So-niele

That was my breakfast this morning. Egg in a basket, or as my ma calls it Popeye. It’s just a piece of bread with a puka, (hole) in it and the egg cooked in that puka. And on the side is the bread made from the puka. Sure it’s easy peasy but Ma didn’t make it for me all the time. Only on Sundays! Ma didn’t have all the time in the world during the week, she was a working mama Monday thru Friday. My dad did the dinner cooking as he had the graveyard shift, so my dad was the one home with me afterschool. Saturdays were spent cleaning the house and then off to the grocery store to replenish the reefer and cabinets.

So when Sunday rolled around she would sometimes indulge me and make me a Popeye !!! And as I’ve said, sure it’s an easy peasy recipe, one that I’ve even found in The Joy of Cooking, but she only made it on occasion. Which made it rather spayshal (special) to me!!! And I do the same for my kids! I don’t cook it up all the time, I’m trying to make it a special thing for them too. And when I do make it… you better believe their plates are licked clean. heh.

I made this one just for myself tho. *shh Don’t tell the kids. J is off to school and N spent the night t my mom’s. M is here but she don’t know any better. But I swear she was eyeing my food as I tried to feed her her fruit and oatmeal mush, that she refused to eat. She never liked to eat the oatmeal/ rice cereal but I have to force her to eat the stuff b/c she’s borderline anemic, so her ped encouraged me to just keep trudging on and feeding it to her. She also said to try the drops and she won’t even take those. So whatever I can do to help her.

Every morning she asks what we’re doing “today” or where we’re going. This morning was no different as I was getting the baby’s breakfast together. Honestly I have no plans. For the past few weeks we’ve been heading to my mom’s for Sunday lunch/dinner. And normally that’s b/c my brother is BBQing. My brother is on this weekend, so more than likely he’s sleeping, so no BBQ.

So I told her “Nothing and nowhere.”

She didn’t seem too happy about that. And then she realized that she’s gone a whole day without seeing my mom. “I miss Mama. I want to go see her!!!!”

That is honestly not in the plans. And really I hadn’t even anticipated it for tomorrow either. Only b/c I don’t have anywhere I need to go, no money in my wallet, and J has bball practice tomorrow so I don’t want to have to drive here and there and everywhere… and then back again.

Maybe she has cabin fever? We didn’t leave the house at all yesterday. I have plans to leave the house today either.

How is she going to handle things when my mom leaves in January to go back to Hawaii? I’ll have to admit that my mom spoils her to the point where she’s just plain and simple BAD. Everyone notices it too. She tries to get away with things with my mom that just don’t fly with me. It’s annoying. She downright protests to my mom when she says she’s leaving and has even said she’s going with her.

*sigh*

I’m tired, seems I’m always tired as of late. I blame the baby b/c despite having a full tummy, taking consistent naps, sleeping at the right time… she still wakes and OFTEN through the night as well as having her internal clock wake anywhere between 630 and 7AM. UGH. I’m not even going to ask what’s wrong with her not sleeping through the night yet. Her siblings didn’t do it, so why should she, right? It would be a nice thing, but I’ve accepted it!

Thanksgiving has come and gone and it was a good one. Being with the ones that matter the most and most importantly Mama wasn’t all the way across the ocean. Tummies were satisfied. Food was good! Now to figure out what to make for Christmas . I made piggies in blankies, lumpia, and pumpkin cheesecake. More than likely I will make lumpia and piggies again, but will do something different for dessert.

As in past years I braved the crowds with Mama Toots and did midnight madness. This year I didn’t. I just couldn’t fathom bringing the baby out at that hour of the night. I can’t leave her with anyone, especially not at night b/c I am her human pacifier, lest I be gone, sure as hell no one will sleep. Instead I woke at 530 and got ready and headed to Tarjey. Picked up a bunch of good loot for gifts and then headed back home to pick up lilman. For some reason the lilmiss had already been awake and was aware that I was heading out, she wanted to come too. Funny thing is she thought it was still night, b/c it was dark. And of course, had to bring baby along. They did very well. Then it was off to my mom’s to p/up mom and SIL. We headed down the peninsula and they went to town at both Old Navy and Guess. Crowds surprisingly weren’t bad at all the whole day. Thank goodness.

26 more days til Christmas!

It’s Parent Teacher Conference Week at J’s school. We were scheduled for today @ 1PM. It’s 1:08PM and I sent the BM to the conference. He’s normally working right now, but got the day off b/c he filled in on Monday. I’m always the one to go and honestly there’s nothing that they really tell me that I don’t already know.

And with J’s grades this quarter, there’s nothing much to worry about. Mostly A’s with the exception of a B- in a class he’s never really had other than attending church, Religion. And it’s laziness on his part more than anything! He claims it’s b/c it’s something new to him but really it isn’t.

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In other not so fun news, me and the lilman were hit with something ugly over the weekend. A case of food poisoning. ICK! Not fun! Lilman had basketball tryouts on Sunday too and spilled his cookies all over the court. There’s going to be 3 teams in the 4th grade b/c so many boys want to play. Wondering how hectic our schedule will be once that picks up.

babyM is sprouting 2 more teeth, to make it a totaly of 3. Thankfully she hasn’t been complaining much.

