I’ve got to start off with these stories I heard on CNN when I woke up this morning.

First, there’s one where a mother was driving recklessly and was way over the alcohol limit. When they stopped her they discovered that her children were surrounded by crap…and cockroaches!

Police said more than 100 roaches were crawling all over Nava’s Ford Mustang and that amid the trash, open food containers and alcohol bottles was a 1-year-old child and a 3-year-old child.

“They were soaked and covered in urine and their own feces, and there were cockroaches all over the car. The officer says when he reached in to unbuckle the child, three roaches ran across his hand — they were just everywhere,” said Jacksonville Beach police Sgt. Thomas Bingham.

Full story here.

I don’t understand how a CAR can become infested with roaches. And to have the children in that filth?! Ugh!

Another one was one John brought to my attention two days ago, before it even came out on CNN. He found it on one of the gaming websites he frequents. I thought it was a joke when he told me. A mom and dad neglected their 11 month and 22 month old babies because they were addicted to video games, namely Dungeons and Dragons. I didn’t even know people could be so…stupid, for lack of a better word.

Michael Straw, 25, and Iana Straw, 23, pleaded guilty Friday to two counts each of child neglect. Each faces a maximum 12-year prison sentence.

Viloria said the Reno couple was too distracted by online video games, mainly the fantasy role-playing “Dungeons & Dragons” series, to give their children proper care.

Police said hospital staff had to shave the head of the girl because her hair was matted with cat urine. The 10-pound girl also had a mouth infection, dry skin and severe dehydration.

Her brother had to be treated for starvation and a genital infection. His lack of muscle development caused him difficulty in walking, investigators said.

Full story here.

I can’t believe that. The little girl weighed 10 pounds and is 11 months old! Some babies are born at that weight! God I can’t even believe it. I hope they serve the full 12 year sentence. And that they’re never allowed to play video games or reproduce again!

And the last one…I still don’t know if it’s true or not, but CNN.com linked two websites that supposedly have Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows spoilers. One of them was shut down, but the other is alive and kicking and looks to be legit. My curiosity overcame me and I clicked on the link…and regretted it instantly! I only read the first line, but if it’s true then I figured that was going to happen. I hate it though :(. I scrolled down and supposedly the person’s scanned the chapter titles and chapter art. I browsed through a few of those because it was too tempting. I saved the link and AFTER I’m done with the book I’ll check out the site and see if this person was for real. It looks real, but you never know. John is dying to scream out all the “spoilers” he’s seen so far, but I threatened his life so he’s keeping his mouth shut.

[EDIT @ 12:07pm] I’d linked the wrong site…I only linked the CNN one, instead of the “ZOMG SPOILERS” one. Again, BE CAREFUL! I’m not posting this to ruin the book for any one, by any means. I’m posting it, so that, like me, you can check the “facts” of this site AFTER you read the book! [/EDIT]

If you’d like to view the site or save it for later like I did, here’s the link. I’m warning you though, BE CAREFUL WHEN OPENING THE PAGE! The very first line (okay, the whole thing) contains a major spoiler, so watch out!

I really can’t wait till Saturday! I won’t be waiting in line with everyone else in my family at 12:01am at Walmart, since I reserved mine from Target and I’m sure they’re not going to be open at that time. Poo. I wouldn’t want to be driving around at that time anyway (I keep repeating this to myself as consolation, kthx).

I had planned to spend at least two straight days reading. I was even going to have meals cooked and ready for microwaving so I wouldn’t waste any time and Mom had agreed to babysit since she’s here all day anyway, but all that went out the window when I remembered I’d agreed a few weeks ago to go with Mary to her company picnic at the lake. Damn! And on Sunday Noelia and I have to go to the Baptism class for Alaethia (which lasts for 3 hours). Double damn!

As for my little Alaethia…she’s the same. Her fever went only as low as 100 last night but at least she got to rest. I’ve been alternating Tylenol and Motrin to keep her comfortable but this has gone on too long. I’m taking her back tomorrow morning. I bathed her around 8pm tonight and when I was drying her up noticed a bumpy rash on her back. Now I’m thinking she’s got Strep Throat, or Scarletina, or both. She hasn’t thrown up or had diarrhea at all since yesterday and she’s been eating very well, thank goodness. But the darn fever won’t break. She hasn’t gone below 100 today either. My poor girl :(.

I’ve been alright. I guess it was just nerves making me feel that way yesterday. I didn’t want to have Aly around town feeling the way she did so Mom watched her while John and I went to Walmart (where John returned some stuff and bought a game) and then to Target. I’d been planning to go and get the boys a few more school supplies — since they’re really inexpensive right now — and some T-shirts they liked (which were $5) on Friday, but we went today instead before they ran out. They were in love with their shirts. John owed me $5 so he paid me back with FOOD! Some chocolate chip cookie dough Pop Tarts and Dreyer’s brownie chunk ice cream. I know I said I was going to start a diet…but I’m going to start PMS’ing soon and I’m not a happy camper during that awful time without chocolate…

It was another rainy afternoon today and it was cool, so we took full advantage and everyone was outside enjoying the breeze. Alaethia especially loved it. Later on we went over to Mary’s since Big Mario bar-b-q’d. Then Jorge, Mario, Mary and I discussed Harry Potter LOL.

