yay for contests!

Kim the owner of thebabymarketplace.com - a great online spot for Baby Clothing, Shoes, Toys, Gifts and Cloth Diapers is hosting the December JuJuBe Diaper Bag Give-Away @ mommyknows.com go on over and comment and be entered to Win one of two great JuJuBe MiniBe Diaper Bags!

oh, yea!

and tyler had his first *gasp* happy meal!!!





ZOMG! world's worst mom!

forced to sit down

so, the boogerbear refuses to let me do anything. really, i cant get up from the sofa with out him throwing a full blown tantrum. the only weird thing is that he wants nothing to do with me. he wont play with me, sit with me, talk to me. instead he's off stacking blocks WITHOUT his mommy. *shakes head in minor confusion* i suppose that finally gives me a little time to blog and get myself organized or at least rub it in on how organized i already am. *wink, wink*

Christmas gifting is gong well. i have all gifts purchased. two gifts are still in the mail. four gifts require photos inserted into them, which leaves 6 gifts to wrap. one gift involves baking this friday. and, last but not least, 2 gifts require shipping, but are mostly boxed already. not too bad.

this year i decided to go even MORE over the top for christmas than usual. a big part of that decision is because my mom is flying up on christmas day and spending a little over a week with us. that woman has had a rough year and is being a trooper about us not coming down to houston to spend christmas with my "side" of the family. so, we're having and "after-christmas, christmas" (to be referred to as "ACC" from here on out.) i have big plans which are as follows:

*12/21*
-grocery shopping for the next 4/5 days stock up on festive yummies
-ben comes home
-bake cupcakes (dessert for saturday's meal)
-bake cookies (part of a gift basket for theFIL)
*12/22*
-theKing family christmas dinner (potroast w/ parsnips&carrots, parmesan potatoes and cupcakes as a dessert)
-thaw premade sauce for tomorrow's lasagna
*12/23*
-prep lasagna
-shuttle to grandma's for annual christmas cookie making with MIL, SIL, etc...
-bake lasagna while decorating cookies
*12/24*
-holiday fun with husband and the boogerbear
-start christmas day's snoup
-start dry-aging standing rib roast for the ACCdinner
*12/25*
-PRESENTS!!!
-brunch at MIL's
-continue simmering snoup
-start ACC off by picking mom up at airport @11pm
*12/26*
-start getting mom into the christmas spirit with ACCshopping
*12/27*
-grocery shopping for the ACCdinner and new year's eve gathering
-pick up honey baked ham for new year's eve gathering
*12/28*
-prep all day for the big ACCdinner (standing rib roast, mashed potatoes, green beans, candied carrots, dinner rolls, and a fruit tart)
*12/31*
-bake new year's cupcakes
-new year's eve gathering (yummies include: honey baked ham, sandwich goodies, chips, veggies, fruit and new year's cupcakes. also, cooked cabbage and black eyed peas for what ever superstition they apply to)

i believe thats as far as i have planned. once my mom shows up things become a little more by the seat of my pants and not as easy to write down/structure.

things have been really calm around here. no husband this week. he's back in minnesota since monday. not too horrible. sucks that husband has to be gone the week before christmas, but still minor.

if you cant tell, i'm totally getting that "night before christmas" feeling. i love the years that i get really excited about christmas. sometimes its hard to be festive, but this year i totally got it. i have a lot to reflect on and look forward to, i'm really glad that i get to spend the holidays with most of my family this year and in our own home.