Lilmiss got her 1st official haircut yesterday. Just a trim so her hair can look healthy again. My mom trimmed off about 3 inches.

[eta:] So BM and lilman returned home in record time. Apparently there was nothing to say about J. He’s doing great. He just has a few problems with late work but other than that he’s doing good. Good thing I didn’t go. Lol.

So far it looks to be a wet one this year. The rain has graced us even a day, or at least a few hours early. A couple years ago I remember a light drizzle. Here’s hoping the rain subsides long enough for the kids to even get just a little bit of loot. Why, earlier, did I have a craving for a chocolate bar? That’s certainly not something I normally want to eat, so I told myself that I’d have to wait until I inspect the kids’ candy .

As for costumes… they’re finally complete. Lilman is going to dress up as a “brain donor” and his costume cost us a whopping $3.29! Lol. $2.29 for the head of cauliflower that will pose as his “brain”, and $1 for the fake blood that I have to put on his gauze. My brother snagged a hospital gown and some gauze from work and I scrambled around the house for a jar to put the “brain” in. Lilmiss is going as “Snow White” and babyM will be a panda. I fashioned a little red bow on the top of my panda’s head, just in case people wonder if she’s a girl or boy!?! And I’ve gotta snag a bamboo stalk from my mom’s house.

J’s school has a parade scheduled but it might be rained out . And we’ve got plans to t-o-t with my cousins and their kids while my mom and aunt stay home with the littlest of the trick or treating crowd! Woo hoo! I’m kinda excited! Let’s just hope everything pans out and the rain waits it out a little for the showers!

Happy Halloween everyone! Be safe!

Well…. maybe!?!?! There’s this school, close by even, that has 3-4 year old hula classes. Can you only imagine how cute that is? I’ve been wanting N to take hula ever since J started, but his halau doesn’t take them til there 6. Kumu wanted to be sure that they were serious and could follow directions. N would sit and watch the other keiki and even do a little of her own swaying. So I found this school even before she turned 3 and I’ve been wanting to check it out. She has her days where she says she wants to do it and other days where she turns her nose and head away and says she’s doing “nothing!”

Yeah she’s at that age, and as of late she has not been the princess she claims to be. OY! We’ve thought about running her through karate too, and even though they take kids at 4, they said they’d take N now. But I don’t think she would take them seriously. She grew up there and is pretty comfortable with ALL the instructors, even has a crush on one of them .

So back to hula, I emailed the school and I think we might check them out next week. See if she likes it and such. Right now she says NO! But I think once she sees the other kids she’ll definitely want to do it. She won’t be able to start until January though and by then basketball season for J will be in full swing. A lot on my plate.

But I’m really hoping we can fit it in and that she’ll enjoy it! It’ll give her something to do other than drive me up the walls. Right??!! I can hope!

Tonight I tried the 10 minute stroganoff recipe and it was a hit with the 2 big kids. Next time though I think I’ll omit the ground beef and just go full on mushrooms! Oh yeah and also add another can of cream of mushroom soup! .

I also had my first go around with making homemade baby food for babyM. My mom bought me this book from Ross today for a whopping $7. When she first came out with the book I was skeptical b/c she claimed to be the originator of mixing veggies in kids’ food. NOT! Some of the recipes seem rather fake too (as if her kids would eat stuff like that), but it gave me some ideas for the kids. The kids eat veggies more or less but sometimes it gets challenging.

I knew how to make the baby food but after reading the book it inspired me even more. I couldn’t very well feed her what the other kids were eating and I had some things in the kitchen. So I busted out my bamboo steamer and steamed her 5 baby carrots, a small sweet potato, and one of my mom’s homegrown apples. It said to puree in a food processor, and we have one but it’s a frickin pain to clean that thing just for that small amount. I just smushed with a fork and portioned out about 2 teaspoons for her to try tonight. I put the rest in the freezer. Well she inhaled that stuff like a champ and may as well have licked the bowl b/c she was looking for lots more!

I can’t wait to try spinach and butternut squash!!!

Since J started school, life has been rather non-stop. I like it and yet I don’t. I still never filled out my week-by-week calendar that is supposed to be on the fridge. I did find all my colored pens tho !!! Just need to squeeze in some time to play around with that. And that would probably be about this time at night b/c they’re all asleep and it’s ME time but I don’t wanna.

We had our first Catechism meeting today and it wasn’t as bad as I had anticipated. J did all this extra work for nothing. Pfft! Typical! Next meeting is in December so come then, I won’t be such a spaz on him. It’s his religious teacher’s fault. He told us to do it ALL! Always the overachiever , better safe than sorry right?

Soccer is winding down. They didn’t win this weekend, BUT they didn’t lose either! It was a tie 0 to 0 ! And basketball is about to start up and J is having second thoughts about it . Not a competitive aggressive bone in his body. But doing nothing is not an option. Karate is always in the wings but he still doesn’t seem into it anymore. Lilmiss, however, wants to do everything under the sun. Hula. Yes. Karate. Yes. And I sooooo want her to do it all, but these things are NOT cheap.

