I was attacked...by a labradoodle!

I've just started running and decided to go out by myself for the first time.

I was running along, minding my own business when a dog came out and bit me. He had ahold of my thigh and my pants. I had to yank my pants from his chompers. I am not normally afraid of dogs but this scared the crap out of me!

I called Jim and started crying. He went into fight mode and decided to call the police. I got picked up by a cruiser and taken to the house. The owner was cited (nearly $600!) and I was asked if I wanted to press charges. I decided not to but we'll see how it plays out!

The dog broke the skin but I'm ok. I've cleaned it all up and it'll be fine.

Here's a pic...just incase you're into that sort of thing! ;-)

All of the things I need...

Roo decided that she would sit and make a list of all of the things she needs.

Here you go...



Can you read it?

Swim
Jack
Jim
Happy

No mommy? "No, your name is like humungous and way too long."

I agree. :-)

What I Do For Fun...

Change stuff around the house! I LOVE redecorating, repainting and picking out new stuff for the house.

Just this week I've decided to do two seperate projects. I've really stressed myself out over the whole thing, but now I'm done. Horray!

1. Removing our shower doors.

Anyone who's had shower doors knows that they get gross, no matter what. I've tried everything and finally decided to take them out. We've put up a shower curtain to match...but I don't have a picture of that because of technical difficulties (read: We put up a rod with lock-tite but it fell so we have it curing before we put the rod back up). I'm happy to share that it only took 10 minutes to get the whole thing down. I've also painted our towel racks. It's antique brass and I'm digging it! The original inspiration was an antique brass shower rod. Once I got that home, we realized it was just a hair too long! :-(

Before:

During:

After:

Part deux...

I've always wanted a red dining room. I've settled for a red wall in my dining room. It's red, bold and beautiful. I love it!


BTW, these pictures are taken in the dark room using no flash. I'll take some daylight pictures tomorrow!

He knows if you've been good or bad...

So be good for goodness sakes!

We have a new little visitor who was dropped on our steps by a jolly old elf.

His name is Dominic and he came to us on Thanksgiving night. He is watching Roo & Jack Jack to make sure they are behaving nicely. The first day was rough...the next few were a bit better. Today Roo even asked me if Dominic could see us in the car. ;-) Big girl has got the idea!

Every night he takes a trip back to the North Pole to let Santa know what's going on in Tega Cay. When he comes back in the morning, he finds a new perch. One of Roo's favorite things has been finding him every day. The first night we put him in the Christmas tree. The next morning he was sitting on the TV. The next day he was in the dining room chandelier. Today he was over the kitchen window. Who know's where he'll land tomorrow?! Exciting stuff I tell ya!

I'm Back!

Ok, It's been long enough...

I'm back to blogging.

I've been busy with hearth and home. I'm still busy but want to make blogging a priority again.

Out of the mouth of babes

For all that don't know. I started WW last week.

I weighed only 5 lbs less than when I came home from the hospital after giving birth. :-( 174.5

I've struggled alot over the last 15 months. In the last three months, I gained 10 lbs.

In one week, I lost 4.5 lbs! WAH WHOO!

Today I weighed in, not on my weigh in date and I've GAINED 1.5 lbs. I'm following Weight Watchers to a T!

I called Jim to fill him in with my general rantings about all of this. When I got off the phone I was greeted by Roo.

She said, "Mommy, don't worry about your weight. Just weigh what you weigh."

Damn. Out of the mouth of babes.

Want a baby?

Roo: (patting my stomach) Mommy, please tell me...is this a girl baby or a boy baby in here?

Me: (pushing her hand away) Roo, I do not have a baby in my belly. Don't touch my stomach or ask me again.

R: But I WANT a baby.

M: Ok, I don't, so leave me alone about it.

R: But, when are you going to have a baby? Because I need one.

M: I don't know. I'm not. You can have your own baby.

R: No, I need a sister.

UGH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Red ALERT!

Hotmail has decided to cancel my fabulous email account. Apparently, I violated terms of use. From googling, I've learned that that means that I was spamming people with my email. That's right. Little ol' me, stay at home mom of two from South Carolina.

I wish I'd been spamming something interesting atleast!

Anyway, if you need to reach me, call me or email me at my name (with middle initial C) @gmail.com.

When I get mad....

Really, really mad! It's not pretty.

Let me start off by saying, I don't feel well. I've felt like crap all day. I've just trudged through and made the day go on. That said, I may feel completely different in the morning...but this is my take on things...now, at 11:15pm.

