The case of the disappearing bottles

I'm trying to get Kate off the bottle so she only gets a couple a day. A few days ago I noticed there were only a few bottles in the cupboard and I thought that was strange but I though maybe the rest were in the sink. This went on for several days and I kept thinking that they were just dirty in the sink . . . even when the sink was empty. I needed to change her sheets yesterday so I moved the crib. Low and behold, 8 bottles under the bed. Hooray!!! The bottles are found!!! I guess I need to realize that if she takes a bottle to bed and naps, a bottle needs to reappear after the bedtime and naps.

5 is my limit!!!

For the next two weeks we are watching my brother's dog while he is on vacation. She is a 8 month old Yorkie and has LOTS of energy. I have found myself telling her to be quiet quite frequently, unfortunately, I can't get her name out or for that matter any one's name in my house. I have 3 kid's, 1 dog's and 1 cat's name to remember. Remembering 1 more name is putting me over the edge. When I call any of the names, kids or pets, it takes me at least 3 names before I get the right one. I've realized 5 names is my limit. So, if I ever decide to have another baby I will need to find a new home for 1 of the members of my household. Which one will I choose . . . which one . . . which one . . . OK, fine, it will be one of the pets!!!

Do not leave your child unattended in the bathroom??

OK. So we've always heard that you shouldn't leave your kids in the bathtub unattended, right? I have a new rule to add. Never leave your child unattended in the bathroom. Last night The Dad was filling Kate's humidifier in the bathtub. He took it in her room and then heard a thud and crying. Kate loves to take a bath and apparently thought it was bath time. She swung her foot over the side of the tub, leaned over and fell in. I now realize she needs supervision anytime she is in the bathroom, not just when she is taking a bath!

Black Tie Nightmare

My husbands company is flying us out to their headquarters tomorrow for a Christmas party. The party is black tie optional and I am FREAKING out. Even though black tie is optional I don't feel like any of my dresses or skirts/tops qualify. So I went out in search of a dress that would be suitable. Now let me tell you I'm not exactly a size 2 or a size 8 or even a size 12 and I'm not the same size on the top and bottom so finding dresses is never a fun experience. My friend told me a black cocktail dress would be suitable so I found one. The only problem is there are quite a few lumps and bumps that I think look bad. So I found a body slimming garment and then because I am NOT well endowed, I looked at a push-up bra. In trying all these items on I was very uncomfortable and after I added up all of the prices, it was $150.00 which was even more uncomfortable!! Now I know that $150 for a black tie event is nothing, however, I have only been to one other black tie event and that was about 15 years ago so I don't want to spend $150 for one very uncomfortable night.

I have another friend who called me a few months ago asking if I had a black tie dress she could borrow so I called her. Her mom gave her a bunch of dresses so I'm heading over today to see if anything she has will work for me. Keep your fingers crossed for me - I surely am!!

Tater Tots and Peaches

I was at my sister's house yesterday and they were eating lunch. She offered me and Kate some and being that I hate to fix a meal I absolutely accepted. Kate was eating a tater tot (all kids love tater tots right?) and she started to gag and then proceeded to throw up . . . on me . . . but mostly on her. I thought maybe the piece she ate was too big but no. A few minutes later she grabbed more and once again started gagging. I rushed her to the sink and got the dang thing out of her mouth. She has done this once before with peaches. My conclusion is that she hates peaches and tater tots. So, if you ever have the opportunity to feed my kids please keep this in mind otherwise throw up will ensue.

Not such a good warm feeling

Earlier this week John had a fever. I was holding him on my lap as I was talking on the phone. He got a weird look on his face and I wondered if he was going to throw up. A few seconds later I understood the look. I felt a warm sensation on my legs. He needed to go to the bathroom and of course being on the phone I wasn't exactly paying that much attention to his needs.

Oh well, at least he didn't pee on the chair.

Bad Mother of the Year Award

Stupidity. That's what I call it.

Kate's birthday party.

The candle.

Think about it.