Well, my Aly’s asleep and is feeling really cool (!) so I’m going to take her temperature and hopefully we’ll have a few good hours of sleep. I haven’t slept more than 4 hours the past two nights, and last night was even worse because I kept getting up to check on her. Tonight, she’s sleeping in my bed. I love it…last time I tried having her sleep in my bed she clawed at and kicked me, so I couldn’t cuddle her. But now that she’s already asleep she has no choice!

I’m a little peeved at Ricci right now. Let’s recap, shall we?

Yesterday, Monday, I was supposed to wake Mario up at 8am; half an hour earlier than usual for this week since he got his new toolbox for work and needed to go in to organize it all. I set the alarm the night before and apparently set it for 8pm instead of 8am. Oops. Alaethia went to sleep at 2am Sunday night again, darnit, and I woke up at 6:30 because I had to pee and Aly woke up at 7am for a bottle. She was done with it by 7:17, and as I’m laying down I think to myself, “At least I’ll get around 40 more minutes of sleep…”

I wake up to Mario saying, “SHIT!” and I look at the alarm. 9:12am. My God, he was going to be late. He’s usually out the door by 9:15 on the days he doesn’t want to go in early. So he gets ready in a flash, I literally toss his packed lunch in a bag (without a fork. There’s gnomes stealing our forks, or something, because out of the 8 we’re supposed to have and the 4 extra ones I bought we have 3 left. Lovely.), and he was out the door. He calls and says Albert asked if he could take a memory card with him when he called to tell him he was running late, so hopefully all was forgiven! I was so scared of him rushing to work, too, since Mary called to tell us it was flooding over there again, there was an F1 tornado that wrecked a lumber yard and she actually saw lightning strike something. Everything was alright by the time he went over there, though.

I tried resting, got up and fed the kiddos, and when Mom and John had come over, I took a shower so I could pay John the money we owed him and go to the bank since we both needed to deposit money. Ricci called as I was getting into the shower and we chatted for a bit and she asked if she could come over. She had Rachelle with her only. I told her it was fine, but we were going to town if she didn’t mind going with us. She got here a few minutes before I got out of the shower. Mom had let her in and they were all chilling out (excluding John, who was on the computer, and Alaethia, who was sleeping in her crib) in the boys’ room. Ricci asks if I have anything for babies with diarrhea and vomiting. I tell her, sorry, I don’t, and ask why. She says Rachelle’s been sick for a week with a virus. OMG. I quickly start ushering everyone out of the bedroom since I get the heebie-jeebies every time someone’s sick and my kids are around. Now, I probably sound like a bitch and a germaphobe, but you can bet I tried my hardest to discreetly Lysol-wipe everything as we went. I don’t like for my kids to get sick.

I was praying Alaethia would stay asleep, but she didn’t. Ricci asked to hold her and I let her. My heart sank as I saw her sitting down at the kitchen table with Alaethia on her lap…and Rachelle starts walking towards her to give her a kiss. I hate telling people what to do when it comes to their kids, but I didn’t see her telling her to back away so I asked her not to let Rachelle kiss Aly. She was still about a foot away from her, but I hoped and prayed that she’d be alright. I got my back and we left.

We went to the bank, then Target to return some bowls I’d bought that were really cute, but not microwave safe. I ended up only finding some much smaller bowls but I had no choice since that’s all they had. I also got a light pink tank top (I wanted a green one, too but they were all out!), shampoo for boys, diapers and some fuzzy animal stickers that were on clearance. We came home and Ricci left. John and I went back to the mall later on to get his headset for his PSP from Gamestop at the mall. We walked around and got some cookies at the Tollhouse shop, then went to Hot Topic. I want so many things from that store. I kept giggling or “AWW”ing at stuff and John said, “Shut up, Yajaira. You’re too happy for this place!” LOL

I went straight to the Harry Potter section as John looked for shoelaces and looked at the tees. I totally wanted a Snape tee that said “Friend or foe?” for Saturday, but no money. Instead I got some Bertie Bott’s Every Flavored Beans. 3 boxes: one for John and I, one for the kids, and one for Mario to trick his friends with at work. (I always keep Mario’s happiness in mind.)

John and I tried a few in the truck and let me tell you,”soap” is quite accurate. My tongue didn’t feel right the rest of the day. And watch out for those “rotton egg” ones…they look much like the “buttered popcorn ones”…

John ate two “vomit” ones at home. He almost puked.

