Harry

Harry is home!!  My mother and sister in law brought him back to Reno last night and when he walked through the door, it was like looking at a tall, handsome stranger.  He was gone over two weeks.  And it was so good to see him again.  He was happy to be back home (I won’t even go into the filthy display that Pup made when she saw him).  Or, at least, he was happy until 9:30 when I told him it was time to go to bed.  Then I think he wanted to go back to Elko.  Apparently, bedtimes haven’t been enforced during his vacation.  But, he’s back at home now and I’ve got two weeks to whip him back into shape before he goes back to school.

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I’m going to get my blood drawn today.  Can you believe it?  I’ve put it off for so long that I wouldn’t believe it myself if I didn’tk now it to be true.  The next step will be getting in to see the doctor to go over the lab results, but hopefully that won’t be as big a production.  Who knew the labwork would be the most complicated?  The thing is, I know a lot of you said, “Just strap them in a stroller and get it done!”  I don’t know, easier said than done for me.  I have a thing with needles, they stress me out.  And to have to listen to Liam’s fussing and hollering and worry about Evie’s fussing and hollering all while trying to get blood drawn?  Would likely make my veins shrivel up.  Yes, it can be done.  But the prospect has made me keep putting it off and keep putting it off until we’re at the place we’re at.

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And, as I mentioned before, the motivation to get it done doesn’t seem as imperative as it was before.  See, I have never put a great priority behind my own health.  Shoot, I haven’t been in to see a dentist since the month before I got married (and that was because my parents essentially made me… I think they knew I wouldn’t be seeing another dentist again for a long time).  When it doesn’t somehow involve pregnancy, I just don’t feel a great motivation to get whatever issue I have taken care of.  Take my ankle, for instance.  The screws are backing out of the plates on the ankle I broke back in 2005 and I know I need to get in and see about getting them taken out.  But have I done it?  Nope.  It hasn’t been a priority.

My thyroid was a priority when I was trying to get pregnant and when I was pregnant because I was concerned with achieving and sustaining a pregnancy.  But I know now that those days are behind me.  So therefore the thyroid has slipped off the priority chart.  I’m not trying to sound like a martyr, but that’s just the way my mind works.  I’m not saying it’s not completely messed up.  Cuz it is.  But I am saying that I can’t really help the subconscious thoughts.  So when it’s a little difficult to manage amidst the chaos that is my life?  It’s very, very easy to drop the ball.  VERY easy.

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With all that said, let’s see some pictures, okay?

I don’t know what our problem is this year but I think we’re majorly dropping the Halloween Ball here.  Maybe it’s that misinformed voice in my head that says I have AGES before Halloween is upon us.  There’s plenty of time.  Don’t worry!

Girl?  You need to WORRY.

I was worried we wouldn’t have enough time to find Harry a good costume.  We had looked a little before he left for Elko, but he wasn’t finding anything that fulfilled his wishlist: that it be scary as all poop.  I don’t want it to be TOO scary, of course, because Liam is showing signs of being seriously freaked out by Halloween spookiness.  And because he’s only EIGHT, people, he doesn’t need to go the “dripping flesh” route quite yet, right?

Anyhow, we talked to him on the phone last night (Again!  He misses us!), and he said that Grandma had taken him to look at costumes and he got one.  He said it’s a Grim Reaper that has blood you pump.  Nice.  Sounds like this, but if it were that particular costume, Harry would have mentioned it was “the guy from ‘Scream’.”  Nope, I’m gonna go with this one.  SHUDDER.   We’ll of course need to get him a scythe or something, but at least we won’t be rushing through the Spirit Halloween Store the weekend before Halloween desperate for a costume.  Which is the road we were headed down, frankly.

Target is usually our “go to” store when it comes to Halloween costumes, but I was pretty disappointed with their offerings this year.  Especially in infant costumes of which they had about five styles and all in the “XS” size, which definitely would not be fitting Miss Chunk.  We were, however, able to find Liam’s costume there.  His is the only one that we KNEW what we wanted him to be.  There was no question.  So it was just a matter of finding out which store had the best variation of this costume and no one was surprised to find it was Target that delivered.

