Get comfy, Loves. It’s another long one.
I’m SO sleepy I can’t stand it. None of my Boogers are asleep yet, but the boys will be sent off soon. Aly on the other hand…well, let’s just say there’s at least two more hours before I can fall asleep :(.
She’s “exercising” as we speak. She’s standing up against my chest (so I can type, heh) and she’s doing squats LOL.
She’s been doing so many cute things that I want to remember always. Like when she does “The Cricket”. When she gets mad she screams and rubs her ankles together, much like a cricket does. As her frustration heightens so does the speed of her ankle rubbing–cutest thing, ever.
The only way to get her to eat her baby cereal is if I’m eating at the same time. Her eyes get huge when she sees regular food since she thinks I’m going to feed her from my plate, so I trick her. I hide her plate behind mine and pretend I’m spooning food off my plate to give her. Works like a charm!
She also loves drinking water from “big” cups. I think it’ll be really easy to transition her from a bottle to a sippy once the time comes. And speaking of water, she LOVES bath time! When I’m rinsing something in the sink she automatically thinks it’s time for a bath and gets really calm and just waits. Then she sort of squeals when she realizes it’s not yet time for a bath LOL.
She also got her first diaper rash yesterday, but thankfully I’d JUST bought diaper rash cream so it’s already going away. She’s been sitting up a lot more when she’s in her Boppy. And she also sleeps through most of the night but doesn’t actually fall asleep till 12:30-2am :(!
As for the past week: Last Saturday was spent paying off all the bills like I mentioned I’d be doing in the previous entry. Well, most of them, anyway. First stop was the bank to cash the check and then Capital One to pay off that stupid credit card. I felt so relieved just walking out of that bank knowing I was free from that awful card with it’s stupid member fees and Payment Protection. Grr.
I had to go to the dreaded mall since I had to pay off both our JC Penny accounts and the Sears card. The boys behaved as though they’d never been let out of the house, it was awful. They quickly changed their minds once Mom and I threatened not to take them to McDonald’s for lunch. It made my day a little brighter when we went to the food court and actually got seats within 2 minutes of looking around.
We had to wrap things up quickly after that since I’d promised Mary the kids and I would accompany her to a graduation party for one of her co-worker’s daughters. In my hurry I forgot to return my shoes at Payless. So, that would be another stop I’d have to make later on. Lovely.
We got home and unloaded the truck and not even 10 minutes later we were leaving to the party with Mary. On the way to the party I called Sears to get rid of the Account Care insurance thing. I don’t know how many times I told that woman I just wanted to get rid of it but she kept insisting I should keep it since I’d be protecting my balance up to 10,000. I told her “I’m not using this card anymore! In fact, I cut it up! (Lie) So, please cancel the Account Care.” Only then did she finally agree to cancel the darn thing.
The food at the party was good and the boys behaved for the most part since there was a Moon Jump, but they didn’t eat because there were tons of flies zooming about and they loathe flies.
Everyone was complimenting Alaethia and passing her around. We left the party and went to the mall since Mary was meeting Sonia there. Mario picked us up on his way home from work. On the way home the kids are all mellowed out and sleepy and Mario and I talk about how liberating it feels not to have those extra credit card payments anymore. He asks how much I paid at Capital One after all, since they gave him two different amounts before he disputed paying for another annual fee. I tell him, “$492,” and he begins to pretty much imply that I’m an idiot for not somehow remembering the one time he casually mentioned how much it was supposed to be. I paid what he scribbled on the statement and if that wasn’t the amount, then too bad. Naturally I was freaking the hell out about how the heck I was supposed to get our money back!
We slept in on Sunday morning, which was probably the last time I’ve actually “slept in” in the past week. Mario had to work and I had a baby shower to go to. This one was for Carol, Mario’s cousin and Aide, Mario’s cousin, Adan’s, wife. She’d actually had her baby Thursday morning, 2 weeks early. I took my time getting Aly and myself ready. Mom watched the boys since she wasn’t going due to a cold she’d caught, probably from Eenan.
We get to the party and greet Carol. She still had about 3 weeks to go at the time but the poor thing looked like she was due any minute. Aide arrived a little later, looking like she hadn’t just had a baby and was accompanied by Jennifer, her friend and little Isabelle! She was really tiny (weighed 5 lbs. 13 oz. at birth) and is so cute!
