Category: Grimmy Grim

Sun., Apr. 12th – Woo, Easter Sunday!

I actually woke up early for once and took a shower right away. Dad visited for a while–a very little while. He got nervous–I guess–when everyone started arriving and was gone after 5 whole minutes of seeing us. Kind of isn’t worth the gas all the way over here if you ask me. Granted, I don’t know how much time he was alone with Mom *cough*.

I sat outside with everyone and let my hair air-dry for a bit and then came in to flat-iron my hair. It was so hot outside it felt as though I hadn’t showered. I’m so not looking forward to summer *cries*. It was so hot that poor Emily had 2 bottles of water and she usually doesn’t like it.

Jose was the bar-b-q cook and Mary, as usual, made all the sides. The food was delicious. Immediately following, we took the little ones inside while some of the adults hid the eggs for the egg hunt. Then they stampeded like a heard of buffalo and looked for eggs. Mary got golden ones and if you found one, you won $5. That was a new addition to the egg hunt this year. Alaethia found one and Jaylen became really upset because he didn’t win a prize during the egg hunt when he has every other year. Eenan was indifferent; he was just having fun. Jaylen felt better when they played the ring toss game and he won some water grenades LOL.

We proceeded to the carport next for the games. The adults played first LOL. We had a Pass the Orange game, where you can only use your neck and chin to pass the orange to the next person. Whoever had the orange when Mary yelled, “Stop!” (she wasn’t watching) was out of the game. It looked hilarious…and quite inappropriate LOL. Andy was the only male who played, and I think he won!

We played the Egg & Spoon race and then the Egg Toss where Mario and Jorge became over confident and were one of the first groups to drop their egg LOL.

Next the kids hit the 4-year-old Spongebob piñata next LOL. Elda had bought that thing 4 years ago for one of Brandon’s birthday parties and they didn’t get to use it. So we finally did.

After that the kids got to open their Easter baskets. Alaethia had a blast opening her stuff with her Nina Noelia and Nino Andy. Andy and Noelia are Emily’s Godparents, too, and I got a few pictures of her with her stuff and in the dress Mary got her. She was naked the rest of the time except for a diaper because it was so hot. The boys got DVDs and lots of cool fun stuff in their baskets so they were thrilled. So was I–I haven’t watched Bolt yet LOL.

The kids (and some adults) cracked eggs and then played with the shit-ton of water guns Jaylen received in his basket from Cat and Annie. Alaethia, Matthew and Belle spent most of their time at the refill bucket playing with the water. Everyone had a blast.

When almost everyone had left we went inside to have dessert at Mary’s. She made her famous Banana Cream Pie. Yum.

Aide, Mom, Sonia and I chilled out inside and then went outside with the few men that were left. And they were drunk LOL. They were sharing stories and being weird. Grandpa was even hitting on Mom. Then he asked to adopt Emily. Mario had to escort him to the car because he didn’t want to leave when Sonia was ready to!

When all the women left and the boys were playing at Mary’s and the girls were asleep I read some of my book, Eclipse. Yes, I’m still on it. When Mario finally came in we watched Bedtime Stories with the kids. We had pickles and popcorn; Alaethia loves movie nights. And the movie was so cute! I love Adam Sandler :).

Mon., Apr. 13th – He boys had another day off of school and Mario was off work. My dad-in-law and Mom stayed with the boys while I caught up on sleep. Emily’s doing much better; although she does wake up every 3 hours on the dot, I’m so glad that she’s stopped having those strange 2-hour spans of awakeness like she used to.

While I was asleep Mario had gone to get his old job back. Everything went smoothly, thank goodness. He tried calling his current boss to let him know but he didn’t get ahold of him.

It was Sally’s birthday so I called her but got her voicemail. I feel so distant now. I know life (work, marriage and kids) is a constant, but I wish we could hang out at least one a month or something. I feel the way I imagine she did when it was the opposite: when I was working at she was at home with Quentin.