We have these neighbors. We'll call the wife, Ana and the husband, well, we'll call him ADD-DAD. Ana is nice enough, but always runs inside when people are out. ADD-DAD is a nut that races by on his rollerblades about 50 times a night, going about 50 miles an hour. They often spend most of the evening outside playing with their kids. Good for them. The kids seem happy.

Ana and ADD-DAD live next to a man we call Hans (as in Hans Christian Anderson). Hans and his three kids live there. They are from Germany and that's really all I can think to say about them.

Today, we pull onto our street and see a big azz Hummer on the opposite side of the road and Ana and ADD-DAD and the daughter hanging in Hans' driveway. I try to move around the weiner mobile and ADD-DAD flips out his "KIDS at play sign." Whatever. It's then that I realize that it's Hans driving the WM and let him manuver that ridiculous vehicle in his teeny driveway. As I pull away, ADD-DAD crosses his arms indignantly and gives me the stink-eye.

(Let's note that I have spoken to ADD exactly ONE time and the whole time he was twitching. Since they are outside so much, I've said hello often but been greeted with a fake smile.)

I drop Jim and the kids off at the house and leave (I had to go to Harris-Teeter if you must know). I make sure to go EXTRA slow to make it clear to ADD that I am ready for a duel. He turns around as I am half way up the street. He gave me the indignant stink-eye again and I returned the favor. I had all but stopped where he was standing. I was going REALLY SLOW. I even turned around to make sure he KNEW I was standing him down.

Let me also say that he moved his ridiculous sign into the road by now. I want to run over that damn thing. It's NOT an invisible sheild for your kids! I drive slowly down our street, but if your kids are launching themselves off your driveway and into the street...this is their issue...not mine.

That was that. I did a lot of thinking on my way to and from HT. I decided that if he was still there, I was going to stop and kiss his azz. He wasn't, so I didn't.

I'm still pissed though. What a jerk.

The World

I've been thinking and dreaming about going back to Disney World with Jim and the kids. Now...how can I convince Jim it's a good idea?

Jim said more than once in a year is too much. Spoil sport!

To poo or not to poo...that is the question...

I'm off the wagon and back on the poo. Mostly because I was having a hard time getting my thick hair and scalp really clean. The first few weeks were fine...but after a while I was itchy and just unhappy. Roo and Jack are still on the no 'poo thing and it's working out nicely for both of them.

Update

Ok, I'm on Day 4 of poo free.

Here's what my hair looked like this morning. Straight, sleek, bodiful and perfect.

I decided to do a co-wash today and plop it and see what happened. It's frizzy and needs some work, but it's totally different than where I was at!

I likey! (The picture is horrible, but you get the drift.) I'm getting my hair cut tomorrow to see if I can get any more curls. It's almost like a relaxed spiral perm (according to Jim). He likes too!

Andrea, I'm thrilled that you are willing to try. I bet you'll love it.

Alyce, Same to you.

Han, make the jump. You can do it!!!!

No Poo?

I have decided to participate in this movement. It's NO POO! Shampoo that is!

The thought behind it is that shampoo has TONS of chemicals and detergents that strip your hair and inhibit your hair's natural ability to regulate oil production, thus leaving you with a greasy nasty head in between washings.

I'm still "washing my hair" but not using soap. Instead, I'm using conditioner! Apparently Conditioners have enough surfectants to clean your hair. You won't get a lather, but you don't need one. Use the pads of your fingers to scrub scrub scrub that scalp and you're good. You just have to make sure to avoid any products that end in 'cone.' These are the nasty things that coat your hair and make it even greasier. Anyone who has used Pantene for an extended amount of time knows what I'm talking about. Suave Naturals and VO5 have many conditioners that have no cones. They have nones, but that's not the same.

Day One: Washed with Suave Clarifying Shampoo and conditioned as normal.

Result was good. Hair was nice and clean. Frizzy but managable.

Day Two: Went to the pool with the kids twice. Both times I wet my hair and coated it in conditioner. Last night at my final shower I lathered my hair with conditioner only, did a rinse and coated again with conditioner. Then I dried my hair as normal.

Result of this was great! Hair was smaller than usual and smelled amazing. Less frizzies for sure and even had a wave in it as it was air drying. Once I blow dried it, it looked good and was shiny.

Day Three: No washing today. I flat iron my hair with no products and it's STICK straight but actually has some body to it! YAY!