It’s heating up here again in these neck of the woods. Indian Summer don’t fail me now!

The holidays are creeping too! I’m rather excited for them b/c of the kids! Last year I was rather bah humbug only b/c my family wasn’t here, mainly my mom. But we’re making her stay for Thanksgiving and Christmas too!!! WOOT!

With the lilman this book WAS my bible, with all things baby. First time parent, clueless. I turned to the books. And of course my ma! I knew to look there to see where he should be developmentally. What he should and should NOT be eating. What to do when he had that funny rash on him.

Despite the age gap, and I really needed the mind refreshing I didn’t use it so much with N b/c I had a handful of friends who had babies all around the same time. I just called on Mama Toots or followed her lead .

So now with babyM, in some senses I feel like I’m a new parent. Especially with the feeding thing. I can NOT for the life of me remember what she’s NOT s’posed to be eating at her age, other than honey.

In the room move, I miraculously found my book!!! Albeit outdated, but last night I flipped through it. Still didn’t find that section of the book but I seriously feel like I’ve uncovered some buried treasure or something.

For breakfast today the baby had ‘nanas and blueberry yogurt. Hey at least it wasn’t lemon! She’s not big on babyfood. What. So. Ever. She still not eating meat and I’m still holding strong on that one. Oatmeal cereal has to be given to her first thing, just so she’s fooled by the spoon. She’ll open her mouth to ANY spoon. She stares you down when you’re eating. She’s really good with the puffs. Yes! Despite her lack of teeth, she does well with the puffs!!! Despite teeth, she loooooves texture. So forget that strained mush stuff she doesn’t do it!!!

Something FREE on your birthday?

Disney corporation is giving you a FREE ticket into the park of your choice: Disneyland or Disneyworld, on YOUR birthday!!!

More than likely we’ll be in Hawaii when J, N, or even my birthday rolls around. But maybe for BM’s? Even if you’re a season pass holder or have a multi day ticket you can still take advantage of a FREE something. Be sure to check it out and register!!!

We are soooooo itching to go to Disneyland!!!

My poor son’s soccer team lost their game today and secretly I think it’s b/c I wasn’t there. B/c I’m a good luck charm, or maybe one of his sisters is a good luck charm ? B/c none of us were in attendance. My brother took him and they lost 0-2. Or maybe my brother is bad luck, or his lady is bad luck. Hopefully this will be the only game I will miss this season.

The girlies and I attended a wedding for one of my close friends from high school. She was glowing. She looked lovely! I’m so happy I was able to attend the ceremony at least. I couldn’t do the reception b/c I just wouldn’t have been able to handle the girlies. I’m sure I would have gotten help from the JQ but the baby is so, UGH! Just UGH! Had the reception been super informal and I could have donned some sweats then I would have been all up in there but me dressed up wrangling the 2 girls= hot mess! I’m sad I missed out but that’s the price you pay when you have kids, right?

BM had his first day of training. He left the house feeling nervous and at some point I thought he was going to bail on this new found job b/c he was already feeling overwhelmed with the schedule they’ve given him. 8 hours later and he says it was cool. He says he can’t wait to go back tomorrow. Like what? YAY! I hope he stays as enthusiastic

Yay! My mom is coming back 2mrw night. The plan was for me and the girls to pick her up. She’s been missing the 2 girlies something fierce, especially the wee one. Thinking about getting this for her ! Cute eh? My brother calls to tell me that he’s going to get her, so we don’t see her until Wednesday! Phooey!

Back to yummy in the tumminess! I have been forced to cook for the kids and I’ve been making it a point for it to be good for them. Lilmiss is rather hit or miss which makes it difficult. I think she’s lost some weight since returning from the islands. But now that Mama is in town she’ll be gaining her cheeks back again. Not that she’s ever really lost them.

Tomorrow I’ve got cuppies to make again. This time I’m making funfetti with strawberry frosting! I’m kinda excited for those!

Whatever the lilmiss has been harboring in her system, it finally got to me. Ugh! I hate that I’m sick and the weather is lovely out. We were invited to some Labor Day swimming and I loves me some swimming, but I had to pass. B/c had we gone, there is no doubt that I would have been in that water just prolonging this sickness of mine.

It’s all nasal congestion. Thankfully there is no cough. I think the 2 lilmissys are finished with the majority of the ickies. Thank goodness. I was so getting tired of swiping noses.

So this morning, at about 6:30AM, the BM comes in b/c he heard the stirring of the baby to inform me that I would have to take her to get tested for TB! WTF? Mind you I’m soooooo not awake but he’s rambling on about a news report he had seen.

All day I had been stressing over the fact about being exposed to TB. Possibly being a carrier. And it doesn’t help that the baby and lilmiss are sick right now. I know for certain that lilman and lilmiss are in the clear though b/c they recently had TB tests come out negative.