John came over and asked if I wanted Kumori for an early b-day lunch. But of course! We waited for Mario to get here, loaded Emily in the car and went. Mom and the in-laws stayed with the other kiddos (nobody else likes sushi LOL). I had my regular Fiesta Roll and an Ebi-shitake thing, which sounded like they were stuffed mushrooms but they ended up being little fried mushroom patties. It was ok, but I probably won’t order it again. I should have just gotten the expensive Maui-wowie roll but I didn’t want John to spend too much. I’d feel guilty.

We went to Game Stop to get Jaylen’s present from us and his present from mom. He wanted Gears of War from us, which I wouldn’t have allowed him to get at all had I actually researched what it was! Bad parent!

From Mom we got him a Worms game for the PSP, the Sims Kingdom for DS and another game I can’t remember at the moment. He was going to be thrilled.

I received my Hugamonkey sling that afternoon! It worked like a charm! Emily curled right up and slipped into slumber.

We went to Jorge and Maggie’s for a little bit. 3 of 4 kiddos went with us; Eenan, of course, didn’t go. We stopped for food first at Star’s. Maggie and Jorge were cleaning up and boxing up stuff so we felt kind of like we were in the way and Jaylen had to get bathed and in bed for school the next day so we came home. We watched a movie with Jason and Adan and Alaethia couldn’t be more thrilled since she got to eat more popcorn LOL. We went through 4 bags of popcorn and like, 4 huge movie pickles. I came to the realization that one day I will have two huge teenage sons and they will eat me out of house and home.

Tues., Apr. 14th – My birthday!! 27 years old already. I actually don’t feel old, even though I’ve been married 10 years and have 4 kids. I feel really good and I seriously have a feeling this year will bring tons of great things!

I had a good day. Everyone wished me a good day. I didn’t think we were going to do much since we were broke and I was okay with that. Mary called in the afternoon and told me to get ready because she was taking us out to dinner to celebrate. She said I could pick any place, so I picked Cheddar’s because I’d really been craving one of those Maui Margaritas!

Mom, our kids, Mary, Mario, Andy and Noelia were all there to celebrate with me.

I ordered my Maui Margarita and the Beer Battered Shrimp plate. We had some laughs with our waiter, Dwight. He was hilarious and so good with the kids. I was a little upset that the boys were seated at a table that was near but still separate from us because there was no other table that would accommodate all of us. They enjoyed the extra space, though, and I imagine they felt pretty grown up sitting on their own.

Emily was fed and changed right before we arrived so she slept the entire time we were there. Alaethia had fun eating her ketchup (she could eat it all day if we let her) and fries and then, since the kids’ food came first and she finished early, began playing with a little boy who wandered to our table.

Before we left they sang “Happy Birthday” to me and then we had the most sinful chocolate cake. It wasn’t really cake, it was more like fudge smothered in caramel and a glob of vanilla ice cream. It was sooo good. I felt super full afterward.

Andy and Noelia gave me a gift card to Old Navy, yay! And from the boys (or Mary LOL) I got a beautiful silver cross necklace and a gorgeous little silver bracelet that has “Love” engraved all around it. So cute!

Mary, Mom and the boys went home and so did Andy and Noelia after we finished eating. Mario, the girls and I went to Jason and Adan’s to have some drinks. Mirella bought some Parrot Bay rum to drink with pineapple juice and it was really good. I chilled out with Aide and the girls for a little bit but she had to go to sleep to get up early for work the next day. The rest of us watched Beowulf while we had some drinks. Emily slept through the entire movie and Alaethia ended up falling asleep, too. Mario and I got home and put the girls in their beds and had some long-awaited alone time :).

Wed., Apr. 15th – I woke up and made Mario breakfast. I went back to bed when he left to work and had lunch when I woke up. Yup, lunch LOL. John came over and told me about all the things he was going to get me for my birthday but didn’t. Dork LOL. It would have been wonderful LOL.

I picked the boys up from school and, along with Emily, went straight to Eenan’s optometrist appointment. Jaylen did his homework while we waited and Eenan kind of just slothed around, literally. He kept throwing himself on the floor and laying there every time we moved somewhere else. Emily was a doll. Eenan most definitely needed his glasses. I can’t believe how bad his vision is. He’s going to have to wear them all the time.

I expected to spend about $20…but spent $77! Supposedly polycarbonate lenses are mandatory for kids under 18; some kind of law the lady said. That was $60 right there alone.

