In Search of Myself

Jake: 1, Mom: 0

One of Jake and I's latest battles is that he always wants to go into the kitchen and just get whatever he wants -- apple juice, the powder for the chocolate milk (SO not cool for him to be carrying that around!), chips or cookies out of the pantry if the door is left open (he is allowed those things on a VERY limited basis.)  So I'm arguing with him CONSTANTLY, to the point of making him march back in the kitchen, put the item back where he got it, close the door, then come to me and ask POLITELY for what it is he wants.

This takes a LOT of energy, people.

Yesterday I was tired and frustrated and as he came toddling toward me with the apple juice jug, I got off the couch quickly and told him to put it back.  He was resisting, so I took the juice from him, put it in the fridge and all but slammed the door shut.  I said very sternly and slowly "If you WANT something, then TELL me, don't just go GET it.  Now what do you want?  Tell me what you want and I'll get it FOR you."

He looked me dead in the eye, then said very excitedly "I want dog!"

Oooh, he got me.

Playing Catch-up

A lot of times I don't write about hanging out with Priscilla, because it would get redundant.  We hang out at least once a week, if not 2 or 3 times -- so most of the time I just chalk it up to life as usual.

She DID do me a huge favor, though, last Saturday.  Lou's cousin Roger is getting married in a few weeks and they had a "couples bridal shower."  (Basically a party we brought presents to.  Good times.)  The party was to be outside in the backyard (you know, the place where that cool pool is?) and there was NO way I was going to fight Jake all evening about not jumping in the pool.  (And let's be honest.  He would have jumped in, just like last year.)  My mom was coming with us to the party -- in-laws are pretty much just considered family with Lou's family, which is nice -- so I needed a baby-sitter.  Priscilla, brave soul that she is, brought her two girls over (plus the peanut in her belly -- she's finally given me permission to share this fact) and corralled all three and a half kids.  (Well, let's consider the newest one to be 1/3 of a kid, since he/she is very very small right now.)

Saturday morning I told Jake about what would happen that evening, and all day long he told me he was going to cry and that I couldn't go.  True to his form, when I tried to leave he barrelled down the hallway after me, screaming his head off.  That morning he'd had a bad bloody nose, and as soon as we arrived at the party in M'boro, P called me on my cell phone to let me know Jake had another bloody nose.  She'd never dealt with a bloody nose before, so I stood there in the doorway of Roger and Julie's house trying to trouble-shoot the situation over the phone.  Luckily, the REST of the night went very smoothly for her and Jake actually behaved pretty well.

I was happily surprised to see that Lou's aunt and cousins had come to the party (Uncle David's family, the older daughter Jessica got married last month.)  It was a lot of fun to hang out with them and actually get to know her new husband a bit!  He is REALLY funny -- has a hilarious sense of humor which actually reminds Lou and I of David.  The party had wonderful food, R&B got lots of presents, and we were some of the first people to leave (we wanted to get home before 9.  We stayed for like 2 hours.)

When we got home Jake had himself a nice little breakdown.  Ever since then -- this WHOLE past week, every. single. day. -- he has told me "I missed you at the party.  I cried."  LOL.  He is SO goofy!

Last night Priscilla and I and the 3 and 1/3 kids of ours all went to M'boro to use our Carter's coupons.  (They are having a great sale right now and if you want the coupon, e-mail me!)  We had a lot of fun shopping, Jake and Lana played in the little kid's play room (brilliant!  Jake loves that place.  He asks me all the time if we can to go "Cah-tuhs" so we can play.)  We pushed Aowyn around in a stroller -- that kid is standing up and thinking about walking!  Her birthday is a month from yesterday!  We got some cute stuff, stopped by Chic-Fil-A for lemonade and chicken, then on to Party City.  I am planning AHEAD this year for Jake's party.  He really wanted a dog party, but we couldn't find any dog stuff.  We DID, however, find some Spiderman stuff, and Jake's excited to be having a "Pie-dah-mann" party, complete with "Pup-takes" (cupcakes.)  I bought his present a month ago, so I am pretty much ready for his party (Sept. 12th bday, Sept 17th party.)  Then we drove home because I was pretty worn out.  They came over Thursday night, too, but I was HORRIBLE company -- at one point completely zoning out to the point P had to ask me if I was ok!  I have been doing too much lately and need to get more sleep!  My poor brain just can't keep up!