So I finally got a hold of the actual news information and we are in the clear. Thank God!!!

Funny after hearing what the BM told me this morning and then thinking we might be carriers, I had been VERY weary about taking her out. AT.ALL. And exposing her to ANYONE.

So we’re safe for now. *whew*

We came home to appointments upon appointments.

First up was the lilman’s last Monday. We won’t get into how much he weighs, I think he’ll be embarrassed if I told the rest of the world. He is 4′9″ though in height and she said that if he continues to grow and grow like this he might just be 6′2″. He got a TB test and it was checked this morning, negative.

Lilmiss and babyM had theirs today. Lilmiss is 31 lbs, 25th percentile, and 36.5 in, 50th percentile. She’s looking good DrM said and she’s right on track. She also got a TB test and a shot, but she didn’t even cry! YAY. BabyM is 14lbs and 10 oz, only 10th percentile for weight. And she is 24.8 in, which puts her in the 25th percentile for height. I got the go ahead to try her on various foods, being that she didn’t take rice cereal too well. I’m thinking I might try her on some oatmeal just to keep her “regular”. Something she hasn’t been much of lately. I used to be able to count on a morning movement. Not so as of late.

Other than that the kids are doing well. Just now getting back into pacific standard time. And getting J back into school mode. UGH.

The reality of going home is settling in *sigh*. Back to being Mommy again, full time. It’s nice to have an extra pair of hands around with the baby. Sure the BM is home, but he’s not “home, home”. He works most of the time so it’ll be just me. With all 3 kids. Just me. I don’t remember how I functioned before, but I have to get back into that mode. Of course the baby is bigger now and better with the neediness. Remember she’s mobile now *rolls eyes*. I’ll have to empty out the pack and play and corral her in there.

And not only can I corral her in there, but hopefully it can keep her sister out *sigh*. We already knew that she would be the “hard one”. Ya know the child with the mind of her own. The independent one. Well this same child managed to nearly sever the baby’s finger off the other day. With her own mouth. Baby was minding her own business on the floor, crawling, tummy thumping, whatever you want to call it. The lilmiss laid down with her and then sooner than we know it, the baby is SCREAMING. As of late she only cries for 3 reasons: hungry, wet, or tired. Other than that she’s a happy baby. My mom loves that she’s so happy and flashing her gummy smiles. Oh wait, I forgot one more. When she’s hot. She does NOT like to be hot. WHo does really though? So yeah, as I was saying, she was screaming! Couldn’t be consoled and we noticed the lilmiss hiding under the blanket that the sisters were both on top of just moments prior. Checked everything on the baby and she kinda kept holding her finger out. Sure enough a huge bite mark at the thumb joint. Poor thing. It was nearly purple.

The lilmiss is constantly patting her back, really hard, ya know the kind, where you HEAR the thumps! She’s also managed to poke her in the eyes, her reason is that she’s taking out the eye guck. Well in the process of her removing the eye guck, she’s managed to give the baby some sort of yuck-disease that the baby gets the really bad eye guck in the morning. OY! And we’ve been trying to heal/cure her, but somehow the lilmiss always gets to her. Oh and same goes for boogers. She has this thing about picking the baby’s boogers. This poor little baby of mine. She’s going to hate her sister, and soon.

So one of my top priorities when we get home is to get to that pack n’ play and clean it out so the baby can utilize it. WHere the stuff inside is going *shrugs*. I just wish our house weren’t so small and that we didn’t have to much junk amongst the 5 of us.

Yes, yes the lilmiss is 3 today *sigh* Where is the time going? She has grown from her chubby cheeked self into a strong willed, independent, outgoing 3 year old. She’s still got some cheeks on her though . This year her love for Hannah Montana has won over my love for Hello Kitty. We’re celebrating here in the islands, yet again, and having a small shindig with family and friends on Sunday.

For her actual birthday, we have no real plans, just to make her feel special, and if you ask her, she thinks she’s special *everyday*. Which in all honesty she is . She can drive me up the walls on some occasions but on most she keeps me laughing and smiling and giggling right along with her.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY to the LILMISS!!!!

Yeah, yeah we’ve all heard that it’s expensive to live here. Makes sense. It’s a rock in the middle of the ocean and to get anything here, it either has to be shipped or flown. The other day we were at Thinker Toys at Alaz and we came across these super cute play sushi sets. I don’t think the lilmiss remembers sushi, but she likes it, more or less. I think it was more the novelty of getting something. I was thinking more along the lines, that her birthday is coming up .

Saw this one first and loved it. Loved that it’s wood too and has those velcro things so she can pretend that she’s cutting sushi. The only thing that had me put it back is the price $24.95. Not bad I know, but I passed on it anyhow. Her love for kitchen things comes and goes.

Also saw this one… and almost considered getting it b/c of the lower price, $14.95, but it wasn’t as “nice” and fun with the cutting and velcro.

Well looky what Amazon has… the velcro one for $14.20, AND the fun one for only $10.99.

I think I might just have to order her both of them as well as the dim sum one.

