Psyched!

I am sitting here, literally on the edge of my seat (my bed actually), anxiously waiting for the clock to say 8:00 so we can all hop in the car and head to the airport! Uncle Eddie arrives at 8:52!! It's been a looooong time coming.  It is going to be an amazing weekend watching my brother meet my son for the first time.  I cannot wait to see them play together! I wish Aunt Jaime could be here this weekend for his birthday party also!  We spent the past day clearing out the cobwebs in the guest room and doing some MUCH needed dusting in preparation.  We also got a Christmas tree that we will all decorate Friday.  It's going to be an awesome weekend, ending with Dominick's First Birthday Bash on Sunday!! I am all prepared and all I have to do now is decorate and have fun!!!  I will post pics of tree trimming and birthday celebrating next week! 

YAAAAAAAAY!!! it's 7:49, almost time!!!!

Phew!

Whoa, it's 9pm and I'm actually ready to sit down and veg on the couch.  Sure, the kitchen is a bit messy, but the dishes are clean...at least.  I can quickly get it straightened out in the morning, easy peasy.  I spent the past hour FINALLY decorating the front of the house.  I feel so good to have it done.  The only thing missing now is the tree.  We will be getting one Tuesday and decorating it Thursday with my brother.  That will be so much fun.  It's cutting it a bit close to Christmas, but I really love the idea of trimming the tree with my munchkin and my big brother.  I plan on making Tiffany's candy cane cookie special for the event! I really look forward to it.  I actually found out today that my brother will be staying until Tuesday the 21st, which is Dominick's actual birthday.  I am psyched about that.  He will be here to open presents in the morning and have a birthday breakfast with the little man!!!!  YAAY

Well, my coffee is brewed and hot and the donuts in the pantry are calling my name.  Time to lounge on the couch and chilllllllllllllll

Time Flies

First of all, I have been getting way too spoiled by the little man.  He hasn't gotten out of bed before 9am in at least a week.  Today he was up at 8:30, was singing and talking to himself and must have fallen back asleep.  Meanwhile, 2 hours later I get a phone call and realize it's 10:30! 10:30!  So I send hubby in there to check him.  This is what he finds:

(by the way, this was supposed to be a picture, but we had it on the wrong setting)  Dominick had fallen asleep with his face mashed between the bars of the crib! My poor Monka!  He had indents in his face for at least an hour after waking up.  I am still in shock that I got to sleep til 10:30! this morning.  Fascinating! haha.  We'll see what happens tomorrow morning!

I've been so stressed these past few days.  So much to do before my brother comes next week.  Finally got my Christmas decorations out and managed to decorate the front windows.  I still have to do outside, but it's after midnight and this is the first time I've sat down since I rocked Dominick to sleep at 8.  Why is it that every year I feel like I don't have enough decorations? Last year I must have spent about $300 on decorations and I can't figure out where they all are.  It doesn't help that half of them are either staying in the box or just thrown in random places because they can't go anywhere within reach of the Monka-Maniac!  We, well I, decided to put the tree in the front game room instead of the living room.  It will still be up, but it will be out of the way of the monster.  Also, I always loved the look of a Christmas tree through the window from outside.  Now I get to do it!

We FINALLY got a gate for the stairs.  I bitched and complained, whined and moaned about it for so long and now that the one I "had to have" is finally here and installed....I hate it. haha Well, hate is a strong word.  It's just slightly pissing me off.  The molding on the bottom of the wall is in the way of opening and shutting it smoothly.  They sell a spacer for such things, but we didn't order it.  On top of that, because it's mesh the top seems a bit flimsy to me.  I knew it would have a little give - but this seems like too much.  Maybe I'm just too nervous?  Here, take a look for yourself.  :

So Far, So Good..Right?

 

Maybe Not?!

 I called the company and they said it's "normal" to have some give.  I guess I expected more for $150.  I read a hundred reviews and they all were great and none of them mentioned this problem.  Maybe it's only a problem for me.  I do seem to be stressing way easier than usual lately.  I have a hunch it's because I stopped nursing.  Dang hormones can really mess with ya!  Now, I just wish someone would explain it to my hubby.  I have been freaking out about any little thing that goes wrong or not as planned and then the freaking out makes him react defensively, which stresses me out even more.  I should just start my morning with a swig or two of wine, that would help.  Ha, I kid, but I would be lying if I said I didn't think about it!

Ok, hubby is sick and in bed.  He actually called in to work for about the 2nd time in 7 years.  It will be nice to not go to bed alone tonight.  

Sweet Dreams Friends!

My Boys

It's December.  No, my calendar must be wrong.  It can't be December.  I have a lump in my throat just thinking about it.  Actually, the lump seems to be a permanent resident these days.  Between getting things ready for Dominick's birthday party and Christmas, I just can't deny it any more.  It WILL happen.  My sweet, little, itty bitty baby will be 1.  :^(  I was going through my pictures earlier, trying to put together a small collage of Dominick's first 12 months to display at his party ( I have extra scrapbooking paper that I'd hate to see go to waste).  I was under the impression that I had at least a billion pictures of him.  I was wrong, I don't have enough!! Flipping through pictures of his first few months I just kept saying to myself..."No, wait, there has to be more!"  At the time I felt like I was taking about one picture a minute, now it seems like there will never be too many!  I want to go back in time and relive the moments that went all too fast.  I want to hold my little 3 week old in my arms again and kiss his tiny face.  It just goes by too fast.  This isn't understood until you become a Mama.  I never believed it.  When I would see my friend's son, I'd say, "oh, he still isn't talking/walking...", it seemed like it took forever for him.  But, he wasn't my son.  Being a Mama, I now realize that you never want them to grow up, you want to hold them in your arms forever.  Then there's the other side of that coin, the side that is in utter awe of the person he is becoming.  I am amazed every day by the new things he does.  He is a little ham and I get excited literally every morning wondering what new think he will do that day.  Too bad we can't have it both ways, somehow.