Ok, there's my catch-up (kind of) from the past week.  Sorry no pictures, I left my camera at home for the party (I think subconsciously I did it on purpose so I wouldn't have to deal with it!  All the people that were there that I wanted pictures of, I saw at the wedding a few weeks ago!)

Announcing . . .

I've been a dedicated paper scrapper for YEARS . . . but recently discovered Digital Scrapbooking, and HOLY COW.  It's SO fun.  I will never give up paper scrapbooking, but at the moment I'm working on a blog all about Digital Scrapbooking -- I noticed a lack of centralized information to help people figure out where to get started, and you know me -- always up for putting all my energy into something random!  Hopefully this will be a help to those of you who are thinking about {dreaming about} hopping on board but have no idea how!  If you would like to learn more about Digital Scrapbooking (with Photoshop), click below:

Jake-isms, 8-18-05

Funny stuff Jake has said to me recently:

Jake, are you my baby?
No, I a boy.

(I was sitting at my computer -- he came and sat in my lap)
Mom, what you doin'?  I have to check mine e-mail.
No, honey, I'm working.  And you don't have e-mail.
I HAVE E-MAIL! . . . I watch your e-mail?

(sitting on the floor with a Winnie the Pooh game)
Mama, sit in floor with me.  Play game.  Let's count honey pots. (he can totally count to like 14.)
Honey, I'm tired.  I don't want to sit in the floor.  I'm going to sit in this chair.
You WANT to sit on the floor!!!!

(getting ready to take Jake to my mom's on Wednesday morning -- Lou has been wonderful now that he's on days and taken Jake the other 4 mornings of the week, but I take him Wednesdays since I get home late after lessons and Lou has to pick him up.)
I can't like to go to Nana's in Jake's car.  I want daddy's car.  Daddy take me.
(then I got to the end of our street -- Lou usually turns left to get there, but I prefer to turn right.  So I turned right.)
{screaming to beat the band } No!  Not this way!  You turn that way!  No!  I can't go this way!

(noticed Elauna's blanket laying on a piece of furniture.)
Uh oh!  Lana's blanket!  Can't be here!  Uh, oh, mom!  Lana's blanket!  Give it to her!

(driving home from my mom's house on Tuesday)
I miss Nana.  Go see Nana again?
Jake, we just left Nana's house.
Go see her again?

(last night, laying in bed.)
Mama, Sadie sad.
Sadie's sad?
Sadie SO sad.
Honey, why is Sadie sad?
Sadie miss Jakey.

HA HA HA!!!  So cute.

{ this mama }

Page made today (kind of to use for a tutorial, but also for fun), based on a conversation Jake and I had last night.  Shabby Princess, as always, gets credit for the wonderful papers and elements.  Thank you, sister Sheri, for taking this picture!!!

Proof that I still paper scrap.

I'm a pretty slow paper scrapper.  Some of these LOs have been in the works for literally MONTHS.  I tend to only do one or two things at a time -- which means one day picking which pictures will go together, another day cutting them and arranging them, another day writing the journaling, another day picking the paper, another day putting it all together, and then someday putting the finishing touches on it.  (And sometimes it's weeks or months between these days for a particular layout!!!)  Lest I make scrappin' seem TOO complicated, you need to know that most people don't take that long, and actually a page or two can be made from start to finish in a short period of time.  But I rarely have uninterrupted amounts of time, so I have to do a little at a time, and when I feel inspired.  (We're talkin' 10 to 15 minutes here and there.)

I'm pretty damn proud of myself for finishing these (which are mostly from last fall!  Just in time for THIS fall's pictures!  ha ha.)  All the pictures -- except a few of the Thanksgiving ones -- were taken by my mom (which is maybe why the pages are so challenging for me!)

{ click on each to view bigger. }

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"I want dog."