I was going to go to Old Navy right after the appointment since it’s right across the street and shop with the card Andy and Noelia gave me, but I already felt awful for spending so much money. Emily was also about to wake up at any minute, so I decided to go straight home.

When we got home my dad-in-law helped me get Emily and her car seat off the car and surprised me with $50! I felt bad taking it but he crunched it in my hand and made me keep it LOL. I will save for treadmill, I hope. Or use it wisely for something else should I need to.

I cleaned while Mario watched Emmy. When all the kiddos were asleep I spent some time with Mario :). That’s what I like about not working: I don’t have to be on a time limit all the time like I used to be. I can spend time with Mario whenever I want instead of going to sleep at 10pm like I used to in order to be up on time for work the next morning.

Thurs., Apr. 16th – I had Emily in her sling most of the morning. She cooed and smiled the whole time before she took her noon nap. I passed her on to Mom so I could clean what I couldn’t while I was lugging her around. I got ready to go to town again. I picked up the boys and took Mom to the pharmacy. First stop was paying John’s car and then visited Gramma.

I get to the parking lot and Mom goes off on her merry way and leaves me with all the kids to herd together. I’m usually ok, but when I have to get the stroller down like I did that day, it makes me nervous because Alaethia tries to run off after her.

Gramma’s doing pretty good. We sat with her and we talked about the kids and just chit-chatted.

We went to Walmart afterward and it wasn’t as bad a trip and I thought it would be. It was a little confusing since they’re remodeling or something and it was a little difficult finding a few things because they were moving sections of the store around. The whole store has a less crowded feel but I guess that could be attributed to them removing the fabric section from the crafts department. Darn. And I never bought the Strawberry Shortcake fabric for the girls, nor did I buy any extra Transformers fabric for the boys :(.

We did find little square pieces of fabric for Eenan’s Castle in the Attic project. We’d use the fabric as wallpaper for inside the castle. We were going to construct it out of cardboard and hot glue. Let’s see how it goes.

We got home and I put Emily in her sling. Mario was already here. I got to make dinner with her in her sling and washed dishes. I ate and then cleaned. I gave her to Mom for a bit so I could finish cleaning. I tackled the pile of junk on my desk. I didn’t get it all done, but I threw out tons of stuff. I felt quite accomplished.

I put her to sleep in her sling again once I got her back from Mom and began uploading pics to Flickr. I wanted to have the blog updated by that night, but alas, it didn’t happen. As I was sitting at the kitchen table with Emily on my lap and typing away on the laptop, Alaethia walks up to me and asks for her “Toshieh” which means “slippers” in Chinese, or Mandarin actually. She’s too darn smart! I love those Ni-Hao Kai-Lan cartoons! She’s learned so much from them. She even knows Yeh-Yeh means “Grandpa” in Mandarin and calls her Bimpa that sometimes :D.

Fri., Apr. 17th – I had an early appointment but it was fast, thank goodness. I was really tired from only sleeping for about 4 1/2 hours of broken sleep. I got the mail and to my horror realized Mario and I both went over our texting limit–$100 extra on the bill! Just wonderful!

I spent the free time I had that day sorting through my external hard drive that has all my music on it and deleted tons of stuff that didn’t even belong to me. When I used to upload for everyone for their MP3 players or iPods their music would somehow end up in my folder.

I got a call right after I’d picked the boys up from school that his glasses had come in and were ready for pick up. I took the opportunity to pick out my frames so I wouldn’t have to make another trip all the way over there. It was nice spending some time with just Eenan. He’s such a hilarious kid! Takes after his father.

We went to Old Navy this time since I didn’t have Emily with me and Eenan walked around with me while I tried finding some nice blouses. I still have some pounds to lose so I was being really picky. Eenan was being really helpful, even giving me some fashion advice like not picking out this one blouse because it looked too “old lady” LOL. He’s so cute.

I ended up with two blouses (exactly the same but one in plum and one in teal), black flip-flops, white flip-flops and I only had to pay $5 extra after using my gift card. Too awesome!