She loves her some pork siu mai or as they call it here in the islands, pork hash!

Now that she’s 3, or soon to be, she’s got a mind of her own. We already knew she would be very independent, and demanding like that.

We went to Price Busters yesterday in search of invites. I was really, really hoping for a Hello Kitty party and she was sold at first, until we turned the corner . And there she was. Hello Kitty’s arch-nemesis apparently. *sigh* Hannah Montana. Tossed aside were the Hello Kitty invites for the Rockin’ Hannah Montana ones. *sigh* Luckily for her some of the party paraphenalia was on sale, so I picked those up.

She’s only 3. What is the age that determines tweens? B/c she certainly seems like that *rolls eyes*

Srsly! Where?

We’ve been here for what? *goes to open iCal, b/c brain is melting from the heat*…
2 weeks + or 17 days? Right?

Yeah well the lilmissy’s birthday is next week and we’re supposed to be throwing her a party. Albeit a small one b/c we don’t know too many people here but still. My mom said this Sunday, uhm hello? Invitations? I haven’t done anything in the way of those. Party favor bags? Yeah none. Food? Not exactly nada but still.

3. I can’t believe she’s been here for 3 years.

So yeah I’m stressing a little bit about that.

In other news, it’s hotter than a mo’fo here. But apparently it’s hotter than a mo’fo everywhere else too.

Okay this is kind of a funny post.

We have befriended the neighbors on the right of the house. I’m talking we have parties we invite them. They have parties they invite us. The kids get along, etc. We have extra things to share, we share. And we are reciprocated. It’s one family extended. The grandparents, their 5 children, their children’s spouses/ bfs gfs/, and the grandchildren. At any time there could be up to 15 people there, me thinks. Give or take.

Yesterday the kids were playing out in the yard. My kids were told specifically to stay outside with them! Somehow my kids and 4 of their kids ended up IN our house. OY! No one came looking for them. No one was yelling out the window b/c we can literally hear them next door. As I am typing I can hear them watching tv. Anywho they were here. Eating. Playing. Being all rowdy. I don’t remember how we got them out. But they left.

Today lilmiss heard them playing and to tire her out she was told to stay out there with them. But she’s not allowed to go on her own, her brother has to go to. He was reluctant to go but ended up going. He gets along with the oldest girl. She’s a bit of a tom boy. So, he was told that they were NOT allowed to come over to play. And the stinkin kid repeated it to them. How embarrassing! They were playing and we hear the door open. Hello. It’s not one of our kids. But the neighbor boy. He comes in with his slippahs on too!!! *shakes head* So he comes over to see what we’re going in the family room and goes looking for N’s scooter. My mom says to take it outside with him, mind you N was told she could only play with the scooter IN the house. My mom just didn’t want him inside. He leaves. He comes back and asks for a snack. I grab 5 and send him on his way. N comes back with another one of the kids and says she wants her backpack. They’re going to play school. Fine. She packs up her things and they’re on their way. Lil boy returns for the 3rd time. And then leaves. N comes back with friend to go potty. Then J comes back with 2 more of the friends while my mom is eating at the table. OY! J grabs a water stands around my mom, who is eating and they leave.

5:30PM rolls around and the kids are told to come in, it’s time for dinner. And we send the other kids on their way. J doesn’t want to eat b/c he’s got a headache but N gets her grind on. 6:30PM rolls around and it’s time for J to eat. There’s a faint knocking on the door and it’s the boy… again. He asks my mom if we have food and so she makes a plate for him. Oh man! No one is looking for him. Nothing. He’s 3. He’s here for a good half hour before we hear them calling for him. Oldest cousin comes inside the house and is just kinda standing around. She leaves. Boy still stays. By this time I’m cracking the hell up. He leaves, he only ate half of what was given to him. He came back… again around 8PM. He wanted to come in and watch tv, but my mom sent him home.

WTF??? A little too comfortable don’t ya think? I was telling my mom we need to lock the doors when our kids go out so the neighbor kids just don’t walk in. Shooots, what if I had been feeding babyM???

We’ve been here 1 week already. And it seems it’s gone by all too fast.

I still haven’t had any shave ice. No Zippy’s. Barely plate lunch. None of my fave garlic chicken or garlic mahi. I’ve had a teaser portion of haupia cake a teaser of poke. I’ve shared a plate lunch at Yummy’s and even shared an Apple Napple. Oh and I’ve been totally digging mama’s cooking. Oh hell yeah! Especially the dinengdeng, nothing better than fresh veggies and sweet Kahuku shrimp *slurps*!!!

We’ve gone to the pool once and it was an all bad experience. First the lilmiss lost her knowledge of swimming. Not that she had any real ones to begin with but her confidence went into the toilet. Last year she could “monkey walk” the pool and even dunk her head. That day we went she couldn’t even hold the sides of the pool and either wanted to strangle hold me or sit at the pool’s edge. Which meant no aerobis workout for me. Despite there being 2 lifeguards there, I was afraid she might fall in anyhow. So yeah, she’s not coming to the pool anymore. Pffft. Then I think the pool man must’ve overdone it with the chlorine b/c it tasted like crap. Ewww. And when we got home, the baby was NOT having anything to do with feedings b/c she too could taste the crappy chlorine water on me. Ewww.