Something Jake tells me a lot is that he wants a dog.  Having Sadie isn't enough, because hey, they're only together 10 hours a day, 5 days a week.  That's not enough.  He wants a dog to come home to.  And not just any dog, no.  He wants a pug.

Now the reason he wants a pug is, of course, Milo and Otis.  I can't tell you how many times we have watched that movie.  We bought it about a year ago, on a road trip.  We watched it so much, we wore it out and Lou recently had to buy a replacement copy.  My mother has bought a copy for her house, too.  I have the whole script memorized.  Luckily I think it's a great movie, very funny and mellow, and I love Dudley Moore's narration.  He does a mean chicken impression, let me tell you.

Jake also has a cool book (that his wonderful mama bought him) that tells him all the different kinds of dogs (complete with a picture of each.)  Jake has a pretty good memory for dogs, and he knows a lot of the breed names.  He also remembers which ones I think are really ugly and will point to them and say "that bad dog."  (Kids are impressionable!!!)  When Jake sees the pug in this book, he says "That Otis!" and my mom has taught him that Otis is a pug.

So at random times, Jake will out of the blue say one of the following (or a combination thereof): I want dog.  I need dog.  Need dog Jake's house.  Mama, need dog -- pay.  (Go pay for a dog.),  Jake have dog here?  (Can I have a dog for our house?),  I want pug dog.

Last night while watching Milo and Otis, we going round and round about how we can't really have a dog for our house right now, but it's nice to talk about sometimes, when out of nowhere Jake says
"Mama, I want dog . . . I want TALKING dog."

As I tried really hard not to fall off the couch and between fits of laughter, I said "Yeah, well, we all want something, kid."

AAUGH.

I got here half an hour early because I drove in with Lou and he insists on being absurdly early for work every day.  (As opposed to my preferred method of sleeping in until the last second then breezing in to work 2 to 5 minutes late.  Every day.  Eh, sometimes I'm 2 minutes early.  But NEVER 30 when left to my own devices.)

Anyway, I'm kind of glad I'm here early today.  It's giving me a chance to kind of chill before tackling the things that are waiting for me.  I have THIRTY new e-mails in my work inbox.  I'm scared to check my phone messages.  Remember when I said it's crunch time?  This week and probably next week are going to be crunch time on crack.

Birthday cake

 

Friday night we had Lou's friend Bryan from work over.  Lou and Bryan were on 3rd shift together for a long time (midnights), and now they're both on first shift (thank goodness!)  It was his 36th birthday, and you know we're always up for some birthday cake!  (The candles say "67" because that's his radio number at work.)  Lou grilled hamburgers and hotdogs, and made some awesome ranch dip.   He got a Batman cake from the bakery that Aunt Julie's mother owns.  (I, of course, just showed up!  But hey, I took pictures.  I'm useful.  Really.)

Jake loved the cake -- we let him help blow out the candles (multiple times), and at Jake's direction we sang Happy Birthday like 8 times.  Every time we sang it, Jake made this face and it made Bryan laugh SO hard.  Jake mostly ate the frosting off his cake and I didn't eat much of my frosting at all, so we ended up switching plates after a while.  ;o)  We even got Jake to say "Happy buth-day, Bryan Hart-man."  It was SO cute the way he said it.  In fact, he's still saying it two days later.  ;o)

Hangin' out

   
 

Yesterday after work I drove out to M'boro and got Ryan, then took him to my mom's house where Jake was.  Zoe's mom hadn't picked her up yet, so for an hour we had 3 toddlers in the house -- fun!  They were actually pretty good and all played nicely together.  Then after Zoe left at 6, I took the boys outside for an hour and let them play in the kiddie pool.  Both Jake and Ryan thought the best part of being out there would be to see how soaked they could get me.  They were literally dumping buckets of water in my lap -- but I didn't care, 'cause it was still hot outside, and the water was nice and cold.  So it's all good!

Tonight Lou is having a friend over for (friend's) birthday, tomorrow night Priscilla is watching Jake for me so my mom and I can go to a wedding shower for Lou's cousin Roger (Lou, meanwhile, will be working.  Or so he says.  heh.)  Got a TON to do this weekend -- hope you all have fun!!!