I got home and Mom, Mary, Elda and the little ones were chilling out on the deck. Big Mario had been working on leveling the cement for when the floors would go in and Mario was helping him out. We had a bar-b-q and just chilled out talking and eating outside. Elda gave me a really cute Fossil wallet for my birthday :). It’s such pretty colors.

Eventually everyone went in and it was just Elda, Mom, Jose, Mario, me and the girls. We talked about a lot of stuff, including the incident with Adan, Buddy’s passing, and other stuff. Adan joined us later and Jose lectured him LOL.

Sat., Apr. 18th – It was Jaylen’s 7th birthday!! Mario had to work for half the day. We spent all afternoon getting ready for Jaylen’s celebration (does every other Mom with 1+ daughters take 2-3 hours getting ready, or is it just me?). I made sure I had all the essentials (packed diaper bags, camera) and we were off.

We stopped by Game Stop to get a Castlevania game we saw cheap for Eenan, just so he wouldn’t feel left out. Then we all met at Cracker Barrel, where Jaylen chose to celebrate. He especially wanted to go because you can play checkers while you wait LOL. The food and conversations was great, and it was just really nice to spend time with the family. It never gets old.

We ate and then sang Happy Birthday and had some yummy ice cream cake from Dairy Queen, courtesy of Mom. Our waitress was really nice and helped us out a lot. We stayed a really long time, just chatting, playing checkers and talking. Annie gave me a cute planner when we were leaving and Mom got me a huge box of chocolates from the shop for my birthday. We walked around the shop and I saw so many cute things I wanted! I’m hoping to go back for this frame that inspired me to paint the bathroom baby blue. But that’ll be another project to do after the living room’s complete.

I’m not sure what we did afterwards…we might have gone to Jorge and Maggie’s but I’m not sure. I’ve gotta ask Mario about that one. My brain’s turning to mush now that it’s 1:33am (on May 6th now). One day I’ll be able to catch up with all these entries!!

Yes, I realize I’m posting this 3 weeks later. I give up on trying to be on top of my blogs. I never have time to blog, understandably!

Fri., Apr. 4th – I woke up around noonish, as I usually do and fed the girls, put Emily to sleep and had my breakfast. Mario sent me a text about going to Cheddar’s that night. I had completely forgotten about our double-date of sorts with Jorge and Maggie that we’d planned since the week before. I was excited. Cheddar’s is a fairly new restaurant and I hadn’t been there yet.

I got on Yahoo and chatted with Maggie almost the whole day. She asked me who was staying with the kids and I told her the boys would stay with Mary and the girls with Mom. She told me Mario said there was no way we’d go anywhere if Mom was staying with Emily, because Mom’s not really good with small babies. She panics and I guess the baby can sense it so Emily starts screaming her head off. Then Mom can’t get her to stop. So he calls me and confirms that we’re not going if we haven’t found someone else to babysit. Grr.

So there I am, searching, calling everyone I know that I thought was available and nothing. So I tell Maggie, “I guess we’re not going anywhere after all.” I spent the rest of the day moping.

I picked Eenan up from school only. Jaylen had gone home with Aaron since they had a playdate set for that afternoon. I’d told him I’d pick him up around 6, since I wasn’t going anywhere anyway.

Mario texts me around 5:50, that he’s on his way to get his hair cut and to pick out some nice clothes, but nothing too fancy for our outing that night. I was completely confused. I thought he’d decided for us that we weren’t going ’cause we didn’t have a more “suitable” sitter for Emily?

I text back and ask, “I thought you said we weren’t going? I didn’t find any one else!” He says we have no choice. I was so annoyed. I spent the whole day feeling crappy for nothing.

I go pick Jaylen up and start flat-ironing my hair. It’s already 6:30, since I spent some time talking to Aaron’s grandma. We’re supposed to be meeting at 7:30 or 8. Good thing I’d already taken a shower earlier.

I knew Mario was on the verge of asking me to hurry up a number of times, but he knew better. Had he let me know earlier I could have spent all day getting ready. Plus, Jorge and Maggie were running errands and had barely gotten home at 7, so I wasn’t rushing. He busied himself outside while I finished getting ready. He comes in a while later and tells me Elda offered to watch Emily for us while we’re out. Oh, thank goodness.