i have a bunch of photos, but no time to poke through them and edit all the red eyes out (stupid camera) so you guys get christmas in san fransico on haight street:

christmas lights = excessive wine purchases

last night we went through the festival of lights near los gatos which was super fun. tyler sat in the front seat as we inched through a county park all dolled up with christmas lights and displays (for those of us from richmond, its kinda like the richmond state school's christmas display but with out the wooden cutouts and creepy maniquines.)so, that was a good time. then it was time to think about dinner. not really being in the cooking mood these days, i thought a trip to the nearby whole foods for their yum-yum prepared food section. so we cruised the large selection of yummy already made foods. all kinds of things are looking good. somehow we end up by the cheeses and figure we can pick a few up for snacking and munchie like meals later on. then we need sopprosetta or something. ok. then more crackers and some fruit. then i figure i should just pick up some groceries for the oncoming week since i'm already there. and, OH, i should make a lasagne for christmas cookie sunday! so, i'm roaming the store (stopping for a fresh box of crackers for the boogerbear so he'll be a happy camper for the remainder of our now extended market trip), husband finds a "good deal" on a bottle of wine from a very trusty winery. so, we decide to stock up on them since the holidays are upon us. he grabs 4 bottles and we carry on. finally we pick up some beef stew and a teriyaki bowl and head to the check out. while at the check out we were informed of a super dooper 10% off if we only grabbed 2more bottles of wine... ok, sure why not. makes a good gift, right? we walk out of the store with a $25 in cheese, $25 in lasanga makings, $15 in dinner, and a $250 receipt! oh i know its not the most we've spent on wine, BUT we went in there for DINNER! not all the festiveness of christmas...

cheers.

wow. its been a while and i have no real excuse other than i've been semi-sick and i'm the proud keeper of a semi-sick toddler. alas, we are making progress in the sick department. today i made a couple doctor rounds and topped the day off with a well deserved masage. good news from the ear doctor guy. the infection is mostly gone and he believes a round of antibiotics and a milder dose of drops and we could have a perfectly functioning ear again. *woot* then it was a dentist visit. he removed a half-@ssed semi-permenant "crown" that i got like 10 years ago and did an impression and put a handy-dandy temporary crown on the tooth for me to spend the holidays with. after being such a good girl all day, i earned myself a lovely 80minute massage at a local day spa. i really love me a good day spa.

so the world keeps spinning. husband has informed me recently that 1) i need a babysitter for TOMORROW for his company christmas dinner which is only for the big people and 2) he'll be in minnesota all next week, again. poop. first, i need to find me a 14 year old with tons of energy and likes kids. just to have on call. then i need a rent-a-husband for those days i need the trash taken out and husband is gone.

tonight we're going to get some hot chocolate and cruise around and check out some of the christmas lights. little does husband know, but i filled the car disc changer with nothing but christmas music and i have a glove box full of candy canes and santa hats. oh the photos will be grand. (maybe even for next year's christmas cards.)

ah! i want to put a knife in my ear!

so, i couldnt take it anymore. i went to one of those doctors on duty urgent care CLINICS. i HATE clinics. with a passion. they're gross. sick people everywhere. the nurses dont speak english clearly. the doctors are complete quacks. and you have to wait FOREVER to be seen! but i couldnt take the pain and irretability anymore. so, first thing this morning, i bundled up the boogerbear and headed of to face my fears. i found it. i walked in. it was clean. only two other patients there. they were clean and appropriately dressed for the weather. the nurse at the counter spoke fluent english. he was friendly. i filled out paperwork. 10minutes later i get called back. a very nice nurse practitioner comes in and compliments our new stroller (which i LOVE thus far) and takes a peak into my ear. she kinda giggles. i'm like "what?" she's like "i cant seen anything..." i'm like "huh?" she then tells me that she really cant see anything by which she means that my outer ear canal is so swollen that she cant see through to my eardrum/inner ear canal. apparently a normal ear canal is about the size of the end of a ball point pin and my ear canal is about the size of the tip of a ball point pen. no wonder i cant hear, AT ALL. so, she believes that my middle ear problems has caused the outer ear infection. i got some Ofloxacin drops and 800mg ibuprofen. i did my 1st dosage about and hour ago and no drastic changes yet. apparently i should notice a big difference by tomorrow. i cant wait.

hooray for going to the doctor and the news not being as bad as you think it will be!