There were lots of cute, unique games. One example being the Ice Cube Birth Game, where they put one tiny, plastic baby into every slot in an ice cube tray and filled it with water. Then they put each cube with a baby in it into a cup and whoever’s baby was “born” first, or fully unfrozen, won. You could blow on the baby and warm up the cup with your hands but you couldn’t touch it. Mario’s cousin, Cindy, won that one. My baby wasn’t born till the party was almost over. Reminds me of Eenan LOL.
I won the Nursery Rhyme game, which were one line from several nursery rhymes with a word or two missing. The one who filled in the most correct ones won. My prize was the Coffee Lover’s basket, which was filled with lots of different flavored coffees, a cute ceramic coffee mug, some hazelnut Coffeemate creamer, and some vanilla flavoring. Yum! So far I’ve gone through the French Vanilla coffee and it’s delicious. Best baby shower gift I’ve ever won, I think!
After the baby showers we came home and I dropped the kiddos off with Mom so I could go with Mary to Yadira’s. I helped with some of the bouquets for the wedding. After finishing the bouquets (which hurt like hell to make!) we chilled out a while and then Mario went over to eat after he got out of work.
First thing Monday morning I called Capital One to fix the mistake and ask how I could get my money back but, everything was fine! Thanks to my dyslexia I remembered paying $492, but I actually paid the $429 I was supposed to pay!
We went to the Shoe Depot, where mom found shoes. That was after bringing her 20 that she didn’t like. I felt like a cat brining mice to its owner only to have my owner throw it out the window. I thought I was picky!
We went to JC Penny next where I was only going to buy a gift for Mario. I had a $10 coupon to use and I totally used it. We ended up spending another half hour there since Mom went to the bathroom and then we both shopped around for gut-flattering undies. I’m so going to rock my girdle-like Grannie panties at the wedding!
We went to Payless next to return my other shoes then we visited Gramma. We were starving, so we ordered burgers from Jack in the Box. We went to Home Depot afterwards and I made my payment. We didn’t pay it off, but that’s okay. We’ve only got about $100 to go on the regular interest credit. The other $300 we own on it has no interest or payments till next March. Woo!
We went to Walmart and got stuff we needed. Went home. Felt like chopping off my feet. I usually try to stuff all my errands into one day so I don’t have to be running around and wasting gas the rest of the week, but God I’m tired at the end of it.
The boys were behaving alright due to a point system I had going on. If they got 5 strikes, they’d get grounded. If they got to the five, each time they behaved well would get them a point knocked off. So they were really good LOL.
As tired as I was I went with John so he could get a Sprint account. He figured he was wasting lots more money with his pay-as-you-go Cingular. He took me to H-E-B where I did my two week’s worth of grocery shopping. I was so exhausted I got lazy and bought junk food and microwavable things, which I hardly ever do. I ended up spending $85, which wasn’t too bad considering all the junk I was taking, but still. I made Fillet Mignon and baked potatoes for dinner, which is one of the specials I bought that day. You bought the fillets, you got potatoes, shredded cheese, Mountain Dew, and tons of other food for free! Gotta love H-E-B!
We had Jaylen’s cardio appointment on Tuesday. John was here so he went with us. Mom stayed with my other two. Jaylen was really well behaved that day. I’ve noticed he’s really good when he’s by himself, but when we’re with the other two kids he acts up A LOT.
This was probably the best and fastest doctor’s office we’d ever been to, ever. They even gave Jaylen a sugar-free lolly after the first room he was in, where they stuck a bunch of little squares on him and checked him out. We were moved rooms two more times, and finally the doctor came in to give him an ultrasound and everything was fine. He said it’s an Innocent Murmur that should go away as he gets older. They gave us an appointment for two years from now LOL. We went to Mario’s work next and had lunch at Taqueria el Zarape. Yes, I braved it once more and I’m alright! I ordered the same thing I did last time, though.
We went to Target after we dropped Mario off. John finally bought an air conditioner after all these years. We went to the bank so John could get the money for his car payment and finally went home. I helped John as much as I could with the air conditioner, then left with Mary to get my Matron of Honor dress adjusted. For the first time in all my life, The Girls and I are going bra-less! This dress has a built-in bra, and although those usually don’t work out for me I have to admit I looked alright! I need to find pasties or double-sided tape or something though. Last thing I need is a nip slip at a wedding…
Anyway, we came home and I helped John with the window unit. We’re a bit wimpy and the air conditioner looked like it was about to fall out so, desperate for help, we called Jose and Jorge over to help. They helped tremendously. Next thing to do was upgrade John’s computer. I got everything done while John covered his windows up with foil. Ghetto, yes, but quick remedy.