Fast forward to night time. Aly fell asleep at 1am, so naturally I took the chance and fell asleep, too. I hear her crying around 4am so I get up to prepare a bottle. I come back to her crib and she’s fast asleep again. She looked so cute and angelic laying there on her belly (she sleeps like her mama) and I caress her face softly and rub her little hand. I go back to sleep.

I hear her sort of whimpering at 5am so I get up to feed her. I feel her cheek burning against my shoulder. I start panicking and start looking around for thermometers. I can never find those things when I need them. I settled for her pacifier one, which she hates because it makes her gag. Temp was 102°. I give her some Tylenol. Mario wakes up because I turned the light on and stays up with us for a little while. He asks, “How the heck did she get sick?” and it dawns on me: “Oh no…Ricci’s little girl!”

When she finishes her bottle she poops. It’s softer than usual, but not really diarrhea yet. I get up to go on a search for the armpit thermometer and as I’m walking next to my bed Alaethia threw up the whole 4 oz. bottle she’d just drank. I wipe myself up as best I can and take her to the sink to give her a bath. I let her sit there a while to hopefully stave off the fever a bit and then I bring her back. She wants another bottle since she threw up the other one, so I give one to her and a bit more Tylenol. I wait an hour and her temp went down only a degree. Mario went back to sleep and I stayed awake with her cradled in my arms. I was too scared to leave her in her crib alone should she throw up again. She didn’t throw up again, but her fever wouldn’t subside.

I was exhausted by the time the alarm went off for Mario. Poor thing left to work with his clothes wrinkled no doubt, since they’d been in the dryer. Eenan had slept over at Mary’s, so I went to get him since he’d called then started getting ready to take the kids to the doctor. Kids, because Jaylen has this weird cough that won’t go away. It’s kind of dry and sort of rhythmic…I don’t even know how to explain it.

We had a bit of a wait at the doctor’s office. We were watching The Little Mermaid II and I noticed Alaethia looks a lot like Melody, only a little darker and with brown eyes of course LOL. Everyone kept talking about how cute Alaethia was. I heard, “Now THAT is a beautiful baby,” 3 different times LOL. It’s awful that she’s sick, but her rosy cheeks made her look even cuter. She weighs 14 lbs. 13 oz. and is 25 inches long. Jaylen was very proud of now being 41.8 lbs. and as he was lying on the table he stretches out his arm and says, “I can tell I’m 41 pounds because my arms are growing.” He also said, “You know, this doctor thing isn’t that bad, huh Mom?” Where does he get that from?!

Jaylen was diagnosed with allergies — to what, I don’t know. I’d hate to have to put him through that darn allergy test (they poke your back with different things to determine exactly what you’re allergic to), so we’re just trying some Singulair for now. I hope that’s all it is.

As for Alaethia, he just prescribed the usual Pedialyte/Tylenol combo and gave us some Dr. Smith’s diaper rash ointment in case she kept having loose stools. I went to H-E-B to get the prescriptions and got some milk while we were there.

Aly was miserable most of the day and couldn’t sleep a wink. When she finally did fall asleep, the boys started fighting in their room and woke her up. She only slept maybe a total of half an hour today. Poor girl. I panicked around 8pm when her temperature was still at 102° after giving her Tylenol every 4 hours, damp washcloths on her forehead and a bath. I called the after-hours service and Dr. C. said she’d be fine as long as she kept taking her formula and Pedialyte (only in bubblegum; she hated the fruit punch one) and kept having peed diapers. Mario went and got some Motrin to alternate with the Tylenol. I gave her another dose of Tylenol at 9:30 and her fever barely decreased around 11pm. I’m glad to see some improvement, at least. I hope she’ll get better already. It’s just not fair that a little baby, any little baby, should be sick like that. I never thought she’d get a darn virus this young :(. She looked so sad today and I’m so used to her being a cheery, bouncy baby.

I was starting to get nervous because I wasn’t feeling all that great either. I felt weak and my stomach was grumbly, but it might just be because That Time of the Month is near. I hope that’s all it is. Mary even helped Mario make dinner tonight because I felt incredibly nauseous. I need to be healthy for my family!

I had a morning of broken sleep yesterday, and it wasn’t because of Alaethia. It was because of that damn phone. I leave it on in case of emergencies but I’m seriously going to start disconnecting it until I’m ready to wake up. I gave up on sleeping after the third call and made Alaethia a bottle since I heard her stirring in her crib. I get a call 10 minutes later from Maggie. She’s in the area and stopping by. Mario was already up and gone by the time I got up. He arrived a few seconds before Maggie did with McDonald’s — lovely breakfast of cheeseburgers.

