighs when you press its ears. He loves to play with that horse. So much so that we had to cover it with a blanket and tell him that horsie was going night-night, and he had to too.

Moving Craziness

Well, I am still alive! I know this little blog of mine has been woefully neglected this past two weeks, but you can hardly blame me. First, we moved. Second, I've been sick. And third, in our new house, the computer is right outside Sutton's room. So no more blogging late at night for me. When I start typing on the keyboard, he hears my fingers clattering, and starts yelling "Who's dere? Who is it?"

So...moving. I hate it. Always have, always will. It's chaotic, and confusing, etc. Even more so with a two-year-old who is determined to "help" you. By unpacking everything you're trying to pack. But we got through it, and that's all that matters.

We moved into our new place on April 1st. And we still have boxes everywhere. I know, you're saying, "It's the 11th!" But, in our defense, we're waiting to get a storage unit. We downsized when we moved, but we still have a ton of old baby crap that needs to be stored until we finally decide to have a second baby. And since the computer is now in the corner of our living room, we have a lot of office crap (like bookcases and books) that we don't have room for. So they're sitting in our living room and in our garage until we can get them moved.

Moving was even more difficult, because on Saturday (the 3rd) I got the worst case of food poisoning I have ever had. I have never been that sick in all my life. So I was no help to Dave, and he had to finish the last few hours of moving all by himself. In 85 degree heat. In a two-story house. Me, I laid on the bed with Sutton, watched movies, and tried not to vomit.

Here are a couple of pictures of the new house. I'll try to get more.
The living room with all the junk and boxes.
Sutton snuggling with Dave (Sorry, this picture is really dark)

Sutton is so impressed with our new house.
Can't you tell?

Next post, all about our exploits with a certain little boy who has learned to climb out of his bed. Next up, toddler bed!

Antsiness, Anxiety, and Ice Cream for Dinner

Dave and I are very different when it comes to the weekends. He likes to bum around the house, play video games, watch TV, etc. I go one of two ways. Either I am the same way, and prefer to stay close to home. Or I get restless. My mind starts thinking about ALL the things we need to do. Like the mountains of laundry that is threatening to take over our closet. Or the fact that we are maybe 1/3 of the way finished with our packing. And we move on the 1st. Or that the floor needs to be mopped. See what I mean? So, today was a combination of the two.

Sutton woke up around 7:30 this morning. I got up with him, and brought him downstairs where we snuggled on the couch until about 8:45. Then I started making breakfast. I said to Sutton "Should we go wake up your dad?" Next thing I know, he's headed up the stairs by himself, yelling, "DAD! DAD!" I go upstairs where Dave is slowly waking up, and corral Sutton back downstairs.
For breakfast, I made Cinnamon Bun Pancakes, from the Tasty Kitchen blog. Oh my yum. I added a powdered sugar icing/syrup that another reader had recommended. So made the difference. Really made it taste like a cinnamon bun.
The recipe is listed below.

• 1-½ cup All-purpose Flour
• 3 Tablespoons White Sugar
• ½ teaspoons Salt
• 4 teaspoons Baking Powder
• 1 Tablespoon Cinnamon
• 2 whole Eggs Beaten
• 1 cup Milk
• 2 Tablespoons Corn Syrup
• ¼ cups Butter, Melted
• 1 Tablespoon Vanilla

In medium bowl, combine flour, sugar, salt, baking powder and cinnamon with a whisk. Whisk well to make sure everything is combined.

In separate large bowl, beat together eggs, milk, corn syurp, butter and vanilla. Stir in flour mixture.

Heat a lightly oiled griddle or frying pan over medium/low heat. Pour about 1/4 cup batter onto griddle. Brown on both sides.

Serve warm with icing drizzled over the top.

Here is the recipe for the icing.
3/4 cup powdered sugar, 2 tbsp melted butter, 2 tbsp milk and mix together.

Really, really good. Sutton ate FOUR of them. And I mean adult sized pancakes.

After our carb-fest, Sutton wanted to go watch a movie. He's obsessed with watching "movies" in our bed. He likes to be snuggled under the covers with us.

So last night, we started watching "The Princess and the Frog." We finished it this morning. While we were watching it, Sutton kept saying "Supai. Supai." And we couldn't understand what he was saying. Then Dave figured it out. PBS has a show called "SuperWhy" and it's all about reading and books. Sutton hadn't watched it that many times, so I didn't think he liked it all that much. We were wrong. Everytime the characters say their little catch phrases, he tries to say them along with them. So cute.
When movie time was over, I started tackling the mountains of laundry. Since we currently live in a two-story house, I throw the laundry over the railing, and collect it downstairs, where the washing machine is. Sutton decided that he wanted to help.

