Bald's in, right?

I know I shedded real bad after I had the boys, but that was nothing compared to how much hair I've lost since I had Bella. Its gotten to wear I might shower ever day, but I'm only wasing my hair twice a week. Each time I wash it then brush I seem to lose handfulls of hair. I found a knot in my hair before bed last night, so I went to the bathroom to see how big it was. With the slightest pressure I used to pull it from the back of my hair to the front the whole entire knot fell out. I just sat down and cried.
I've never really cared about my hair. My idea of making my hair decent is pulling it up, not necessarily brushed either. But this is ridiclous! I feel like each morning I'm going to wake up and be bald, I've even started having nightmares about it.

I have an addiction... to shopping!

I don't go crazy buying myself stuff, I hate buying stuff for myself, I always feel there's a better use for the money. But I go just a little wild when it comes to buying clothes for the kids. I can't help it. I see all these cute clothes and I think "Oh, Bella would look darling in that," or "Zach loves those kinds of shirts," or "Ryan would look so handsome in that." I mean once I start buying them clothes I can't stop! I have a feeling it goes back to when I was younger. We never had any nice clothes, we always got hand-me-downs from our cousins, and with me and my brother being the youngest in the family (not including my half-brother and sister since there's a 7 year gap between the brothers and a 9 year one between me and my sister) everything was really worn by the time it got to us. So, I just love buying the kids new, nice clothes. Shoot, they dress better and have a bigger wardrobe than John and I. I just spent $200 on fall/winter clothes for Bella, no one else, just her. And before the 30% discount it was $300! And seeing as how John banned me from buying her anything else (she has a closet full of summer clothes she still doesn't quite fit...) I have a feeling this might cause some issues. But she has no fall/winter clothes, so really this was a needed purchase...
Right?

Yeah, we do know we didn't wash our hands.

Okay, this will sound so gross, but Zach and I do not wash our hands when we go to the bathroom anywhere but at home and my moms. Yes, I know that sounds nasty, but there's a good reason for it. Zach and I have an extreme allergy to about 90% of soaps (and lotions and all other skin care products too). Zach's is so bad and when he started school last year I didn't even think to mention it to his teacher. Not even a week into school and his hands started turning red, developing sores, and the skin was peeling and cracking enough to where his hands were bleeding. A week after we got him to stop washing his hands at school they were almost completely healed. We never used soaps in public bathrooms because it causes me to break out in hives so he had never been exposed to any soap issues. I've never used or bought the boys any soaps that I know I am allergic to. So, what we do is rinse our hands with water, dry them, then use hand sanitizer. (Which we carry everywhere.)
I'm bringing this up because while John and I were in Disney World I encountered more evil and disgusted stares than I ever had because of this. Some people just whispered to each other, and others would inform that I forgot in tones varying from nice to flat out rude. One lady even went as far as to call me a liar, and then to tell the child with her that people can't really be allergic to soap and not to use the stall I left. WTF?! Even when I used the hand sanitizer in front of people they still brought it up. And I know Zach goes through the same thing at school, so in a way we're dreading the start of a new year and teacher and class. His teachers last year were so nice about it and explained it to the other students very well. But other kids not in his class always picked on him about it.
So, yeah, we don't wash our hands, we don't need other people pointing it out to us.

Its so on like Donkey Kong.

Okay, lets take a moment for a purely silly type post.
I like the Twilight books, not too crazy about the movie, but, eh, that's what you get when you make a movie with so many fantasy elements with a low budget. I'm not one of those weird "Oh my God TWILIGHT!!!" Type of people, honestly, I'm an adult, I don't get that excited about a book about teenagers, even if they are vampires. Cause, you know, there are really good books out there that are about vampires who are grown ups and they also have an element of love story.
BUT...
::cough cough::
On the eve of this very important night I must say, nay, I challenge all who disagree with...
Harry Potter kicks Edward Cullen's and the rest of Twilight's butt!
Yes, Harry Potter is still a teenager (well, in the books), but I was in 7th grade when the first of those books came out and I grew up reading them so neh. And come on, he's just way cooler anyway.
Okay, done with the silly post.

Picture of the Day: "Co-Sleeping"

When I got pregnant with Zach my mom first brought up the topic of co-sleeping. She explained to me what it was, told me of the pros and cons of it, and suggested that it was something I might want to do. My response was an emphatic NO. For starters I was a heavy sleeper and I move around a lot. Plus I liked having my bed to myself. She said she was just suggesting it since I was in school it might help me get more sleep once he comes.
Well, to make a long story short I did end up co-sleeping with Zach, and I loved it. It gave us time to be together, just the two of us. It gave us cuddling time, and made night time and early morning feedings so much easier. I loved it so much I did co-sleeping with him until Ryan was born and then I did it with Ryan too. Ryan was ok with it, but he preferred sleeping in his crib. Plus John and I got married when he was 3 months old and John didn't want him in our bed with us.
Now we have Bella and I didn't give John the option on if he wanted to co-sleep or not. And guess what he loves it too. True, Bella now lays down in her crib at bedtime and sleeps there until she wakes for her first feeding at 5:30-6ish which is when John wakes up for work. But he can't help himself, he always lays back down with us for a little while. And on the weekends its John who goes back to sleep and cuddles her in the morning after feedings.