So, I lit the candle and put the cake within reach of Kate. We started to sing and what do you know. It was like slow motion as I watched her grab for the flame. I thought, "she won't touch it, it's hot." What one year old knows hot and cold? Of course, when she started to scream everyone reacted. It didn't leave a mark, at least not a visible one.

That freaking litterbox!!!

I have an issue, it is with smells in my house. I will walk in my house and instantly I am on the prowl trying to find where the offensive smell is coming from. It doesn't help that I throw pooey diapers in an open crate right outside the garage door. Sometimes the smell is permeating from the garage, sometimes it's from kitchen garbage can, sometimes it's Emily's pee diaper filled garbage can and sometimes the flippin' litterbox!!! When we got the litterbox (and cats) I was pregnant and couldn't change the litter. Now it seems that the job has become mine (not my favorite) although I have to admit every once in a GREAT while I will notice someone else has done something. One good thing about the litter box is that it is automatic therefore it isn't AS smelly as a regular litterbox. So, the cat does his duty and an automatic rake will scoop the "duty" into an enclosed compartment. The problem with the compartment is it gets full (what a surprise) and then the lid won't close, therefore we have the smell. We keep the box downstairs in the storage room and I don't frequent the downstairs much even though it is finished. When I do make it down there I usually find a smell and very full and overflowing "duty" compartment. As disgusting as it may sound the compartment only get changed every two sometimes three weeks. Of course, one of the great things is that we only have one cat now (see previous post) and sometimes he goes outside at night and does his duty so the compartment doesn't fill up as quickly. I do my best to keep my house smelling decent. However, if you have the chance to come to my house and notice an interesting smell, PLEASE tell me and I will let YOU change the litterbox!!!

In memory of Frank the Cat

We adopted Frank and Fred in July, 2006. We live next to thousands of acres of land that are being developed and we had gained a mouse problem because of it. We thought Frank and Fred would catch the mice and fix our problem. We actually thought Frank would be a great mouse catcher because he was quite aggressive. Boy were we wrong!!! He did catch one mouse in the house that we had already trapped but we had a lot more mice than that. Anyway, shortly after we brought Frank home, he developed what we thought we allergies and started sneezing snot all over the place. The walls and doors got the brunt of the sneezes. It was disgusting!!! Frank decided he liked being outside and would go outside every night, in freezing cold temperatures, to prowl. He caught tons of mice outside and deposited them on my back porch. I didn't need more mice, I needed less. In January, Frank started coughing . . . a lot. I let it go on for a few weeks because I thought he was trying to cough up a fir ball. His cough got worse and when he would cough his whole body would convulse. Something wasn't right. I took him to the vet and after several costly tests and x-rays, found out that he had pneumonia. The vet said it is very uncommon for a cat to get pneumonia and he really needed to be hospitalized. Very anxious about the cost of a hospital stay, the vet said he could prescribe an antibiotic and I could take him home to see if things got better. $350 dollars later, I left the vet's office. Things did get better. Every once and a while he would cough but it was nothing like before and with his sneezing history I thought he was ok. I was wrong. In June, his cough went from a little to a lot within 2 weeks and his health deteriorated quickly. I decided it was time to pay one last visit to the vet. I just couldn't afford a hospital stay and that was the only option. I felt so bad. As I put Frank in his crate he didn't even fight, he was so sick. We went to the vet, but I was the only one who came home. I felt really bad but I know he isn't sick anymore and he is in a better place. Oh, and we still have Fred who is a worthless mouse catcher as well!!

Walking, talking and 1 year old

Kate's birthday is on Sunday. I can't believe 1 year ago I was counting down the days, in horrible amounts of pain, and wondering if I would survive. She has been a great baby and I can't imagine life without her. So, yes, she is walking (my earliest walker). She took her first steps on October 11th. And, yes, she is talking (her own language of course). She says "bobble" for bottle, "ba" for ball, hi, dada, and something that sounds a little like grandma when referring to grandma and grandpa. I do realize that these aren't the real words we use but she uses the same word when referring to each of these items. Scott was an early talker and was saying short phrases by the time he was 18 months old so I imagine Kate is on the same track. It has been so exciting watching her grow and develop as a typical infant would and I am very grateful. Of course we aren't out of the woods yet because autism can pop up around 2 years old but so far we are heading in the right direction.