I went over to Elda’s next door to check if Mario was there since Jorge G., Adan, Aide and Belle were over there for a bar-b-q. I look down the driveway and become even more annoyed when I see that Mario’s checking the system in some guy’s truck. Perfect timing!

Aide says she’s going to help mom babysit Emily till Elda’s ready to watch her, so we come over here. Mario’s done with the guy’s truck around 9:20, so we take off.

Maggie and Jorge had arrived at Cheddar’s 10 minutes before we did and found a great table. We ordered our drinks: a Michelob Ultra for Mario and a Maui Margarita for me. OMG. That had to be THE BEST Margarita I’ve ever had in my LIFE! Jorge had recommended it, saying I only needed 2 or 3 and that was it. Mario cleared his throat and ran his hand under his neck to gesture, “Shut up, dude!” It’s hilarious that after 10 years of marriage, he’s still trying to get me drunk to get frisky LOL.

It was a full house at Cheddar’s so everything was taking really long to get to the table. Jorge had invited the bosses, so they arrived about an hour or so later. I was told I looked beautiful, which creeped me out and brought up my deficient self-esteem simultaneously.

Our food arrived about half an hour after that and even though it took forever I have to admit the food was delicious and really cheap!

We toasted and then it hit me that after all these years of knowing Jorge and Maggie (about 11 for me), it was the first time we’d ever gone out in public as group! We’ve always hung out–even moreso now than in years past–but we’ve never gone out to have drinks or eat together or anything. I’m glad we’re still friends after all these years :).

The bosses left and we chilled out a bit more until it was getting close to closing. We moved the party to Fanatics, a bar. I had a Piña Colada and we sat around chatting with Maggie’s friends till Mario and I both started getting sleepy around 1am. We’re elderly already, at the ages of 26 and 27.

I drove home, of course, and we collected our children. Emily had been asleep since 12am with Elda and Alaethia was asleep as well with Mom. We managed to sneak into bed and get some sleep before Emily woke up at 4am. That was one of the best nights, ever.

Sat., Apr. 5th – I didn’t feel like doing anything that day, but I had to get Eenan’s eyes checked at the optometrist’s office and I was going to have my appointment too, since I was already there. I was taking Eenan with me only. Mario was supposed to stay with the other three kiddos.

I get a text from Mario when I’m barely getting to the signal light at the corner saying, “I can’t watch this little girl,” meaning Emily. I deposited at the bank and went back to get her. So much for a quick trip.

I dropped Mom off at Gramma’s nursing home (we really need to move her to a closer one!). We get to the optometrist and…they didn’t take Eenan’s insurance. LOVELY. I got my exam done anyway because I didn’t drive all the way over there for nothing. My left eye is “significantly worse” and the doctor said it may have something to do with either my sugar levels or that I was recently pregnant. Great.

We visited with Gramma for a bit when we went to pick Mom up. While I was looking at the photos on her wall she patted me on the butt and said I was chubby. I sighed and said, “I know, Gramma. That’s what happens when I have my babies.” And she started laughing.

We went to Walmart after that. OMG, it was the longest shopping trip, ever! We had to keep stopping at almost every aisle because Emily needed something. She’s never like that when we’re shopping, so it surprised me. Halfway through the trip she spit-up all over my blouse, and she never spits up!!

Mom had gone off shopping on her own, because she usually takes long, so Eenan was helping me shop. He did such a great job. It’s much easier when only one of the boys helps me grocery shop. If both of them go, they fight the entire time or fight about what food to take or who’s going to help me.

We were already frustrated, tired and hungry so he wasn’t too happy when we were already at the front of the store–so close to the registers–when I realized I’d gotten the wrong diapers. We went all the way to the back of the store where the diapers are, and as we’re walking I smell something. I (stupidly) run my hand along the edge of Emily’s diaper…and smear a lovely shade of yellow poop all over my hand. She’d filled her diaper up to the brim.

I yelled, “OH MY GOD!!” And Eenan runs to my side. He’s as horrified as I am. Suddenly I remember thinking “Oh, I won’t need the wipees,” and leaving the travel case on the center console of the truck. I tell him, “Eenan! I forgot the wipes!” as a nice employee overhears me. Her jaw drops open as she sees my yellow hand and says, “Well, you’re gonna have to use some! There’s some over here, c’mon on!”

