Homeland

We are hooked!

We got caught up watching the whole season one - on demand.   Now we are working on season 2 as they show on television.

Of course, this past week I have been fighting with time warner cable because they are asswipes and I'm tired of being charged a higher and higher amount each month.

At some point I might just get so mad that I tell them to shove their service up their ass and be done with television all together!

The bellyaching

Graem has been complaining about her belly.   We've gone back and forth with the doctors and she was even tested for allergies.   All negative.

Good but bad.

One night we finally got her to tell us what was going on.   She's having issues socially getting along with friends.   Certain friends are telling her that she can't play with others and she's such a sweet girl that she feels torn.

So, we figured the best thing we can do is take her to a counselor to talk it all out.

BTDT

One thing on my bucket list was to smoke a Cuban cigar.  

When we went to London 8 years ago I was able to check it off my list!   Of course, I didn't smoke the whole thing...but I made a dent on it!

I'm also glad I did it prior to kids.   It'd be a touch thing to explain to my kids why I smoked when I'm constantly telling them no to!

Holiday shopping...

Gotta love the holidays and then 2 kids birthdays 1 and 3 days after.   Couldn't we have planned this better??  

I've done some good shopping and have my eyes open for good deals.   I'm waiting for Black Friday and I hope that I can get a good deal on a Kindle Fire for Graem and a Gameboy for Emmy!

Recycling!

Every other Tuesday I have to do recycling.   In fact, it takes me half of the night to load up all of our trash and recycling and put it to the curb!   Yesterday, I had to deal with a corrugated box that wouldn't break down!  

The good thing is that it protected the home theatre system we bought and made sure that it didn't have any damage!

Homeland...

Good stuff!

We are totally caught up and watching this week's episode.   Agent Brody is in some deep deep shit!

A few weeks ago we watched a marathon and could barely keep our eyes open the next day!

Tis the season...

Just the other day I went to get all of the old baby toys out of the playroom.   Not one of them worked!   The batteries were all dead.

I looked in our battery cabinet and of course, we only have one of each battery.  

When you buy toys you typically forget to buy the handful of batteries that are needed for each one!  

I think we might look into the investment of sanyo rechargeable batteries.   I'm not only tired of buying new batteries but I'm also tired of throwing them in the trash to fill up the landfills!

Christmas?

I have started working on the kid's Christmas lists.    I have purchased a single car for the boy.

It's interesting that since the kids don't watch much live television they really haven't seen the commercials that have all of the awful toys (that tend to break within the first week of play!)

Graem is really into the Schleich horses, fairies, unicorns, and dragons.

Emmy is into dress up and she really likes doctor dress up!  

Keane would be happy with whatever but I think he'd really like having a few cars and some blocks when he gets older!

Housewives

So, I"m sad to see that The Real Housewives of New York has come to an end!   Always a great show.

This year I have decided that LuAnn is really not my favorite character.  She got caught in way too many lies.   Good thing she's still sexy.

I really like Sonja!   She's crazy and fun.   But I think that she's also sensitive.  

With all of the housewives there's a huge sense of entitlement that makes the show humorous.  

Drama mama

Can I just say...I love online drama shows !

I've been watching online shows for some time now.   In fact, if there's anything I need to know I go directly to the computer and bring up a instructional video!

I remember bringing Keane home from the hospital and looking up "perfect latch".   It was important for me to visually see how a newborn latched on to know that I was doing it right!

Before that I used the internet to do things around the house like tiling the bathroom!   I've also used it to figure out how to change the belt in the dryer.  

It's amazing to think of  a time when we didn't have the internet.   I can honestly say that I would have spent much more money hiring service people and carpenters to do things that I can now just look up and find a DIY video!!

Now there is a culture of viewers that are finding some great viewing options right on their computer!   I have friends who have cut off their cable completely and watch all of their network and non-network shows on the computer.    The great thing is there are services that offer non-published drama, DIY, and other shows that might not have made it big yet but have renowned actors and producers.  

It's a great grassroots effort to see happening!   Now you don't have to spend millions to the networks to get good entertainment out there.  