But Evie is still sans costume.  This is not cool.  We’re totally letting her down.  I just have no idea.  Our local Target sorta sucks in that a) they’re clear across town and it’s a major undertaking just to even go there, b) they are not a “Super” and I can’t buy all my groceries there and c) it sells neither bumgenius diapers nor babylegs.  BOO!  And, the aforementioned infant costume shortage is a downer too.  Of course, looking online I’m seeing ALL SORTS of cute costumes.  Like this one.  And this one.  And (OMG), this one.  So I am thinking… maybe I should order one while there’s still time?  Ya think?

So this is where you, my handy internet buddies, come in.  If you’ve got a few minutes, go check out the Target website and tell me which costume you think Evie NEEDS to be this year.  If I can’t choose between your suggestions, I may even throw up a good old-fashioned fun POLL.  Wee!  I want to get this done relatively soon though, so get crackin’.  My slackery-ness is your gain here (though what you’re gaining, I don’t really know).

(ETA: I’d like this to stay under $30 if at all possible.  Thanks!)

Liam loves to steal remote controls.  And cell phones.  And regular phones (not that those even work around this house).  Basically, anything that might be off limits and has a lot of buttons on it.  This morning he took off with the remote control and normally I would chase him down and wrench it from his grasp but this morning I just let him have it.  Meh.  He flipped through the channels for a few minutes before he found PBS and “Clifford”.  Now, we’ve never watched this show before but he could tell this was quality programming.  He kept it there for quite a while, amazing considering his diminutive attention span.  Then he switched it to the home shopping network and I had to put my foot down.

Doesn’t he know the economy is in the garbage?  He doesn’t need that diamonique necklace!

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I think I know at least one of the reasons why I’m having a hard timing bringing myself to really care about getting my thyroid under control.  Before, my thyroid was always tied into having babies.  I had to have it under control to get pregnant and then while pregnant, had to make sure it was under control for the health of the baby.  But now that the baby-making days are behind me, I’ve lost my motivation.  I mean, just for my health isn’t a good enough reason, I guess.

I mean, it’s not like I matter or anything.

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We are sorta dropping the ball this Halloween season.  The only child that has a costume is Liam (a monkey costume from Target.  Of course!).  We have a bag of Halloween candy.  And that’s about it.  I guess Harry and Evie are screwed.  I figured if worst came to worse, I could put Evie in Liam’s skunk costume from last year though it’d be way too big on her.  But Harry?  Well… sorry kid.  Your parents kinda suck.

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Harry is in Elko.  In fact, I haven’t seen Harry since the Sunday before this last Sunday.  And he hasn’t been here at home since the Saturday before that.  That’s about a week and a half, people.  We’ve talked to him on the phone TWICE since then (my mother in law keeps asking him if he wants to call us and he says NO).  What the HECK?  I know he’s having a blast and all but at least he could PRETEND like he misses us or something.  I’m not 100% sure when we’ll see him again but it sounds like it might be next Sunday.  Good gravy!  (For the record, he’s “off track” this month so it’s not like he’s missing school or anything.)

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Of course, when Liam runs up to his sister when she’s in the Exersaucer like he did just now and screams in her face just to watch her scream and sob, I start to wonder why his parents didn’t want to take him to Elko instead.

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So our new cable box from Charter works okay.  I mean, at least we get the channels we subscribe to.  However, we don’t get OnDemand anymore.  SIGH.  What the HECK, Charter?  Does anything you have/do actually WORK or it all just in theory?  Counting down the months until we can switch back satellite…

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Tuesday.  Too early in the week.  Too early in the day.  I want a nap.  I want a break.  I want a vacation.  I want some rest.

Keep dreamin’, girl.