(Okay, I’m watching Scarred Trauma Live on MTV and they just showed this guy named Kenny Hughes trying to grind down a rail and ripped his butthole up and had to get stitches between his butt cheeks. Seriously. That’s just wrong. This show makes me PRAY that my sons never take up skateboarding. I actually had half of this whole entry written and I got so grossed out with this other guy who totally cracked his CALF BONES in two that I pressed something and it wiped my entry clean.)

Anyway, Maggie and I searched for jobs online and then we just chilled out. Mom got home from her doctor’s appointment in time to make it to the movie, so we got ready an extra hour early (not counting the other hour we were keeping open to get good seats) to get extra tickets for Maggie and John. And by “got ready” I mean getting everyone dressed, getting Alaethia’s diaper bag ready with her things plus stuffing two Hi-Cs for the boys inconspicuously under an extra onesie and her formula; and stuffing a few candies in my bag. The men left in the Equinox, the women (and Eenan) in Maggie’s car. We got the tickets and still had about an hour and a half to waste so we went to Home Depot since Mario needed to get some tools. Maggie and I oohed and ahhed over stuff and discussed painting. Mario got what he needed and we got a rug for the boys’ room, finally. Thank goodness for our HD credit card.

We went back to the theatre and bought popcorn and drinks for the adults. The boys play at the arcade for a while and when they start seating for Order of the Phoenix, we get in line to get our tickets checked. My worst theatre nightmare began to unfold in front of my eyes. Mom, Maggie and the kids get through, I pass, and then they hold John and Mario back. Mario’s holding the diaper bag. I’m assuming it looked suspicious (A MAN holding a diaper bag? What?) because they tell him they need to check the bag. He looks up at me, startled, and I stare back, wide-eyed. I’m thinking, I’m not going to get to watch Harry Potter because I sneaked Hi-Cs into the movies. NO…I’m not ever going to be allowed back into the theatre, ever!

I could hear my heart thumping in my ears. Maggie turns her back to us and says, “I can’t look!” They zipped open the bag, in slow motion, and gave Mario a nod to go ahead. WHEW! I asked him, — when we were a good distance away — “Did they see the drinks?” He looks totally in awe and said, “No. I guess they were really hidden!” He told me later during the movie that his heart sank when they stopped him LOL.

All in all, the movie was awesome. It’s Harry Potter, what can I say. Alaethia slept the entire time, except for the last 10 minutes. The boys were great — well, Jaylen fell asleep for a little bit. Eenan came to sit with Mario when the action started and he only got mildly teary-eyed. I won’t give my opinions out in the open because I don’t want to spoil it for anyone, but if you’d like to read what I thought scroll down to the “more” section.

(I think I might pee myself or vomit if I keep watching Scarred. This guy just tore open his NUTS. But I can’t turn away!)

We went to Mario’s work so he could pick something up and then we just chilled out at home. Mario left (or escaped, like John says) and I had break from the boys since they went over to Mary’s. They came back and we had a simple dinner of sandwiches. I fed Alaethia and bathed her. The boys ended up sleeping over at Mary’s and Mario and I had a lovely evening of surfing the web, playing with Alaethia and eating ice cream while watching Talladega Nights. Intimacy? What’s that?

As for today, I would have liked to stay home and thoroughly clean this place, but I wanted to go to Target to get the boys the Transformers bedding sets since it was the last day they’d be on sale. We got two sets of sheets and only one comforter at the first Target we went to, plus two tank tops for me (I only like the Mossimo ones from there and they were on clearance!), a cereal storage container, and a game that the kids bought with their combined money. Mom got Eenan his birthday gift, too. We ended up having to go to another Target in McAllen, since that was the only one that had comforters in twin-size. target is going to raise my credit limit on my card up to $10,000–we’re such good customers.

We got a bit lost on the way there since I took the “back road”, thanks to Mario’s shoddy directions. I eventually found the place. We got what we needed then had lunch at Chick-fil-A. Yum. I’d been wanting to eat there since forever. Mom’s treat :). Alaethia was such a good girl, even though she had me carrying her the whole time we were there. She’s been such a good girl in general lately, though. I love her to bits!

We visited Gramma for a while, where Alaethia was having a blast playing hide-and-seek with Gramma. Gramma was laying down and I was sitting at the foot of her bed with Aly on my lap and Jaylen next to me, shielding Aly’s view of Gramma. Aly kept leaning back to catch a glimpse of Gramma and when Gramma would talk to her Aly would hide in my neck and giggle. She did this about 20 times till she got bored and made me stand up. We came home, I made dinner, we chilled out at Mary’s, I got Jaylen’s bed ready with his new sheets (I didn’t do Eenan’s yet since he’s sleeping over at Mary’s, again, and Aly quickly got bored with her toys in her crib), and now I’m here updating with a sleeping Aly at my side. I’m hoping I’ve gotten her to start sleeping a bit earlier. That would make life even SWEETER.

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