Even after upgrading the RAM on John’s computer and adding the new wireless card the internet still wasn’t working. We can’t figure out why. I gave up and came home to make dinner and banana bread. I made the mistake of trying to take a shortcut. NEVER take shortcuts with baking, or cooking for that matter. Instead of separating the batter into two loaf pans I poured it all into a 9×9 square pan. The edges were a beautiful golden color and totally cooked. The middle…was still batter LOL. I had to cut out all the good parts and finished cooking the center. It was delicious once it was all baked!
Wednesday was a bit more low-key. I can’t remember much from that day, actually. As for Thursday, Sally came over! She called around 10am that she’d be coming over and since I haven’t cleaned much now that Alaethia’s super-clingy, I had to put her down for a nap and clean as quickly as I could. And I still had clean piles of folded laundry all over the place and she arrived when I was in my sleep clothes LOL. I cleaned up really quick and we sat around talking and catching up. We sat in the kitchen, eating lunch and talking. Aly was on my lap and the boys kept running in and out, interrupting, but Sally genuinely looked like she didn’t mind at all. That’s what I love about her company. I always feel like my wild kids are going to annoy everyone, but my friends are pretty awesome about their craziness.
Sally’s been having a bit of a tough time lately. I really hope everything sorts itself out–she feels so stressed and I fell so bad for her. I want to meet up with her again this week, but God, we have so many things to do still to prepare for the wedding. I want her to know she can confide in me–I know she and Mayra and my other friends were there for me during my pregnancy. You really need people during pregnancy; to talk, to vent, to share your happiness.
We got on Myspace and stalked searched for people we used to know. We even busted out our middle school yearbook LOL. That was pretty fun. And we were also total dorks and did the Gender Prediction test I did when I was pregnant. According to the test, she’ll be having a girl! Woo! She wanted to wait to find out the gender of the baby till he/she’s born (she still does, actually) but she’s sort of wanting a girl right now. Pete wants a boy, as men usually do, especially because it’s their first child. It’ll be so cute if she has a girl–Aly and her will be buddies since babyhood like Sally and I (and Pete) were!
That night we (Mary, Yadira and her kiddos, Sonia, Elda and Jorge, although Jorge just went to check out the women at the mall) went to look for lingerie for Noelia’s Lingerie Party on Monday. I hope she’s not reading this, but I got her a comfy tank and cute sleep shorts from Gap since everyone else will be getting her sexy things. I figured she’d want something normal. Mario got home early that night and I was out. That always happens!
On Friday I dropped Mom off at the doctor’s office since she was sick as a dog. She couldn’t stop coughing and the mixture of her diabetes medications were making her sick to her stomach. It’d gone on long enough–I told her she needed to go. After I picked her up we dropped off her prescriptions and she watched the boys for us while Jorge, Mario, Alaethia and I went to Mario’s work to pick up some tools then to give John’s car payment (which I accidentally gave twice for June! We’d already made a payment for him before he took over payments and I completely forgot. I still need to call back and make absolutely sure, but from what the automated teller told me he doesn’t have to make another one till August!). We picked up Mom’s prescription and then came home and Mario and Jorge made burgers on the grill.
Later on in the evening Jorge, Mario and I went with Chris to the lake he works at to release our turtles, Jackie and Daniel, into the wild. We never got around to building them the dream pond we wanted to, not could we afford it right now even if we wanted to, so that was the next best thing. They were spending their days in a tiny Rubbermaid box and it wasn’t fair to them. They were quickly outgrowing their 20 gallon tank and there just wasn’t any way we’d have room for a 30 gallon one in our tiny apartment. The lake was the next best thing. I didn’t even know it existed. This lake is beautiful and very private. It’s a member’s only type deal, and only 120 members are allowed per year for $500 a year, which isn’t bad at all if you think about it. Some have the memberships their whole lives if they want to. Needless to say, getting a membership is super hard. There’s a waiting list hundreds of people long.
Anyway, we found the perfect spot–where there were enough tiny fish for them to eat and where it was shallow enough for them to come back to to bask. I was seriously holding back tears when Mario was placing them in the water. I’m going to miss them. We had them for 2 wonderful years.
I’m going to change the subject before I bawl.
Mario left to work Saturday morning and I got myself and the kids ready to meet Mary in Downtown McAllen so we could pick out Alaethia’s dress for the wedding. I didn’t want it to be too “foofy” or tacky so I was bracing myself. Luckily I found some cute ones at the place we went (where Jaylen embarrassed me as always by throwing a fit on the floor) and ended up with a cream-colored satin dress. Very princess looking without being too overwhelming. It cost a bit more than I wanted it to, but oh well, what can you do?