**thanks for the love, Erin. my ear canals are so scarred and i've had so many ear infections growing up that everytime a doctor looks into my ears they're shocked i never had tubes. its time. (well, as soon as this infection is gone) i was scared by the prospect of them slicing my eardrums open, but i did some reading about tubes and now not so much. it seems pretty minor and has instant results. i just dont know how long they will have to stay in and i hope they dont pop out! stupid ears. i want new ones!!! kelly got boobs, i want ears... : )

on an up note

i ordered the boogerbear's christmas gift last night.


the kettler happy navigator tricycle .

i cant wait for it to show up! i'm fairly certain that he wont care about gifts again this year, but he'll have fun opening things at least. the trike will be a good addition to our trips to the park. i absolutely love buying him those things that every child "needs". in a way it shows his growth and development and makes me feel all warm and fuzzy and mommy-like on the inside. yay!

my own stupidity has returned to haunt me.

look in to my memory. my memory of living in ketchum, idaho (sun valley) in the winter/spring/summer of 2005. what did i do there? i went through a rocking piercing apprenticeship, met robin williams, bruce willis, and even saw iceT and cocca at a gas station AND i got a bad cold. i went to the doctor regarding that cold in april2005. i took a round of antibiotics in april 2005. i had fluid retained in my left ear in april 2005. so come may 2005, my life became a non-stop whoorl wind and my ear was only a little clogged and wasnt bugging me, so i put it on a back burner. then i got knocked up, married, bought a house, had a kid, finally went back to a doctor about my ear due to the fact that the hubby is convienced i was going deaf. that doctor gave me more antibiotics which did nothing. (those antibiotics were also part of the downfall of the breastfeeding. poop.) i was referred to a ear, nose, and throat guy that i didnt want to go see because the original doctor said i would more than likely need tubes in my ear and i didnt want to do that. i had an infant at home. i wanted to take care of him, not myself. poop.

so, fast forward to december 2nd, 2007. i get an earache. its not too bad until i try to go to sleep. ARGH! so i do get some sleep, take a few decongestants and continuously attempt to pop the ear. i cant hear AT ALL out of my left ear. well, thats not true. i can hear my heart beat. loudly. non-stop. so i tried calling those ear, nose and throat guys. A WEEK FROM THURSDAY is the soonest appointment i can actually make thanks to an out-of-town husband and babysitter issues!!! AHHHH!!!! the pounding!!!! i'm going to call those doctors back tomorrow and just tell them i'm bringing the boogerbear will me. i dont think i can realy handle this for more than a week. but, man, i'm a idiot. i could have taken care of this LONG before it actually HURT, but i didnt because i'm a bum. a big, fat (not as fat, actually), lazy bum. I WANT EAR TUBES!!!!

the moral of the story is, take care of yourself no matter how lazy you are and chirstmas movies and flan can make you feel a little better even when you feel really crappy!

many moons ago, kelly tagged me...

so, the story goes that i'm responsible to list 7 things that are odd about myself. so, here goes:

1. i'll start with one of kelly's quirks that i stand by as well; i cant be in my (or my mother's) house with out the television on. i dont have to be watching it. it doesnt even have to be on something i want to listen to. the noise just needs to be there. all the time.
2. i dont like to be alone, but i always want alone time... because that makes sense.
3. i have an unrelenting fear of my child getting an ear infection thanks to my personal suffering as a child with countless ear infections.
4. i spend countless hours organizing and re-organizing everything i can possibly organize until i get it PERFECT! (and its never perfect)
5. i didnt want a child until i got pregnant witht my husband's child. now i dont understand why people dont want kids.
6. i have a "best friend" that i dont think is really my friend at all.
7. i only type with correct capitolization when sending emails to my step-mom and husband's friends.

this is all i got...

super busy day. i still have to pack the hubby up for his exciting trip to minnesota. hopefully that baby will go to sleep so the packing can get accomplished. i hope everyone's weekend went well. ours was very productive. more pictures of our productivity later. night, night for now...