Loving this no poo thing.

Incidentally, I also did Roo's the same way and it's SHOCKING! Her hair is sooooo shiny today.

You would think that leaving in conditioner would leave your hair heavy and greasy but it's the exact opposite. It looks clean, smells clean and has a TON of body to it!

I'd like to encourage everyone to try it. I'm only on day three and am LOVING my hair. It gets better and better each day! If you have curly hair or wavy this is a great thing for you! Most people with curls who try this experience better curls, more body, manageability and no frizz. Curly Girls is a commonly used technique. If you are interested, please google your hearts out.



This message is dedicated to my girl Hanna and her lovely ladies with the super curly lovely locks. I said I wanted to do it...now I am. Your turn! :-)

Strawberries!

Roo and I decided that it would be a wonderfully domestic to go pick berries this year.

We picked a date and a location and were all set to go on Wednesday. My friend Kristen insisted that I call to make sure that the Springs Farm would be open for u-pick on a week day. I call and this is what I hear "Oh honey, we have been piiiiicked clean. We open on Friday morning at 7am." Um WHAT?! I have a playgroup coming in...oh, I don't know...about 1.5 hours.

Thankfully said friend, Kristen, has a kick-ass husband who came up with a back up plan. Black's Peaches in York. We got everyone ready and headed there.

It was warm and sunny. The weather was absolutely perfect. We had a picnic lunch and then the kids loaded the fields and picked like crazy people. Funny enough, each kid talked about how they were picking berries for their daddies. Nevermind us sweaty moms out there up to our knees in dirt! It was a blast and we were exhausted...but it was worth it. This one time atleast. ;-)

Enjoy the pictures.

Picnicing

Jack-Jack


William and Beth Anne

Beth Anne

Roo

Natalie

Baby Nate

Samuel (I LOVE this picture!)

Picking

Abby and William

Look at mine!


Elizabeth (Wondermom) with baby Nate and Sam

Roo found a berry!


Here is the aftermath

Natalie is ready to go!


Kristen's family wins for the most enthusiastic pickers. Kayleigh couldn't stop picking and Maeghan couldn't stop eating the strawberries!

Maeghan Kayleigh

Kayleigh with berry covered legs

Roo, all tuckered out

Liar! Liar! Abs, thighs, arms on fire!

I went to Target this morning to get Jillian Michael's 30-Day Shred DVD and 3 lb dumbells. I was expecting an easy time because I'd "heard" from several friends that it was EASY PEASY and that you feel the pain the next day.

Well I'm here to say, I've been a bit sore all day! I was total jiggle legs for the first hour and my arms were tired from WASHING my hair afterwards! Am I out of shape? Clearly...but geez!

I'm doing this again tomorrow though! Gotta start some where!

Cleaning up!

Ok, this is a two part post.

I've been away for nearly a month. So much has happened! I've turned 29, Roo turned 4, our garden has really grown and sprouted, Jack and Roo spent the weekend with the grandparents, Jim and I trapsed all over Savannah ALONE.

I am in the midst of cleaning in two ways.

One is cleaning up after unpacking. My house looks like a bomb went off. Nothing crazy, but all of the normal "just got home and seems like we haven't been here in weeks" cleaning.

The second way is our diet. I've decided to clean up my diet and get on a regime. The pool opens up in 4 short weeks. I've got the bathing suits, but now I need to look good in them! :-)

I'll be back to fill in on more of this stuff later today. Stay tuned! :-)

Missing...

We've been missing in action since last week because of a few things...


1. Jack Jack's birthday. The party was small and personal with just family. It was nice and really the perfect size. Jack was in a great mood the entire time and LOVED all of his gifts and the cake! See exhibit 1.





2. The weather. It's been an amazing week. The temps have been in the 70's and 80's all week. We've spent the better part of that time outside, soaking up the rays, playing in the park and in the yard, picnic-ing and hanging with friends. See exhibit 2.








This is the only body part on the entire family that got burned. My arm got it good. I swear I put sunscreen on, but can't figure out if I missed it.



3. Our Garden. That's right! We have a garden. Riley and I have been gardening by the squarefoot and LOVING it! So far we've planted mesclun (lettuce), spinach, tomatoes, rosemary, broccoli, green bell peppers, cukes and strawberries. So far, so good...nothing dead, yet! See exhibit 3.

Happy Days!

First off...

Happy 2nd Birthday NATALIE!

We love you and miss you!


Secondly...