We have talked about cutting off our cable and at this point there are just a few shows that we can't find online.   Unfortunate, for me...those are my favorite shows!    I think there will be a time when we can have it all without having to spend a fortune for good entertainment.  

Until then, I'll get the best of both worlds - my television and great internet shows!

Exhausted!!

Last night I went to bed at 9pm.   I just can't seem to get untired.   I'm exhausted all of the time.   I know it's probably due to the sleep deprivation that has happened over the past 10 months.   It's also starting to get darker  sooner.  

I'm just starting to get some much needed appointments scheduled.   I went to the dentist the other day.    I have to get 3 fillings.   2 are redos and one is a new one.   I also have a horrible habit of griding my teeth.   So they are going to make a new appliance for me so that I don't have total nubs.  

I've been meaning to make my OB appointment for 6 months now and just can't get my act together.   I know that if I go that Margot will have to take off and it just becomes too much of a production.  

A day of TV and sleep.

Keane is playing catch up on his sleep.   That means that I get to play catch up on all of my trashy television!

Forget the housework and laundry - Honey BOo Boo is on!!!

Our almost 9 month old!!

Keane turns 9 months in a few more weeks.   It has gone by SO FAST.    I wish it would slow down.

He's such a great kiddo.   He's smiley and a pretty even tempered kid.

I just wish he could get the sleeping thing down and realize that sleep is a good thing!

No sleep training for us!

WE just can't do it.   Last night we tried.   We have the bed set up, Shawna purchased a $30 bumper, and $100 crib set.  

It's brand spankin' new.  

The boy hates it.

Guess he's going to be in our bed til he's 18.

Florida!

We had actually reserved a time share in Daytona Beach this week but it looks like we won't be going since we're going to CANCUN, Baby!!! We figured by the time we got our airfare and everything in order that we'd probably end up spending just as much to go to an all-inclusive in Mexico. I have a friend who has used tampa limo and was able to go on some great tours around the area though. So next year if we end up going back to Florida....I'm going to do that!

TGIF

This has been one hell of a week. Graem has been sick with the stomach bug and we have been to the local ER via ambulance AND the local convienient care. UGH. I hope that we never have to deal with that again. She's doing better now. We are all on Vitamin C and probiotics before getting our stomachs out of whack in Mexico!

Long time, no post.

I must say that having three kids is kicking my ass! I'm exhausted!! All of the time. Any extra time I do have is either doing laundry, taking a shower, or watching a little television. In just a few short days we will be leaving to go to Cancun, Mexico! I really can't wait. So excited.

Lost.

Before Emmy was born Shawna lost tons of weight. The doctor had prescribed her Xenical and Phentarmine. They worked perfect. Probably the reason why she was able to get pregnant with Emmy. I just found out that they offer the same medication at http://www.shoppharmacycounter.com/t-phentermine.aspx I've thought about getting on something too to help with the weight loss. I remember when I was younger hearing older people say how it's hard to lose weight when you are older. Now I believe them!

School's out for the summer!

Today is Graem's last day of school. Shawna has a few weeks of camp planned but for the most part they are hanging out for the summer and the kids are going to mama daycare! Once again Emmy is sick. She keeps getting the daycare sickness everytime she goes! It's frustrating because I feel like she's not at daycare more than she is. We are still on the wait list at ICSD and I really hope she gets in. We've waited long enough and I feel like we need to give her daycare a good notice if she won't be attending in the fall.

Just what I needed...

With Father's Day (my Mother's Day) around the corner I'm pretty excited! I came across my gift in the garage. TOOLS! It's great how each year I get a good stash of tools. At some point I'm going to have to resort to less fun things such as, hasps!

Brits love the queen!

I'm watching the special concert for the queen. I can't believe how much these British folks love their queen! We'd never in a million years do this for a president. God bless the queen!

Time to invest!

I've been trying to do research and figure out a way to invest our money. One thing that I've seen recently is fixed annuities. It's a good way to insure that your money is secure. Since we're still young in investment terms we can be a little more daring but it's also important to diversify things and have a steady medium low earning product. I'm still doing my homework and I will have til next April to figure this all out!

