Girlymama

So, in an effort to stop our ground floor (family room, mud room, crawl space) from flooding every time it rains or snows, we, by which I mean Husband, have been doing a series of “improvements” to stop the water. He has torn out the moldy drywall and carpet, repaired whatever is underneath walls, waterproofed and cleared out the crawlspace.  This included trying to get our sump pump to work. Last night they figured out why its not working.
The pipe goes to nowhere. It goes out from under the house and just stops. So the end of the pipe is blocked by mud/dirt/earth. So we are once again looking at our house thinking “duh!” about its previous owners. (You know, the same ones who filled in a cement crawl space with dirt. And put siding over the dryer vent.)
Anyways… this all led to my husband and his dad being outside last night at 9:00, in pitch dark, digging a big hole in the front yard. While wearing hooded sweatshirts pulled up over their heads and carrying a flashlight. I guess if any of our neighbors were wondering if were in the mob, now they know for sure.
So, look out. We now have 2 huge holes in our front yard, just the perfect size for a small child to fall in and break their arm.

If you’re a fan of useless movie trivia and wasting time, like me, you’ll love this. I got to 30 before I had to take a peek at the answers over here. Share how many you found – before cheating!

Thanks, Michelle!

Britney has already changed the name of her baby. Not to sound judgemental, but whatever!!

I got this from my good friend DCRmom, who lives over here. Here are my guilty parenting secrets. Now, I know all of ya’ll are convinced I am the perfect parent *ahem* but let me let you in on a few little secrets:

1. I bribe my kids with candy.
2. I’m really bad about giving them vitamins. Really. Bad.
3. Last week, they did not have a bath for six days. Yup, that’s right. Six.
4. Yesterday, Little Sister woke up from her nap at 4. We left her in her crib until after 5. We do this regularly. This is why she is not in a bed yet.
5. I let my kids eat candy. And McDonalds. And drink Sprite. And Big Sister takes sips of my coffee. And they love frozen chicken nuggets. The cheap kind.
6. My kids call for Daddy in the middle of the night because I’m mean to them when they wake me up.
7. When Daddy is out of town, we have either scrambled eggs, cereal grilled cheese or frozen pizza for dinner. That’s about it.
8. My kids have never, ever used glitter because the very thought of an open glitter container in my house makes me hyperventilate.
9. My kids regularly make me cry. Not in a good way.
10. As soon as my kids spill anything, they say “I’m sorry Mommy!!!” because they are afarid they’re in trouble.

Husband’s best friend called last night to say he’s getting married this winter. In Pasadena. Do you realize what this means? Do you? Do you?!?! Have you figured out why I practically burst into tears?

We’re going. We’re really going. I have dreamt of taking my kids here since before they were born. And now I have two little girls who are obsessed with everything princess and Mickey and try to sing “Zip-a-dee-doo-dah” (only it actually sounds like “Zip-a-zip-poo-aaaa!”)

I’m so excited. I am seriously going to break down in tears when I watch my kids hug Cinderella because I remember when I met her for the first time (and cried.) And I remember my little sister looking up at Mickey with tears streaming down her face, giving him the biggest hug ever, and we had to drag her away because she just wanted to stay with him all day.

Details to follow. I must get back to booking my dream.

but are any of the four children in my house asleep?

Of course not.

Big Sister and her friend (age 3) are jumping around her room while occasionally bursting into fits of loud giggles and shrieks.
Little Sister is whimpering in her room, probably because she is missing out on all the fun.
The Baby (5 months) is downstairs in the swing screaming her head off, since she still has not fallen asleep for her morning nap, which was scheduled for 3 1/2 hours ago.  Oh – wait – I think she may have zonked out.

Why don’t children want to nap? Its like you spend all of your childhood trying to avoid naps, then all of your adulthood wishing you could nap. Childhood is wasted on the young….

We did go get pumpkins this morning here, as did what appeared to be the entire Philadelphia school system. (Seriously. There were over 30 buses in the parking lot! A tad crazy.)  We also went apple picking with a little red wagon and had a picnic lunch. It all sounds very adorable and nostalgic, but please do not quit your job to become a full-time mom or decide to have another kid or something. I’m not gong to complain and hash out all the gory details like me trying to cross the street while feeding a baby a bottle, trying to get the 3 other kids to hold hands (2 of them are crying), while carrying a picnic basket, a baby carrier and 17 pounds of apples. But I will tell you that I will NOT  be doing anything like that with four children under 4 ever again. Never. EVER. Unless I grow at least 2 more arms. Or can hire full-time help.

I had my ob/gyn appointment yesterday and got some great news. Last year, they ran a test for HPV on my last Pap test and it was negative. So I don’t need Pap tests anymore. Um, hoo-RAY! I can live without those, thank you very much!
I’m also trying that new pill where you only have your period for 3 days. I’ll keep you posted, since I’m sure you’re all just dying to know how that goes 😉

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I’m sick. Stuffy head, cough, hurts to have my eyes open, etc. Quite fun.  My kids are thoroughly taking advantage of my voicelessness by ignoring me completely. Except when I try to rest or sleep. Then they say, “Mommy? Mommy? Mommy? Mommy?” or poke me every .3 seconds.
And, despite being sick, I have gone grocery shopping, cleaned the house, done the laundry and baked a pie. This is something I could never have imagined doing before I had kids. But now this is completely normal sick behavior. Relate, other moms?

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Last month due to some hectic events, I mailed the credit card bill slightly late. It arrived at Citibank 3 days late. This three day delay cost us almost $80 in fees and interest. Can you believe it?!?! I called and it was all forgiven and taken off our record since it was our first late payment ever, but dang.This just made me all the more certain that I will pursue all other options and be completely desperate before carrying a credit card balance. What a rip off.

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Okay, my head is getting fuzzy, so I need to stop trying to think now and go redose on my cole medicine. Plus, Big Sister is up and has WAY too much energy for someone who did not take a nap or sleep last night. Gotta power through. Gotta get more coffee.

We took my sister to the zoo with us on Saturday, since after dealing with the evil monopolistic imcompetent Verizon, I needed to get out of our house for awhile. It was super fun. It was one of those days when the zoo is not very crowded and the animals are super active. We got some great pictures:

 Big Sister & her auntie

Unfortunately, WordPress is being retarded and telling my I can’t upload anymore, despite the fact that I just deleted a bunch of pictures. Grrr……

This afternoon, Little Sister came downstairs and said, “All done, Mama!” I turned around and there was Little Sister. Totally. Naked. Hummm… (memories of this were flashing through my head…)

So I followed her upstairs to collect her clothing, which I found all over our bedroom. But her diaper was gone. I asked her where it was and she said, “Here, Mama!” while walking over to the trash can. “I big helper! I change me!”

Now if I can teach her to put a clean one back on, I’m all set!

Okay, for the second time in three days I am suffering from a cosmo overload.  Only this time, my husband was the one at the shaker….

This party lifestyle is too much for me. I need to go to bed.