Throw up, potty training and Halloween

The last month has seemed to fly by!! I will try to update.

Throw up - Kate and Scott had a case of throw up and diarrhea. Scott's wasn't so bad because he knows how to make it to the toilet and his case only lasted 2 days. Kate, on the other hand had it a lot worse. She started throwing up on a Monday and threw up until Friday. Thursday was a scary day. She woke up and was very lethargic. I gave her a Pedialyte popsicle and in between bites she would fall asleep. We took her to the doctor thinking she would need an IV, but by the time we got there she was acting much better. The popsicle seemed to do the trick. When she threw up on Friday, I sacrificed my shirt because I didn't want to clean up the floor. Needless to say, I threw away the shirt because the shirt was white and the throw up was yellowish orange, not a good combo.


Potty training - I am trying to potty train John. It hasn't been super bad but it hasn't been great either. If he needs to go and I don't take him in time, he just pees wherever. I wish he would tell me but I think that is a long way off. We have been doing this for about 4 weeks and he has yet to poo in the toilet. Let me tell you, I HATE POOEY UNDERWEAR!!! His teacher told me we have to work off a success. We haven't had a success and I don't know when we will. If I know he's trying to go I rush him to the toilet and he FREAKS OUT!!! Then he holds it for a day or so. How uncomfortable!! This could be a very long process. Hopefully one day we will get it all down.


Halloween - This was the first year John actually wore his costume and wanted to. We went trick-or-treating at my dad's office and John said "trick-or-treat" and "thank you" quite well. There were a few incidences where he still wasn't clear on the idea. Several people just leave a bucket of candy on their desk for the kids to grab. John would go to each bucket and say "trick-or-treat" and "thank you" as if someone were there. Oh well at least he's trying. This of course caused other issues. As we were walking down the stairs we passed someone with a very full bucket and he trick-or-treated right out of their bucket. Oh well, as I said, at least he's trying. The evening trick-or-treat didn't start off as well. John did NOT want to put on his costume and go out but I wanted him to because, DANG IT, this is supposed to be FUN. I chased him around the house trying to get his costume on and finally succeeded. He went out and of course had a great time. I find myself fighting John on lots of things because want him to do that are supposed to be fun. Maybe I should just let him be, I don't know, he usually ends up having fun in the end but the fight to get there is sometimes excruciating!!!

Spaghetti or Chicken Pot Pies??

I am a short order cook. I have very picky eaters at my house. Let me explain:

• The Dad: Eats only beef, chicken (only if he has to), and some pork (ham, bacon, sausage). Thinks Hamburger Helper is a gourmet meal!


• Scott: Favorite food: Chicken pot pie - Hates: Spaghetti


• John: Favorite food: Spaghetti, Pizza - Hates: Most everything else

So you can see my dilemma. If I make Scott try spaghetti he gags and acts like he will throw up. There is no making John eat anything he doesn't want to, all we get is screaming and crying and a ruined family meal time. Autistic kids just aren't flexible. John has asked for spaghetti for three days in a row. And what have I done? Fixed him spaghetti each day . . . easier than a fight.

I will eat anything and I'm tired of all the pickiness . . . I just want to eat fish!!!

Cheering for Oatmeal

Oatmeal. The coveted breakfast cereal of John. Unfortunately, we have had to feed him because his motor skills are still developing. This morning I decided I wanted him to feed himself because he is getting better at it. I put my hand over his hand and put the spoon in his hand. There were some complaints but eventually he fed himself 10 bites. We cheered and cheered for each one of those glorious 10 bites!! Then it was over and I fed him the rest. Breakfast, so simple, yet we cheer and will continue to cheer for oatmeal, the coveted breakfast cereal.