The boy has been asking to go to the beach and being that the baby is exclusively @ the bo.ob, that can’t happen unless the mama comes along b/c a trip to the beach, takes a LOT of time. And the mama doesn’t like to be in the sun much, let alone the beach b/c she doesn’t go in. She’s allergic to the sun. Doesn’t that suck?

Yeah so 1 week down. Don’t know how many more we have to go, maybe like 6 or something. Heh.

aloha

Vamos day is creeping up on us. And I’m ready more or less but now the anxiety is creeping up too. I was thinking that the plane would be no sweat, well a teeny tiny sweat might break out but I think I could handle it. Now that the reality is getting closer, my sweat glands are about to burst!

I feel like telling people to not get behind me in the line. I’ve got shit to unload and people to get through. If only I didn’t have to take the laptop and camera out the bag I think I could handle it! B/c there’s still the matter of folding up the stroller all with the infant! Not in it of course. OY! The lilmiss will be getting the limo ride through the airport while the baby will be worn. And then being on the plane itself, here’s hoping that the lilmiss knocks the funk out for a good portion of it. What was I thinking getting the 3 seats in the middle? I should’ve opted to get 2 window seats and having the boy on the other side just so that N could be corralled and entertained with the window. But my hopes are that she’ll be, again, knocked the funk out. The baby I’m just hoping will be happy that I’ll be holding her the entire time. I mean really that’s what she wants now, why should she complain otherwise.

And then there’s the issue of my baggage luggage. We’re allowed a parcel for every seat we paid for, that makes 3. We’ve got 2 suitcases and I’m checking the infant carseat. But I’m worried the luggages might be overweight, what else is new? Then there’s the other issue of bills that need to be taken care of before we depart and then the spending money. Damn, maybe we shouldn’t be going?

What am I dreading over there? The mosquitoes. The heat. The humidity. The food. Yeah as much as I love to eat over there, it’s sure to put on some poundage that I got rid of. But it’s nice to know that my mom will be there so I can take a shower in peace knowing that the baby isn’t screaming bloody murder. I can’t wait to hit the beach either and work on my tan. Lol. I want to go swimming and get some aerobic exercise going.

I really shouldn’t be sitting here. But I needed to get some things off my mind. I think my anxiety is only escalating even more. Aloha for now…

So yesterday, at my mom’s request, I decided to take the kidlets back to church to attend mass. And also to pick up the bulletin and witness the kids name in print! LoL. Yeah they officially announced them in the bulletin as being full fledged members of the Catholic church. Not in those words exactly but you get it .

It didn’t start well. The boy went swimming earlier with my brother and so he was a bit tired. I had to “bribe” him that if he went without complaints or problems we would go to Target and he could spend some money. OY! I don’t know how many times I had to elbow him. And let’s not even get into the little miss. Since going with my mom, the kidlets are separated and the lilmiss sits with my mom closer to the aisle. Well she climbed into our pew and kept getting in. To annoy his sister, the boy decided that he wanted to sit on the aisle. OY! Anything to be difficult. Right? She turns around and sees where he is and without controlling her voice starts yelling at him in church and pulling him out of where he’s sitting. Remember we’re in church. Acoustics! Thankfully only a handful of people were in church but still. They were praying. OY! She gets over it and throughout mass she’s sooooooo fidgety. She decides she’s going to lie on the kneeler. Then happens to find the gum under the pews and wants to pull them off. Soooooo nastay! Nevermind that I’m yelling at her in a hush, b/c by this time mass is going on . Then there’s a procession going on b/c it is the feast of the Corpus Cristi this weekend, and she needs to be front and center. One of my mom’s friends in church tells her she can be on her aisle and as the priest who baptized her passes, she’s waving at him and smiling. There was no way he wasn’t going to ignore her so he gave her a smile. Mind you, she calls the priests “Master” where she got that is beyond me. They processed every aisle in the church and she managed to get my mom’s friend in front of us to let her watch from her aisle, remember the boy was in the aisle seat of our pew.

Thankfully throughout most of this the baby is asleep.

I got a good message in the Homily. That yes if I can spend so many hours on the computer or on the phone or hanging out or shopping or watching TV, I can give the Lord an hour a week. Right, but it seems my hour is soooo hectic when it involves my kids! I think He’ll understand when I’m not there all the time, but I’ll certainly make the efforts now, right? B/c then what’s the point in having my kids baptised and send them to Catholic school?

Mama is leaving! Geez. My brother is scheduled for surgery on the 10th. She’s going back to check on the house, start up the truck. Tie up some loose ends. And probably just get away and take a breather from everyone. So she leaves this Tuesday as originally planned and she might come back on the 8th or 9th. So right now OUR flight plans are on hold b/c if she comes back she doesn’t know how long, and if, my brother will need her. OY!