Roo let out a big cheer and was dancing around when she found out who was moving back to town.

Her Peeps!

We are so excited to be welcoming the Brown/Mosses back to the hood! We can hardly wait to see you guys again!

Living with tumor

Mama had a follow up appt with the doctor who performed her biopsy. He thought everything looked great and was healing nicely.

We got the opportunity to ask the doctor more about removing her tumor. We had been told several times that she should have it removed. To the point where several doctors kept pushing her to do it. This doctor seems to be the only one with any damn sense. He told us that it fully surrounds the eye orbit and should remain intact. The surgery is far more destructive than helpful. Also, her eye works...not well, but it works.

So, she lives with the tumor.

Happy Birthday Jack Man!

My Jack got to celebrate his very first birthday this week! It's been such a wonderful year for our family. I'm so happy that he is a part of our lives! :-)

He did really well at his drs appt. He's growing nicely but a small. We knew that though ;-)

His stats are as follows:

Weight 18lbs 6oz (5th percentile)

Length 28.5 inches (10th percentile)

Doctor's observations were that he is a happy little boy, sweet and loving. Also thought his appetite sounded great and not to worry that he eats so much! HA HA! She also said that at her son's 1 year appt he was eating a bowl of oatmeal, a banana and applesauce and that his appetite did decrease.

** For those that don't know. Jack could eat us out of house and home easily! Tonight for dinner he ate an entire potato pancake, 1 regular pancake, raisins and some egg. He eats twice as much as Roo.

In Recovery

My mom had yet ANOTHER biopsy on the tumor behind her eye today. I've spoken with the doctor and all went well. He got several biopsies done and they all look like they are scar tissue and not CANCER! YAY for that! (But this also brings up...WHY IN THE HELL did Chapel Hill think that she needed to go through chemo! What a friggin waste!)

The next step is figuring out a plan of action for her tumor. It's causing a good amount of pressure (and pain) so we'd like to have that removed while saving her eye.

Everyone, please keep your fingers crossed!

I've been thinking...

And I've decided that *I* deserve an award.

My baby Jack will be one year old this coming Saturday. I have breastfed him for an entire year!

I'm presently weaning and down to two feedings a day (one at night and one in the morning). He has been a great little nursling and knew what he was doing from the get-go. We've always enjoyed our special time together.

For the first time, this week I rocked him at nap time, rather than nursing him. He seemed a bit surprised but rolled with it. At first he turned his head to get into "position" but then realized I wasn't offering more. The next day he did the same, by the third day he got it.

It's sort of bittersweet. It's a sign that he's grown into a little boy (with too many teeth). I am a bit saddened but don't *really* want to continue much longer. We are ready for the next phase!

Many many thanks go to my friend Hanna who has always offered great advice, tips and a shoulder to cry on. She has literally been my rock/bible for breastfeeding. She got me through every day of the first 6 weeks. E.V.E.R.Y. D.A.Y. Thank GOD for Han!

Ashes, Ashes, we all fall down!

Today is Ash Wednesday, the first day of lent.

I am trapped at home with two sick kids and am awaiting the return on one sick husband. How much more fun can my life get? Seriously?

Roo had a fever yesterday of 102.6! :-( I knew she wasn't 100% but I had NO IDEA! She's been getting doses of dimetapp and tylenol and seems to be on the mend.

Jack is currently in his bed, head down, screaming. I wish, o wish he would go to sleep. He's crabby, tired and snotty.

Can life get any better?

Sure it can. Jim and I also decided what we are going to give up for lent...

Swearing for Jim (not me because I *LIKE* swearing!)

Candy and sodas for me. Sure, it's ambitious, but it's only 40 days. Right? I figured it was a nice little companion to my Weight Watchers saga (I'm on day three of re-start #50).

That's the long and short.

Roo left to her own devices

When Roo is left to her own devices, she is very...capable. She can pick out her own clothes, dress herself and feed herself. Chocolate that is.

These pictures were taken at 8:30 at night. She was put in bed about an hour before we discovered her. She was quite proud of herself. Pretty funny too!

Ukea, Wekea, Ikea!

This week was the grand opening of Charlotte's very first Ikea. It's been insanely busy and today was no exception!

It opened on Tuesday to throngs of shoppers. My friend Christa was one of the first people in the doors and celebrated with all of the other shoppers who were chanting "IKEA! IKEA!" The first 100 people got a free chair and the first 2,500 got gift cards that varied from $.50 to $1000. Lucky Christa-girl won a $250!!! That's a WHOLE-lotta crap from Ikea especially.