::Gulp::Sigh::Wiping tears from my eye::

In other news, Reggie had another seizure today.  His first was only 2 weeks ago and I was hoping with all my heart that it was a fluke thing, never to happen again.  I am now living in constant fear that it will happen again.  I really cannot relax, at all. I am constantly looking at him, making sure he is breathing, listening for any strange noises.  There goes that lump in my throat again.  I cannot stop my brain from going to the worst scenario; that this is the end.  This will somehow lead up to me having to say goodbye to my puppy.  Maybe that is just a side effect of losing nearly every person in my family, including my precious kitty, Ani.  Still, you'd think after having lost so much I'd be better prepared.  Nope.  I have to call the vet tomorrow and fill him in on his recent episode, but what more can he do? He's taken all the blood tests already and we can't afford to send him to the Veterinarian Nuerological Center.  I guess just wait until I talk to my doctor before I start going down this path.  For now, I will take my puppy upstairs, as I do every night, kiss his nose, tuck him in and pray for the best. 

Wish me luck, I'll need it.

Hot Dog

Phew! Long day over here!  Dominick and I went Black Friday shopping with Jenn and family today! Not the crazy 4AM Black Friday shopping tho.  We left around 10, which is good because I don't think it is humanly possible for both of us to be up, fed and ready any time before 10AM.  I know, I've tried.  It was a great day.  I got a bunch of birthday and or Christmas gifts for Dominick! So exciting!  The poor little guy only got about 30 minutes sleep all day.  By the time we got home it was already almost 5pm so a late afternoon nap, like I planned, was out of the question.  These are the times I hate Steve's shift.  Dominick was cranky and hungry but we had to wait for Daddy to wake up before we could eat.  We weren't done eating until 7:30!  Not the best day for that.  And that was a "quick" dinner, just had to boil water for left over sauce.  So much for tubby tonight.  There's always tomorrow!

I finally finished Munchkin's Sprout birthday card too!  YAAY  I HAVE HAVE HAVE to go to the post office tomorrow! I have 2 gifts in my back seat that need to be shipped to NV and I need to get his card in the mail.  Don't want to miss the deadline.  It came out really cute.  Wanna see? hhehehe

 

There ya have it! I am kind of annoyed about how sloppy my handwriting is on the back, but, whatever. 

I also got the invitations all ready, just have to fill in some missing addresses and mail them.  Hopefully I can get this all done tomorrow. 

Time for Mama to veg out in front of the TV with my spiked sweet tea.  Num Num!

Lump In My Throat

I've had a lump in my throat all day.  I am feeling totally overwhelmed with the mess that is my house.  I want to cry for any reason under the sun.  PMS much? Sheesh.  I am sitting here in my living room trying not to concentrate on the clutter.  I have absolutely no will to get up and start cleaning at 10:45 pm.  The stupid thing is, if I would have just done it when Dominick went to sleep at 8 pm I'd be done by now.  Instead, I just sat here, for almost 3 hours, doing absolutely nothing but obsess over how stressed the mess is making me.  It's and endless cycle.  Maybe I will wake up tomorrow motivated.  I have to do some cooking in the morning, luckily nothing too major.  Steve will have to go to sleep almost as soon as he gets home from work, which means I will have to clean and cook with the little monkey swinging from the vines.  aaah!  I don't know why I am surprised about this feeling.  It comes every year about this time ~ the holidays.  No matter how happy I am, this time of year always seems to drudge up the little orphan in me.  The little girl who just wants her Mommy.  It almost sickens me that I have the nerve to feel sorry for myself.  I have SO much to be grateful for, my life is literally my dream come true.  Will that little girl in me ever grow up?  I'm the Mommy now, stop sulking and start cleaning!

It's Official

My munchkin turned 11 months old yesterday.  I guess I have to surrender to the fact that he WILL turn one year old.  In LESS than a month!  Waaaah.  - Ok, enough whining.

Today we started him on whole milk.  I was a bit nervous, but he guzzled it down!  He drank a whole sippy cup and then came back for more after his nap.  Not even "loose" poops afterward.  He's got a tank tummy!  We are only doing milk with lunch for the first week, then I will gradually start with breakfast, then dinner.  So, the exciting news is I can retire my pump.  Amen and halleluia.  Baba's are also no more.  My itty bitty is now a biggy wiggy.  Ha, corny.  He drinks from a straw sippy cup like a real little boy.  What the heck is going on around here!?

I am working on Dominick's birthday card to send into Sprout TV.   I am so excited about this.  I really hope it comes out as cute as I envision it. I need to sort through my gazillion pictures and pick out a few of my faves to put in the card.  I am hoping Jenn can help me put it together on Thursday.  We will be going next door for Thanksgiving.  I remember last Thanksgiving like it were yesterday.  It literally feels like it could have been last week that I had my little monkey in my belly and I was waiting anxiously to meet him.  Now he is here and he is the MOST amazing person I have ever met!

So much to do this week.  Invitations.  Sprout card.  Post Office.  Thanksgiving!

Ok, Walking Dead time!