She points me in the direction of the wipees and I locate the travel sized ones, tear the wrapping open and tell Eenan to hold the piece with the barcode so I can pay for it, and proceed to get all of Emily’s things out to change her. Thank God I’d brought the changing pad and a change of clothes with me!

I wrapped up all her dirty clothes in her blanket and found a trash bin to dispose of the diaper and pile of wipees, which I wrapped in a whole bunch of paper towels I found above the trash bin. I was too happy to pay for everything and get home.

I put everything away when I got home. Mario was already home and the men were bar-b-q’ing again. I went outside with everyone and tried to fix the new carrying pouch I’d bought for Emily at Walmart. I’m going to have to return it. The “easy release” clips are huge and hurt her little thighs. It would be a good sling if she were larger.

Mario brought me some Bacardi Silvers in strawberry but I didn’t like them too much since they kept making me burp and I eventually became bloated. I don’t know if it had anything to do with that or if I really did look chubby like Gramma said but when Jorge (Mario’s Nino) saw me he said, “Are you pregnant again? Because it looks like it.”

I didn’t know what to say!! He didn’t say it to be mean, and tried to take it back immediately after, but I felt awful! That’s what I get for squeezing myself into my old jeans. When I was wearing my during/post-maternity pants, everyone kept saying how “good” I looked!!

When everyone left the bar-b-q, we went to Jorge and Maggie’s with the girls. Maggie and I chilled out with her nieces and the babies and had some drinks. I shouldn’t have eaten, but Maggie had made food so I served myself a little tiny bit of everything. I really wanted more of the guacamole, but I resisted.

Mario started falling asleep around 2pm and the guys found it to be the perfect opportunity to “tea bag” him LOL. I tried to warn him–Maggie and her nieces are my witnesses! He says I didn’t. Jorge got him. We all took pictures LOL.

Since everyone started calling him an old man for falling asleep he made us stay till 5am! Before we left, though, he was flipping through pictures in Jorge and Maggie’s camera and said something to piss me off. We will be having a “talk” later.

Sun., Mar. 5th – We woke up super late, of course. Mario actually got up earlier than I did and he and his dad worked on the new living room. My Dad-in-law had already done a lot of the insulation and then Mario did the rest of it and helped with the drywall.

It was so nice seeing that drywall go up! It gives me a sense of completion, like it’s the light at the end of the tunnel. Mind you, we still need to get the cement to level out the floors. And that darn stump is still there…

Anyway, Mario and I went to get a few more things at Home Depot that he and his dad needed, not before stopping for some frappuccinos. I collected as many paint samples and (free) idea booklets as I could. I can’t WAIT to get this room painted! I also got some cute ideas for the girls’ color scheme.

I made Enchiladas Swisas for dinner and after that we went to Jorge and Maggie’s again. They’d invited us to go over but at first he didn’t want to go over. He said he didn’t want to get in trouble again (he was referring to what he’d said/done to piss me off). We eventually went but Mario didn’t drink. It was a little hard to joke around there was even a little altercation between Maggie and Javi. Like Jorge said, I believe, the atmosphere was a little “hostile” LOL. We eventually went inside to watch videos on YouTube. We (only LOL) stayed till 1am that night.

I’m taking a break. My feet and back are killing me for standing and walking around the past 2 hours. Not to mention the heaviness I feel carrying around this big belly. I woke up at 8, got Mario’s lunch packed and he left to work. Alaethia was already awake and had some milk and watched Noggin while I made eggs. She’d fallen asleep around 9:30 last night, but she didn’t stay in her room all night. She called for her Daddy-O around 11:30pm and came to our room. I laid her down and she was out like a light again. I supposed I could have just taken her to her room again, but we’ll try that again tonight. Even though she kicks and uncovers me and wakes me up around 5 times a night, I will miss sleeping beside her. She’s so loveable :).

We ate and were interrupted by Elda’s mom and sister-in-law who were looking for my mother. They said her door was locked. Not to be rude, but I was like, Um…and? I guess they all do it, including my mom, just walking up into people’s houses. I’m sorry, but I don’t like that. Like I told Mom once: what if Mario and I are doing the deed and she just walks in??