Today was the first day of the heat wave. It wasn’t so bad but tomorrow is definitely going to be hotter. I can already feel myself melting away.

BabyM got her ears pierced today. We went last week and they told us she had to be 3 months, she turned 3 months yesterday so we got ‘em done. Now there’s no questioning if she’s a boy or girl anymore, I hope! Despite her wearing pinks and such, people would still ask boy? girl? I think it’s her hair that throws people off. There’s just so much of it! I was trying to record her with the p&s and still get some shots with the d40 but I couldn’t handle both. And then N nearly knocked me unconscious. She dropped the pass through door of the kiosk on my head. It still frickin hurts! But yeah M did better, to my recollection than her sister. Her scream wasn’t as bad as N’s but she did milk the sympathy. So cute! Heh. Despite her not knowing where her ears are or how to touch them, here’s hoping nothing goes wrong with ‘em. I told my mom that her eyes seem to sparkle more with her added bling. Yay!

I seriously need to take pix and post to the shopping blog. Pfft!

Got the candy bars for the favors! Need to finish the birthday gift for Mama Toots. Ordered the cake for Sunday. Selling my laptop to my brother for $625 so I need to get this one emptied out for him.

It’s May did you know that? Sometimes I don’t know where the time goes. We’ve had something every weekend and this weekend is no exception. Both days gone. And Mother’s Day to boot. I’ve got some shopping to do tomorrow, here’s hoping I don’t run anyone over with my cart b/c I get irritated fast when it comes to annoying peeps and having to get things done. I’m on a mission and I know what I need to get and where it is in the store. Why I waited til the last minute, I don’t know. Well I guess I do, but tomorrow is when it’s happening.

The boy had sparring today after a month long break from it, and he was very excited b/c he didn’t have that kid he gets intimidated by. I think he stepped up his game. Which is good! He needed that boost of confidence. It sucks though b/c as he’s getting back into karate mode and being interested in it, he’ll be gone again for the summer as we’ll be taking our summer vacation to the islands.

The lilmiss has become quite the ham. She’s so outgoing and has a magnetic personality that she can nearly charm the pants off of anyone. Oh but she certainly has her moments. Don’t let her fool you. She’s a sh!t stirrer (not in the literal sense), she causes problems ALL.THE.TIME. But in the end always turns out becoming the victim. OY! This girl! From hitting her brother to waking the baby, it always becomes their fault! And then everyone makes noise at the same time, causing the blood pressure to rise.

The baby. Poor thing has a cold of some sort is all kinds of nasally and boogery. ICK! You can hear it when she breaths and nurses. And the only time I can relieve her of some of that ickiness is when she sneezes. She has become quite the cooer. And I ♥ it so much!!! Putty. In. Her. Hands. She’s got the sweetest smiles too. Oh and her pouts are adorable, followed by her screaming like a banshee, which isn’t adorable. At. All. But the screaming and crying have slowed down a bit. And so has the sleeping. DAMN! Heh! She’s awake for longer periods of time but she doesn’t like to sit. Just sit. It’s sitting with shaking. Sitting with swaying. Sitting with dancing. Sitting with jiggling. Which all occurs in someone’s arms.

The mama is leaving soon. Oh no. What are we to do? It’s only a short time that we’ll be apart from her though as we’re headed to the islands in June! Hopefully. That’s still up in the air as plane tickets have yet to be purchased.

Have a wonderful weekend.

It took me an hour to finally decide on dinner. I had been bouncing back and forth with salad and Hawaiian BBQ. So I just asked the kids what they wanted to eat. Lilmiss said “SALAD!” Very enthusiastically! The boy didn’t hear the option of BBQ and was getting all excited over the prospect of unlimited bowls of clam chowder and ice cream @ Fresh Choice.

So we got in the car and headed to the closest Fresh Choice. The line was out the door! WTF! We could’ve driven to the next closest Fresh Choice but with the ridiculous gas prices we pay here in the Bay Area, I wasn’t about to do it. We could’ve eaten at Sizzler’s but I like the salad choices at Fresh Choice better. And I had already mentioned BBQ to the kids and the boy was all kinds of excited. Heh!

So as we were getting out of the car I told the boy to get a mini plate. The lilmiss responded very nonchalantly, “Well then I want a Mickey plate!” Did you get it? She’s so funny! At first I had to think about it. LoL. She said she wanted a Mickey plate, as in Mickey Mouse b/c her brother was getting a mini plate, or in her mind a “Minnie” plate.

Smarty pants fo’sho!

B/c my mom is in Las Vegas and I told my brother to shove it today (more about that later), we had nothing pressing to do and we had no where we had to be this morning. Stupid me though I’ve been downloading all these apps on the iPhone and I got stuck playing “Parking Lot” til 2:30AM. And the only reason I probably stopped was b/c the baby needed a feeding.

So of course both girls decided to wake up early. *groans* Thankfully the BM was still here to take the lilmiss potty and entertain the baby even for a second. I stayed as awake as I possibly could with the baby, it’s her normal “awake window” and then an hour and a half later she started to get cranky! Woo hoo , I knew that meant some more sleep. I warned N that we would be sleeping and she stayed on her bed and watched Nick Jr.