At around noon, Sutton was tired, so I put him down for a nap. Then I got dressed, and went down to the full-line Nordstrom, to pick up some makeup. When I got back, Sutton was still napping. He woke up around two-thirty, and we had a quick lunch of pizza.
After lunch, we all went outside to play. Well, Dave didn't play. He pulled weeds instead.
Sutton "helped" by watering the plants. He ended up watering the one pot that didn't have a plant in it.

That should have been enough, but my head kept telling me that we needed to be making the most of the beautiful weather. So I suggested going to the park by our house. Turns out that the park was extremely underwhelming. Kind of boring, actually. Got this cute picture of Dave and Sutton, though.
In the best suggestion of the day, Dave came up with the idea of going for ice cream. So we drove to Culver's for some soft serve. Sutton got his own cup, and boy, did he enjoy it.
Since it was about four-thirty at this point, I decided that this would be dinner. Yay for cool Mommy! We came home to more laundry, packing, a meltdown at bathtime, and two stories before bed. And we're exhausted.
That was our day. How was yours?

Yet Another Blog Change and Fashion Musings

Welcome, everyone, to yet another background on ye olde MacDonald website. I don't know why, but the previous blog backgrounds wouldn't let some people post. So I've made more changes. Hopefully, they work.

Lately, Sarah, Jamie, Gina, and others have started a mom-style blog. And I thought this was a great idea. Since I work for a major retailer (Starts with "N" and rhymes with "ordstrom") I'm curious how moms interpret the new trends. Or do they simply dress in what works for them. And until they ask me to contribute a post (hint, hint!!) I'll talk about my own fashion choices.

Since I work in retail, I am surrounded by fashion, and trends. So, on the weekends, I am all about the jeans and T-shirts. I am a big jeans lover. At one point in my retail career, I was the manager of the contemporary denim department, and I LOVED it. So many choices, and I got to wear jeans to work!! And we were required to try them all on, to see how each brand fit us. My favorite brands were Paige Premium Denim, Citizens of Humanity, and Joe's Jeans. I loved how Paige Denim was made for a woman's body. The creator of the brand used to be the fit model for Seven for All Mankind, before she branched out and created her own label. I used to tell my customers, "They are made for women with hips and a butt." Citizens of Humanity was a great, stylish jean (and it didn't hurt that I got a pair for free!) What I loved about Joe's Jeans was that they offered a petite style. As a woman of 5'3'' (5'4'' on a big hair day) these jeans didn't need to be altered. You could just buy them off the rack and boom! You're good to go!

Then, later down the road, I had a baby. And all those jeans, the brands that I used to love, didn't fit me so well anymore. They rode a little too low, and my post-baby belly used to pooch out in a way that I hated. So, thus began the quest to find stylish, reasonable rise jeans.

I still wear my Joe's Jeans. But, if they stretch a little too much, they start riding low. Then came the skinny jeans trend. At first, I was hesitant to try it. I didn't want super tight jeans; I was trying to get away from that. But I gave it a shot. The first pair that I tried was the Old Navy skinny jeans. Sarah mentioned in her blog that she thought they were too baggy in the legs. I totally agree with that. So the search continued.
I ended up finding a pair that I liked in the most unlikely of places...Chico's. Yes, I know. Chico's-the mecca of most middle-aged women. The brand that; as my regional manager calls it "covers the masses of asses." But there I found a pair of skinny jeans with a comfortable rise. AND a short length, so I didn't need to get them altered. SOLD! They're actually really nice, and super comfy. I wear them all the time.

That gets me to my next point. Breaking outside of my comfort zone. It's a theme with many women. We find a trend or a style that works for us, and we work it to death. For me, it's the work-pants-and-flats look. More specifically the flats. I don't wear heels much anymore. I'm standing on my feet for 8 or sometimes 9 hours a day; mostly on hard concrete floors. My poor feet are beat up after years of wearing heels for speech. So I stick to flats. I have three or four pairs that I constantly rotate. Today, I tried something new. A skirt, and strappy nude sandals. Of course, I was much too tired to take a picture when I got home. But the outfit was cute, and I got a lot of compliments on it. And the shoes weren't TOO bad. They were good until about hour 7.5. Then they started hurting.

Off to bed. I'm off work tomorrow, so much cleaning and packing will be done. Night!!

Blog Problems

Is anyone having trouble posting comments on here? I'm wondering if changing the blog background messed with the posting section.

Return of Super Happy Family Fun Day!!

Or, as we like to call it, "Super Happy Family Fun Day Strikes Again!"

Today was the open house, take two. And just like the previous open house, it poured down rain for most of the day. We called the realtor like five times in the days before, asking "Are you still going to hold the open house?" Because we DID NOT want a repeat of last time. But she swore that she was going to hold the open house. But true to our form, the day did not go super smoothly.