Scrub-a-dub

I have two shirts of my dads. One is a Life is good shirt that has holes all in it. The other is one of my dad's scrub top that he used to perform surgery in. It's a nice little memory and when the time is right I'll pass it on to the girls. They can wear it and play dress up doctor. I've worn it a few times because it's downright comfortable!

4.5 months

It's almost Mother's day! Tonight we went out to celebrate at hibachi and it was delicious. Tonight we're watching one of those stupid Buddy dog movies. But...we're here. Together. A family.

Vroom Vroom

I miss the days of motorcycles. We had such a good time and there's nothing like riding your bike and feeling the bugs hit your helmet. I don't think I'd ever get a motorcycle while the kids were small. Where would I put the carseats? Our friend has a scooter and that might be more our speed! Then there's the maintenance... The last time we had bikes we were always making repairs. The bikes were over 15 years old but still?! The one thing I would never do is cheap out on tires. I've heard that the pirelli motorcycle tires are the top-notch tire to get.

Wood stove?

I really want a wood burning fireplace insert. We burn a lot of wood in our fire place and it'd be great if we could actually use it as a wood source. The problem is - they're expensive! The last time we looked they were around $4,000 installed. Then there's the fact that we just installed a new furnace last year! We had an energy audit a few weeks ago and they made some suggestions like more insulation. I know this should probably be done first. What's the point of producing more heat when it's just going to leak out the roof!

The basement.

At some point I think the basement is really going to be our go-to room. Even though we are doing an addition I think the kids will need a place to do homework and hang out with friends. We have painted the basement walls and floor but I think that it would really make the room if we had basement flooring. Every once in a while we will have a little water in the basement so it needs to be durable and easy to clean.

Diapers!

We have only purchased a few packages of diapers since Keane was born. We 95% of the time use cloth diapers. Right now we are trying to finish up some size 1 diapers that we had purchased. It's weird having disposable because they really don't do as good of a job as the cloth diapers we use. Shawna's got it down too. She was able to buy cloth diapers for Keane, use them, and sell them for just as much as she bought them for. FOr a few pair she even made money on them!

Baby contraptions.

It's funny how each kid has their own baby gear that works for them. Graem loved the bouncy chair. Emmy did not. Keane did not. Emmy liked the exersauser. Graem did not. Keane has yet to try it. Keane LOVES the swing! Funny enough, it was the same swing we had when Graem and Emmy were babies. However, it was given to us by a friend because ended up getting rid of all things baby when Emmy was born. This time we are purging for good! It's sad. Real sad.

Pump you up.

My brother has an amazing ability to grow muscle. I don't understand if it's a male thing or what. He does work out but it seems like he can diet for a few weeks and look slim and trim. I go to the gym a few times a week and I'm still fat. I have friends who have had testoripped results that really speak for themselves! I'm still at the point where I want to try it naturally with better diet and exercise. But there might come a time when I'm willing to walk on the dark side!

MOnday...

UGH! I swear the weekends are going way too fast. Especially, when you have three sick kids, not much sleep, and tons of laundry on Monday morning. I'm dragging today and sure could use a nap.

I need tools!

I think I have only purchased one or two tools since we started owning this new house. I keep borrowing a router every time I need to use one.

I've also had my eye on a lamello biscuit joiner. We are starting our new addition within the next few weeks.

This week I have to take the deck apart and I wish I could get someone to help me do it! Go figure, I just put the deck together last year, and now I'm taking it apart in order to attach the addition!

Weekend?

So it's Monday.

I'm ready for a weekend already. Graem has spring break STARTING FRIDAY. Not sure what SHawna plans to do with the kids next week! More than likely, she'll have to schedule things for days when Emmy is home too.

Which makes me wonder...what in the heck are we going to do for the summer?

Shawna just might go crazy with 3 kids at home all-summer-long!

Our girls!

I must say that Graem really gets the short end of the stick. She was born 3 days after Christmas! That means that she gets all of her toys for the year within 3 days. Poor kid, RIGHT?

I'm always on the lookout for daughter gifts!

I used to stock up throughout the year. However, I never know what the kids are going to be into from month to month.

More than likely, I'll get Graem some gifts this summer around Emmy's birthday.

Easter

Easter is right around the corner. Our friends parents have really taken us in. Typically, we get invited over Sunday for a nice dinner and an easter egg hunt.