I got a teensy bit of sleep as lilmiss jumped on her bed. She found this toy that moos like a cow and over and over again she played with it. Then she would jump and move the foot stool that I have on my side of the bed, mind you we have wood flooring. The phone kept ringing too. Oh yeah and let’s not forget her LOUD calls of “Mommy” or “M….e” or “Hellllooooo?” But I managed to get a little extra sleeps in.

I wanted to vacuum the living room but that didn’t happen. I bathed the baby, dressed both girls, fed both girls, put baby to nap, jumped in shower, dressed myself, made myself lunch, washed the dishes, and now this is where I am. And the baby is still asleep. But I’ve gotta wake her soon b/c we’ve got the boy to pick up and then head over to my mom’s to hear about her trip to LV.

I relish days like this. It’s nice not having to be in a rush to be anywhere. But at the same time it sucks b/c unlike her siblings, babyM is a light sleeper and vacuuming couldn’t be achieved. I suppose those 3 baskets of laundry could’ve been folded though, huh?

Lmao… couldn’t think of another title. With the new belt comes the change of schedule. We’re back to Tuesdays and Thursdays, but I prefer Mondays and Wednesdays better b/c the latter end of the week is free. The boy is back to most of his friends which is nice and most of these people were surprised to see babyM. Most were thinking she’s only weeks old. Heh. Lilmiss of course was excited to be hanging out with her homies. Heh. TOo cute! They were giggling away in the corner, making tons of noise. But the nice thing is that no one complained and actually got a lot of smiles and laughs b/c they were being so cute. I was the one that was constantly telling her to calm down.

They started a yoga class at the school too, during the boy’s class, only upstairs. And I would looooooove to try it out but I have no one to watch babyM and the lilmiss. I’ve actually never done yoga and I’ve wanted to try. I could use some stretching and breathing exercises. I need to step up my game if I really want to keep up this weight loss. Funny as of late, I’ve been getting people tell me that I look like I’ve lost weight, which is always a nice thing . But it’s the maintenance that I need to keep up with. I feel like my appetite has been picking up again, which it should b/c I’m eating for 2. Literally. And I will be until she’s roughly 6 months. I’m going to hold off feeding her solids. Seriously. I just can’t handle the stink-ier diapers. OY!

But as an aside, I’ve decided to TRY and make the babyfood this time around. I came across the Beaba which looks like a very useful tool but @ $140, I think I’ll just need to stick with the Magic Bullet.

Today after running errands for my brother, the girls and I went trolling the mall. I had an exchange to do at Gymbo and then just decided to kill some time and do some laps and window shopping. Found out the mall is possibly getting a Trader Joe’s. How nice for the SFSU students! But it’s kinda crazy considering there’s one about 2 miles away. Hopefully then it’ll reduce the traffic @ that location! Went into H&M. I normally don’t go in there, but like I said I had time to kill. I only really shop for the girls there but they had some cute dresses! Didn’t but anything of course.

Spent quite a bit of time in the ladies’ lounges too. Had to do lunchtime feedings for the baby. Nordy’s is definitely nicer. There was a girl in the Macy’s lounge having her lunch in there. Literally. She was feeding herself which I thought was weird. Why would you want to eat in the bathroom with the sounds of the toilet flushing? I’m sure babyM felt the same way but I’m not about to air my goodies out to the public. I’m just like that. I totally forgot I should’ve gone into a dressing room! At least I wouldn’t have to hear the toilets flushing. Heh. But yeah the girl was just sitting in there enjoying her lunch. Even if I were alone, I would’ve gone outside to the mall to one of the benches or even the food court. Whatever floats your boat, I guess?!?!?

No plans for tomorrow and with the cost of gas here I really shouldn’t be going out. So I think I’ll stick to the homefront and try to get some housework done, here’s hoping babyM allows it. OY!

So nearly usually I am the one who drives. It just happens that way. I drive the Lex and the mister drives his g-ride. When we’re all together, we ride in the Lex, b/c the carseats are in it. It’s just easier that way. So guess who drives? You got it. Me.

Yesterday we were in a predicament where my mom needed to use the Lex, but we all had to be somewhere as a family so we all got to ride in the g-ride. And guess what? I didn’t have to drive!!!! It was strange NOT having to drive, but it was also nice!!!! At one point I decided to sit in the backseat with the girls b/c I didn’t want to endure a short ride with the baby’s wails. Smart idea on my point. I got a first hand look at what the lilmiss really does to the baby! OY!!! She’s constantly touching her. Poking her. Pinching her. Holding her. Grasping her. OY! And then at one point as I was looking out my window, I turn to find N’s dirty sandaled FOOT on baby’s FACE! Baby wasn’t fussing about it but I’m wondering how often that occurs???? I definitely scolded her for it and she wasn’t all too happy. She left a dirrrrrrrrrty black mark on the baby’s face. OY! This poor baby!

Happy Monday everyone!