It’s too boring just to do a standard “here’s what I’ve been doing” type post.  At least, I think it is.  But you know what makes a standerd “here’s what I’ve been doing” type post more interesting?  PICTURES.  Gosh, I love pictures.  Don’t you?  They’re so…  colorful.  Except when they’re black and white.  Then they’re just photo-y.  And yes, that’s totally a word.

There are times I look at Evie and can’t believe she’s only 5 months (and change) and there are other times I can’t believe she’s already 5 months.  The verdict is that so far she is a TOTAL mama’s girl.  But then, aren’t they all at this age?  We’ll reassess the situation when she’s a year old.  But the in the meantime, I’m just going to soak it up.  Nothing makes me happier than snuggling with her.  She’s just a darling baby. (I just made you want to puke, didn’t I?)

My fingers (and finger nails) are mysteriously messed up.  I mean MESSED UP.  See that picture?  See how the finger tips are all wrinkly and red and icky looking?  WTF??  It feels as if I’ve lost several layers or skin or something there, as they are ridiculously sensitive to heat, cold, sharp things, rough things, etc.  The good news is that they’re already starting to get better and aren’t near as bad as when I took that picture (which was several days ago).  Still… WHY?

Liam is two.  Can’t you tell?  This is one of his many tantrums.  I’m not sure exactly what brought this one on the other day.  But he was throwing himself around and screaming his frustration.  So what did I do?  I grabbed the camera.  What a good mom I am!  Anyhow, this only served to piss him off even more.  But when it was all said and done, we hugged and made up and he forgave me for exploiting his volcanic temper.  For now.

This little bit of loveliness here is a goodmama diaper.  They are ridiculously difficult to get ahold of and are rather expensive to boot (made out of organic bamboo velour!).   BUT, they are so soft and so beautiful and they work fantastically (and they’re one-size which means they fit the baby clear through potty training).  So I guess they’re worth it.  Shoot, what am I saying?  They’re TOTALLY worth it.  I am not ashamed to say that I rubbed this on my face when it came in the mail because it is so soft.  Hey, it was clean, people.  Anyhow, I plan to do a post over at Cloth Diaper Mamas this week about goodmama diapers (and this one in particular) so stay tuned for that!

It is insanely easy to get Evie to smile.  Pretty much, all I have to do is call her name and get her to look at me.  Then she just BEAMS with her dimples showing and everything.  Absolutely adorable.  I tried to take this picture showing an example of what happens when I call her name while she’s in the ’saucer.  I wasn’t able to capture the full magnitude of one of her grins, but you get the basic gist.  Oh yes.  She’s TOTALLY edible.

Harry is obsessed with the acoustic guitar my brother gave him for Christmas years ago these days.  He fancies himself becoming a rock star someday (this would be the fault of Rock Band, I’m sure).  He was playing around with it the other morning and Liam was predictably curious about the new “toy”.  Harry surprised me by trying to ‘teach’ Liam how to play the guitar.  This is humorous mostly because Harry himself doesn’t even know how to play it.  But whatever.  I had to admire that he would actually LET a hormonal 2 year old touch his precious guitar.  Of course, then he would snatch it away from him and Liam would scream and vent his spleen all over the living room… but hey.  It made for good Saturday morning entertainment.

And, finally (and no, I don’t have a picture to accompany this, I’m sorry), I have to admit that “Twilight” is growing on me.  I didn’t think it was going to be possible there for a while.  And then, lo and behold, about half way through the book I found myself trying to find more excuses to go read it.  Before I knew it, I was trying to explain the plot to Kile (who humors me as best he can), looking up movie trailers online and checking out the price tag on a “Team Edward” t-shirt at Hot Topic at the mall.  D’oh!  I guess we can all say that I’ve officially been sucked in.  Good thing I picked up “New Moon” the other night at Walmart so I have that on hand.  That’s called thinking ahead!

Damnit.  I hate Sunday nights.  That means it’s Monday tomorrow.  BOO!  Did you all have great weekends too?