On Friday, our dog got into a bag of chocolate candy. Now, let me be clear. We did not leave said candy lying around. It was up on a shelf and must have gotten knocked down somehow. Nevertheless, the dog inhaled about two-thirds of the bag. And proceeded to get violently sick ALL OVER THE HOUSE. Fun, let me tell you. And he is still suffering the consequences of eating something he shouldn't.

So, Saturday night, I went to sleep around 11:45. For some reason, Dave was up. I guess he was keeping an eye on the dog to see if he was doing OK. But around 3:15 this morning, I wake up to the sound of Dave swearing. The dog was throwing up right outside Sutton's room. And the combination of the noise, Dave's swearing, and his turning on the light woke Sutton up. And he immediately started crying, "Daddy! My Daddy!" Wanting to help Dave, I went in instead. Big mistake. I shouldn't have gone in. Sutton has a bad track record of waking up. Once he's up, he's up. Will. Not. Go. Back. To. Sleep.

So, for the next three hours or so, I tried rocking him, letting him cry it out, bringing him into our bed, before finally throwing in the towel and taking him downstairs. In fact, Sutton asked for it. He told me, "want go downstairs." Where he knew the TV was. And I was too tired to argue. So I brought him downstairs, turned on Nick Jr. and covered us both with a blanket. I dozed off and on, to be woken up by little hands patting my face. At 8:30, I finally tagged Dave in, and slept for an hour. Then I had to get up, shower, and finish cleaning the house.

At around 11 or so, we packed everyone up and headed for my mom's house. The whole way there, we kept promising Sutton that he could have pancakes at Denny's. Or as we call them, "cake-cakes." After dropping the dog off at my mom's, we head to Denny's. By this time, Sutton is hungry and crashing. He needed food and a nap. The wait at Denny's was too long, so we headed to McDonald's, thinking we could get breakfast there. Oh yeah, they stop serving breakfast at 10:30. Sorry about those pancakes, Sutton; have some chicken nuggets instead. But he ate, and was somewhat happy. Then he passed the f*@k out in the car.

We toured some rental properties, looking for a new house to rent. And we found some, so keep your fingers crossed. Then we came home, crawled into our bed, and watched movies. All three of us. We ordered pizza for dinner and ate it in our bed. At one point, Dave looked at me over the top of Sutton's head and said, "THIS is what Super Happy Family Fun Day is about." Amen to that!

Thanks and Hugs

Thank you to everyone who sent me a message. I can't help but get teary eyed every time I read them. I know everything will work out, it's just frustrating. And I hate feeling so helpless. My heart goes out to Dave, though. I'm sure he feels worse; he's just not showing it. I know he feels like this is all his fault. And I keep telling him that it's not. It's not happening because of him- it's happening TO him. But I'm sure my hysteria and snappish remarks aren't helping.

We went out to breakfast with my dad and my sister today. Sutton was great all the way there, but melted down as soon as we tried to sit down to eat. It was a usual MacDonald outing for us. Sigh. I almost wish he was still small, so he could stay in his car seat carrier and not throw a fit.

But it was fun to see him with my dad. He kept yelling, "Zayda! Zayda!" And my dad would mock-yell "What?" And Sutton would yell back "How doing?" That kind of thing. It was hard, though, because he kept dashing all over Target. So we had to take turns chasing after him.

I changed the blog again, because the other template wouldn't let comments be posted. Hopefully this works better. Because I miss seeing comments on my blog!

I. Give. Up.

That's right, dear readers. I officially give up. Surrender. Wave the white flag. Karma has come and basically shit right on top of us. Did I piss someone off in a former life and just not know about it?

Life has just been one trying time after another thrown at us. Let me elaborate. As I have mentioned before, Dave and I had put an offer in on a house, but it was a short sale. So that meant that we would have to wait a very long time before we could officially buy the house. Well, on Friday, Dave and I decided to walk away from the house. It was one screwed up mess, with missing files, and two companies not wanting to take responsibility for the screw-ups, and a foreclosure date that was looming on the horizon. So, because of that (and another reason) we elected to cancel the short sale contract.

As for the other reason...well, I haven't talked much about this. Mostly because I was sticking my head in the sand and trying to ignore it. So here goes...Dave is being laid off. His company merged two departments, and Dave's job is being eliminated. He has until the end of March to find another position within the company, or look for work outside of the company. When he first told me, I cried all day. I don't do well with drastic changes like this. I honestly am scared about what our future holds for us. And I know that people say that G-d only gives us as much as we can handle. Well, he must have some awesome faith in us, because one thing after another keeps coming our way.