Anyway, I started cleaning up the kitchen table (our dumping ground, unfortunately) and ran back and forth changing DVDs for my indecisive daughter from Strawberry Shortcake to “Terabithium”. Then I started washing dishes. That’s what took 2 hours. Bless Mom. I ask her—daily–not to wash dishes because 1) she doesn’t watch Alaethia very well when she’s occupied with something else, 2) she just piles them and piles them up and it becomes overwhelming having to put them away, and 3) I end up washing half of them over again anyway because she doesn’t wear her glasses and leaves dried up food or grease on them. So it took me a while to put them all away (especially since my belly doesn’t exactly let me reach the cabinets anymore) and then I washed the dishes and cleaned up the counter, because Mario likes to dump all his electronics and tools there. Now it looks much, much better. Alaethia asked to color, so I strapped her into her high chair and gave her some crayons and her Little Mermaid coloring book. When I was almost done she asked for strawberries (or apples as she calls them LOL) and she ate them all, about 6. Then she asked for grapes. I’m amazed at how well she’s eating today. She ate all her eggs, had a little bit of milk, and then the fruit. I feel like the sky was split open by rays of sun and angels are signing “Hallelujah!” down to me. I hope she continues to eat well.

(Hours later…) Well, I spoke too soon. She didn’t eat lunch very well, but she did stuff herself with all that fruit. She poked at her macaroni and fish a little bit, but didn’t even eat half. I got ready around 2:30 and dropped a package off for Mario at the Post Office and then picked up the boys. I decided we should go see Gramma today just in case we get busy like we usually do during the weekend. So the boys unwillingly put their clothes back on (they strip down to their undies once they step over the threshold). Alaethia was happy to get ready. She looks forward to going places.

Gramma’s doing very well, thank goodness. Mom unloaded the goodies she’d bought for Gramma while the kids got comfy on her bed and watched TV. They were doing well for the most part, until Eenan started putting his feet in Jaylen’s way and was blocking the TV—then it got nasty. They started smacking each other and almost knocked Alaethia off the bed until I told them to stop or they were grounded indefinitely. That stopped them right away…until they started again a few minutes later. After talking with Gramma and her telling me the name she liked for the baby (Julissa, but I told her my half-brother’s daughter’s named Julissa), I gathered my children and we said our goodbyes.

Our next stop was Target where I needed to find little pails in the Dollar Spot for the Care Bear centerpieces for Aly’s party next weekend. I usually find them but had no luck this time. I found some cute Valentine-y felt bags and bought 6 of those hoping they’d look okay with the bears.

The boys did well for the beginning of the shopping trip, but they both got really antsy towards the end. Eenan almost knocked over a whole rack of clothes when Mom was picking two dresses as Alaethia’s gift. She got her the dress she’ll be wearing the day of her party and the shoes she’ll be wearing. They are too cute.

I got Alaethia a potty chair and psyched her up a bit. It’s got lights, it talks to her and it dispenses stickers! I hope she’ll get excited and want to use it. I’ll be starting the potty training next Sunday! Eek!

I was so tired on the way home. Mario was barely on his way also since he’d bought a Treo off his boss since his Razr died on him and had been activating it. He was quite moody when we finally got home because he couldn’t get the MiniTones program working and my phone wouldn’t beam to his. But I found the USB wire and everything worked and he was happy. One of the highlights of the evening was that it was leftover night, so I didn’t have to cook, thank God.

I’ve been trying to finish updating my backed up entries and resting on the sofa since Alaethia fell asleep. Emily’s been squirming around like crazy (I can literally see and feel my stomach being lunged from side to side!) and I can feel her tiny feet pressing against my skin. I’ve been getting these weird little shocks of pain on the right side of my belly right above my leg. Feels like a pinching almost. I hope it’s not that I’m dehydrated or anything.

Okay. I have to go to bed. It’s 1:34am and Mario, of course, is still outside drinking with Jose. We supposedly didn’t do anything tonight because he was SO sleepy and tired. Uh huh. Sure.