Shawna picked up some airplanes for Graem and some sand toys for Emmy. I think she even picked up some goodies for the boy too!

Holidays with the kids are so great! This is when I love having a big family!

No pain, no gain.

That's what they used to say, right?

Well, I'm in tons of pain. Each night I go to bed and I'm in agony. My hand becomes numb and even throughout the day I have absolutely no feeling in it.

I've been prescribed medication and at this point I have a feeling that there's more to it than just muscle stuff going on.

I went to the doctor today and she's guessing that there's a slipped disc involved. The last thing in the world I want is back surgery. However, if there was minimally invasive spine surgery that would take away the pain I would sign up in a minute.

Interior Therapy

Jeff Lewis has a new show out and can I just say I LOVE IT. We have watched all of the episodes and each one is funnier than that last. Jeff is pretty hilarious himself, but the people around him also add to the humor.

This is perhaps the only show that is keeping us hooked up to cable and paying way too much money per month!

Entertainment HELP!?

So at this point in our entertainment life we are stranded. Shawna got a new DVD player that has wi-fi and I was sure that trying the new features such as Hulu or Roku would be all I ever hoped and dreamed. Not so much.

They didn't have the shows we watch on Bravo and the shows they did have seemed outdated. THen there's the paying monthly thing that we're not overly fond of.

We have been taking advantage of discount movies when we can because it's almost better to buy the movie and have it for the kids than it is to rent it 100 times!

3ish months old.

The boy is getting so big! I think he's about 13 pounds! He's starting to get chunky cheeks and he's such a complete joy. The only times he cries are when he's poopy, needs boob, or tired.

Lately, I've been trying to juggle everything at home with work and it's all kicking my ass.

I've got to take some me time.

A dip.

We are starting our addition in the next few weeks. Of course, it crossed our minds to put a nice in ground pool instead of an addition. But we figured we could only swim 2 months out of the year!

My friend has a pool fence arizona. Supposedly it's one of their laws there and everyone that has a swimming pool has to also have a four foot fence around the pool.

11 weeks!

The boy is 11 weeks old. He's so super sweet. He smiles constantly and he's a great baby! No complaints.

To say the least...I love life with three kids. It's crazy at times but it all ... just works.

Grinder!

This weekend we went to the store. I have been looking for awhile for a coffee grinder. When making Ethiopian food it's important to have a coffee grinder to grind all of the spices.

I saw the bunn coffee grinder and it was super nice. I figure I'll get that one so that I can grind our morning coffee. We already do a french press but fresh ground coffee must be even more delicious!

2 months!

I can't believe that the boy is two months old. It's gone by so fast. As I write this he is sleeping on my lap. He's such a good baby. Totally laid back and chill. It's a good thing because the girls are a handful!

Good stuff!

Shawna has been posting some of the newborn diapers that K has outgrown on the online auction site. She has been getting some incredible bids. It's shocking how much these women actually want the diapers and what they're willing to spend!

A few of the diapers have actually been purchased for more than Shawna bought them for. She used them and now she's making a profit!!

The tricky part of all of this is shipping. She needs to get some good materials such as strapping tape and some envelopes and boxes.

The worst thing in the world is to post something, sell it, and have it break when you ship it!

The addition...

We are currently in the middle of adding a master bedroom to our house. We decided to go with the best contractor in town. He's a fortune but we know that we really won't have to worry about it and it's going to be a job well done.

Tomorrow we meet with him to go over the design and figure out what the cost will be. I really hope it's not going to be too much!

Relax.

I've thought about going to yota. I need to figure out something to destress. I had a gym membership but I felt like I couldn't get out of the house to do it. Maybe I should just get a new yoga video and yoga mat and do the exercises in the living room.

If I had them easily available I could do them whenever I have extra time, in my pajamas, and not even have to leave the house!

We have a yoga ball but I have no idea what to do with it!

Yahoo!

I'm really excited that in the next 24 hours we are going to see the boys! We saw them a few months ago and had such a great time. I love how we can go months at a time without seeing them then all of a sudden reconnect and it's like we didn't miss a beat.

RIght now we're in the process of getting the house together and clean! Then there's the laundry...