Our landlord had informed us a few months ago that he wanted to sell the house we are renting. (See my other post about the nightmarish time we had trying to prepare for the open house.) What he failed to tell us is that he stopped making his mortgage payments, and the house will be going into foreclosure at the end of April. So we have little more than a month to find a new place to live.

I think my biggest regret is that we aren't able to provide a home for Sutton to grow up in. I really wanted to get a house that we could call our own. To not have to have a landlord. To build our lives in our little dream house. I already had plans for the kitchen, etc. To have a garden in the backyard that Sutton could help with. To fill the new house with memories.

Dave said to me the other night that he was sad that we couldn't work on growing our family. We really want to have another baby, but we simply can't afford it right now. Two kids in daycare is more than we can afford. And now that one income is disappearing...it makes me a little sick to my stomach to think about it.

I have to admit right now, tears are streaming down my face as I write this. Dave has a very different attitude than I do. He prefers to think positively. And I'm trying, really I am. I know that we will be OK. As long as we stick together, everything will work itself out. Our families have told us that they will help anyway they can. But it's a lot to ask of our families. And I am, by nature, a worrier. I have to freak out about something. But that's why I have this blog. To get my worries out, so I can get over them.

And now that I have gotten them out, let's focus on something a little happier. Like my adorable husband and child.
Sutton is super cuddly lately. He loves to give hugs, or lay on us while we watch TV.

Modeling his new Old Navy sunglasses. Upside down on top of his head.

Please keep us in your thoughts. I know it will work out OK, it's just going to be a stressful couple of weeks.

Sick and Tired

OK, so I just spent the better part of twenty minutes picking out a new background for my blog. Do we like it? Or should we comment on the fact that I spent more time choosing backgrounds for the blog rather than, oh I don't know, actually writing something on this blog....ignore me. I'm just feeling sorry for myself. But what better place to vent than my own blog, right? As I posted on Facebook, I woke up this morning with pinkeye. Thanks, Sutton. Appreciate it. Just what I need, right? Add that on top of the fact that I am still fighting the remnants of this flu. I lost my voice on Tuesday, which made working interesting. Luckily, I had some help, in case customers needed to speak to me. But the hacking cough had been keeping me up the last three nights. I ended up crashing on Wednesday. Everyone at work told me, "Leave and get some rest." And rest I did. I went to sleep at about eleven in the morning, and slept until almost four-thirty in the afternoon. Wow, I guess I really needed to rest.
Thursday was good. Cough wasn't too bad, my voice was back (pretty much-I still sound like I have a frog in my throat. Dana came over with Jonas, and we pretty much just got out of the house. We went over to Costco, and picked up a few things. Shared a hot dog with Sutton.

He mostly ate the bun, and then decided to eat the rest of the hot dog. Then we went over to the mall playground and let Sutton run around for a bit. We only stayed there about 15 minutes before Jonas needed his nap. Sutton fell asleep in the car (as usual) and I got him into the house still asleep. While he napped, I started dinner. When he woke up, we made a smoothie (thanks for the idea, Sarah!)

He even drank it out of a big boy cup without spilling. Then we went for a walk around the block in the wagon.
Don't you love his crazy, tousled hair? He needs a haircut so badly, but the longer it gets, the curlier it gets. So cute. But the bedhead is scary.
When we got home from our walk, it was still nice outside. So we played in the backyard for a bit.
Farmer Sutton. Complete with the plaid shirt. The next series of photos are a bit blurry. He was running and dancing around the yard, singing some kind of song. I couldn't get him to stop long enough to tell me what he was singing.

Then we went inside and finished making dinner. Dave got home around 6ish, and we ate dinner. Then we played/watched TV until bedtime.

I guess sometime during the night, I developed the pinkeye. I honestly have no idea where I got it. Yes, Sutton DID have it, but that was over a week ago, and he was on the drops since last week Wednesday. He wouldn't have been contagious for over a week, could he?

Either way, I was in no condition to work today. I ended up leaving my HR manager a voicemail message at 5:45 in the morning, since that was when I had woken up to start getting ready for work. Of course, then I couldn't get back to sleep. So I sat up, watching the early morning news until Sutton and Dave got up. I got the boys off to school/work and headed to the walk in clinic. I was first in line, and am now on the medicated drops.

Only one problem remains...my makeup. I wore my contacts yesterday, so I need to throw those out until I am finished with the drops. Unfortunately, they were my last disposable pair, so I need to order more. But I did not wear any eye makeup yesterday. So I asked the doctor about it, and she didn't think I needed to replace my eye makeup. Do you think I should? I just bought a new mascara-it's less than a week old. I COULD replace my eye liner, and just tell Dave that the doctor told me I needed to!! Hmmm, what do you think?