Anyway, Jim and I have been desperate to visit our first Ikea store since we'd heard about it's groundbreaking last fall. It seemed like this day would never come. Jim decided that today would be the big day. We headed out after Jack got up from his nap. Since it's about 40 minutes away, we piled in the jeep and prayed for napping babies. We didn't get that, but it was still a pleasant ride. There is something about the ride that lulls them into quiet, mellow babes.

We arrived along with a BAZILLION other people. We got off at the correct exit and quickly whisked back onto the highway and off at the NEXT exit. We followed the caravan of cars that circled the block and ended in Ikea's parking lot. We were directed into the first overflow parking area (also known as parallel street parking) and quickly made our way into the store. It was SOOO cold! About 40 degrees and WINDY. Poor Jack whimpered the whole way in.

We got in and hit the aisles. We had a BLAST looking at everything. We've only ever cruised the website so this was amazing! So many things, so CHEAP! We grabbed the glasses that we needed, some wooden hangers and some steak knives. I know, really exciting stuff, right?! ;-) I wanted to buy one of everything...luckily Jim was there to restrain me. :-)

There were so many people there with carts, buggies and strollers that if you took one wrong turn, you were toast. Think, salmon, swimming upstream! Kinda scary really!

We headed upstairs and grabbed some lunch. It was absolutely delish! In the midst of all of the craziness, I ran into TWO people I knew. 1 was a girl that I rode the bus with in MIDDLE SCHOOL! Kara. The other was a girl I was in college with (and also NUMEROUS group projects with), Robin. Robin and I spoke quickly, introduced our respective kids and moved along.

The day was an absolute blast! We spent 4 hours there total. I can't even believe it. What a time suck! It was worth it though!

Happy Birthday Dad!

I'm sure you won't see this until you get back from Panama but...

We hope that you have an awesome birthday and we can't wait to see you soon!

God Bless You Rover

I'm dealing with a huge amount of guilt right now...

I was driving home today and had just pulled into Tega Cay. I was cruising along, doing 35 mph (those of you who know Tega Cay, know how these cops are) when a dog ran out, full steam ahead, across the median and right into my car. I slammed on my breaks and screeched to a halt. I never felt any impact, in fact, I wasn't even sure if Rover and I made any contact.

When I had come to a complete stop, I couldn't see the dog anywhere. I was hopeful! That silly old dog probably just missed it and he ran off into the woods, Right?

I moved forward and turned around. For what? I don't know even know whe kept running, I'd never be able to see him.
hat just happened! I could never pick up a dog that I might have just killed. Or if
By the time I'd swung around, I see Rover. There were two guys in a truck picking him up. I pulled up slowly and shamefully and asked if it was his dog. He said no, it wasn't but he was taking it to the vet right up the road. His friend quickly loaded the still breathing and moving Rover into the truck and squealed off.

Now, I have tremendous guilt. So much so, that I can't even bring myself to call the vet to find out if dear Rover survived with a broken leg or was so severly injured that he had to be put down. My friend Carrie said she would call. I haven't asked her though...I'm too afraid.


*******************************************
Please note, I live in a city with leash laws and this dog was clearly not restrained. Infact, he didn't even have tags on!

Ok, that doesn't make me feel better but it does help me realize that it was not entirely my fault. What a sad day for Rover!

We're back!

We're back and we had a FABULOUS time. Everyone travelled exceptionally well. Our first REAL family vacation was a complete success. Infact, I don't think anything could have gone smoother. Ok, well there was the photo shoot at the Polynesian that was a nightmare...but that was a bonus.

Until I can report fully, I will leave these pictures...

Roo with her favorite...Ariel

Jack and his Fairy Godmother (sorry Kimmie!)Jack is having too much fun!

Roo under Spaceship Earth - She rode it too!
Roo with some mouse
In the arms of a giant carved monkey!Jim is showing off the best breakfast treat EVER! Pooh's Puffed French Toast! (Yes, I realize this looks like fried chicken.)Roo's having a meltdown on Dumbo. Why? I can't recall...no wait, I didn't put on her seatbelt first. Man, are we obsessed with safety?!
The BEST use of a Disney Dining Plan Snack credit. From Downtown Disney's Goofy Candy Co. It's a Mousehead rice crispy treat dipped in chocolate, one side mini m&ms and the other side butterfingers with white chocolate drizzle.