Mary got her some little matching Mary Janes at another shop down the street. Those were super expensive. Next stop was getting nachos for the boys and then we left to get some drinks at Stripes. I got a drink and chips for Mario and dropped it off to him. We visited Gramma and then…we went to get Alaethia’s ears pierced at Wal-Mart!
I was so nervous. I tried calming my nerves by going around the store and getting a few things I needed. Then we went to the jewelry department. They didn’t have the 14 kt gold balls we originally wanted (not only because they’re real gold, but because they were pretty inexpensive $15.80. I didn’t want to get anything grand since Mom was getting them for her and I felt guilty!). They didn’t have her birth stone, Garnet, either, but I didn’t mind because I wasn’t too fond of it; it looked black =\.
The ones I truly liked were some 14 kt gold cubic zirconia stones, so we got those. Mom said she’d get those and put in $20 and I put in another $7. Eenan got the camera and took pictures for me and although he got me in very unflattering angles he caught every moment.
She screamed as soon as she felt the lady messing with her ears. I got teary eyed, but I was concentrating so much on keeping her still that I didn’t actually cry. She didn’t cry as long as I thought she would, though. She cried only while they poked her ears and as soon as I picked her up, although she was still hiccuping a little bit, she stopped crying. And she looks SO CUTE! No one will ever mistake her for a boy again! Well, nevermind. They just might.
I gave her Tylenol as soon as we got home and sat her in her high chair so she’d eat. I got her a jar of Squash for her to try. She LOVED it! She ate everything I served her, which was half the little jar. It was a day of firsts for Alaethia :).
She took a nap, which I was really nervous about since I was afraid she’d hurt her ears. She’s rubbed frantically at them already, which is her custom when she’s falling asleep, and she hasn’t fussed.
I didn’t sleep well at all last night. Jaylen caught Eenan’s cough and everytime he coughed last night I’d wake up. I gave him water twice because he’d rather cough all night than actually get up and drink something. Then of course, Mario kept trying to wake me *cough* and after that, at 3am, we wake up to a weird electric-saw sound. We jumped out of bed and he tiptoed trying to find the noise and I followed close behind, to protect him in case some alien was trying to saw through the door (hey, you never know and he’s scared of aliens). We followed the sound all the way to the living room. It was coming from the computer. Mario shut it down quickly because it sounded like it was going to explode any minute. We thought it was the power supply, but even after he changed it out today it’s still making the noise. Turns out it’s the darn hard drive. I’ve already moved all my junk to my external hard drive, just in case. We’re still going to get a new one and some more memory.
Alaethia was having trouble sleeping because she’s got chest congestion again, my poor baby. I got so scared one of the times she was coughing because of the noises she was making that I put her on my chest and let her sleep there till we woke up at 10am. Mario was already up and gone. I got the kids into the shower, fed Alaethia, bathed her and then Mario got here. He’d been at his Grandpa’s house. We gave him his gifts, which weren’t much this year unfortunately, but he liked his two new shirts. I took a shower afterwards and started on the lasagna I was taking over to Yadira’s. That was my contribution for Father’s Day. We went over there and had dinner and talked with everyone. We stuck around a while watching TLC and then came home. We chilled out eating grapes and melon and joking around with John while watching TV. It’s been a mellow day. Mario’s off putting gas in his truck right now and probably at his cousin, Adan’s, house getting tips on WTF to do about our extra harddrive. I have no idea how to check if that one’s a goner or not.
I’m finally posting this after, what? A week? I kept adding every day’s happenings but just never got around to checking everything and posting. So much for keeping up, huh? Blogging’s like washing dishes — you let a day go by and by the time you know it you’ve gotten so far behind you don’t even want to start tackling it. I’d also caught an awful ear infection and had terrible neck pain sometime in the middle of last week so I didn’t feel like doing much of anything. Thank God Mary had a new bottle of Amoxcillin (sp?) — I feel so much better!
Tomorrow will be the start of what will surely be a hectic week. I’m stressing and it’s not even my wedding. Tomorrow evening’s Noelia’s Lingerie Party, Tuesday’s the rehearsal, the boys have dentist appointments on Wednesday and Friday will be spent getting the boys’ hair cut and maybe getting my nails done. I’m not sure about that one as we’ve spent so much money already. I can’t wait till everything’s back to normal and we actually get to rest!