Let me just bang my head on my desk.

I love Bella.

Now that the obvious is stated... ARGH!!! Why God, why me? I. Hate. Teething. I'm about 97% positive that's what is greatly disturbing the force in Miss Bella's world, and the sad thing is it never occurred to me it could be that until someone else pointed it out. She's been drooling like an ocean is leaking out of her tiny body. I mean some days we go through 2-3 outfits and 2 bedsheets because she soaks them in drool. And she's chewing on stuff like there's no tomorrow. But other than those two signs she wasn't showing any other signs. She wasn't cranky and didn't have an upset tummy. Until...
It started this weekend. Her stomache so far still seems fine, but she won't stop crying. As a matter of fact she is screaming at me from her room at the moment, which is what she's been doing for about 30 minutes now. Before that she screamed at me for an hour from across the living room, and yet before that she screamed at me for almost another hour in between bouts of nursing. I'm waiting for the motrin to kick in. Her poor gums are all swollen, but I don't feel any teeth bumps, they (her gums) have just gotten bigger in the front.
Neither of the boys started teething until they were 5-6 months. I was a slow teether too. But my little sister had all of her teeth by one year and started getting them this early, so its not too odd to me. But oh my God! I hate hate hate hate hate teething! (Picking up on the fact that I hate it?)

A little new camera fun.

Okay, this is a guilty moment. I have a perfectly fine working camera John got me for my birthday back in January. Well, since the estate money has been settled John has been trying to get me to buy a new camera. There was one I really really wanted for my birthday but we couldn't afford it, so John got me the best we could afford. Now since we can afford it he's been pushing me to get the original one. I kept telling him no, its silly for me to buy a camera when I have one that works perfectly fine. So... he went out and bought the camera for me. I feel guilty, but at the same time I L O V E my new camera and it does so much fun neat stuff. ::happy sigh:: Here's a few new pictures taken with it.

My most wild thing of all

Ryan is, and has always been, just so much different than Bella and Zach. Shoot he's even a lot different than me and John.
Firstly, Ryan is a morning person. Not too odd I know, but no one else is our house is. And Ryan has always been a morning person. Since he was a newborn he woke up ready to go at 5-5:30 am. No snuggling and getting him to drift back to sleep, he's up ready to eat and start the day. His first sentence was "Hungry Momma! Eat!" followed by "Up Momma up!" (As in get up out of bed.) John, Bella, Zach and I are more than happy to sleep until 9, 10, or even 11, not that any of us ever get to with Ryan in the house.
Next, his never ending appetite. Now, I know just where he got that from (me) but Zach eats just enough to keep him from starving until the next meal. Ryan eats so much we actually had to make a rule and get all his grandparents to enforce it. Ryan is not allowed to eat all day, because if you let him, he would. He would go to my Dad's for the weekend and my step-mom would allow him to just eat and eat and eat. She said why shouldn't she feed him if he's hungry? I said its not that he's hungry, he's like me; if he sees food, he wants to eat; if he's bored, he wants to eat; if you talk about food, he thinks you should be eating food. And so on.
Also, Ryan is, um, active. I don't want to say hyper, because as someone who grew up with ADHD and managed fine without medicine, I don't want him feeling he has that label and using it as a crutch. (Which my brothers did.) But he can even wear out my two brothers who are extremely hyper. Shoot, he can wear you out just watching him in all his super-active glory. He goes goes goes non-stop and never slows down. Its kinda funny because there is no lag period when he's waking or when he's tired. Its super-active, sleep, super-active, sleep, super-active. Zach would be couch potato if we let him, and Bella consider any floor time to be an excellent time to fall asleep.
And, Ryan is mischievous. If there's something he's not supposed to do, I can guarantee you, he'll do it just to see for himself why he shouldn't. You tell him don't touch that, its hot. He'll touch it just to see how hot. You say don't climb that it'll fall over. He'll climb it to see how high up he can get before it falls. (And my favorite) Don't eat that, its not food. He just needs to see how it tastes. And added to that he is immensly silly too.
Lastly, very good thing considering the mischeiviousness, Ryan has a very very high tolerance of pain. I'll just give you two examples so you get the idea. 1. Last summer Ryan leaned against my parents grill and burned his arm. And I mean it was bad. But did he scream or cry? No. He went right on playing. When he came in that night and we were getting him ready for bed he never mentioned it. His arm was just really red in the spot like it was a sun burn. It didn't bother him so we left it alone. The next morning John comes running to our room to wake me up to say Ryan's arm is oozing. The red area had cracked and split during the night and his arm was oozing blood and clear stuff, I took him to the doctor, he had a 2nd degree burn on his arm and never cried or complained about it hurting. 2. A month ago Ryan was playing with my brother and Zach upstairs at my mom's. He fell and hit his head on the corner of my brother's dresser and ended up with a huge gash in his forehead. He had blood running down his face and neck and wasn't even crying or freaking out. Since he kept dozing off afterwards, but I would wake him immediatly I'm guessing he also got a slight concussion. But he never complained.
So yes, for all of these reasons Ryan is my most wild thing of all. (Which he would gladly tell you himself)

I'm one sneaky mean mom.

So, I have a confession to make.
Its really really horrible, but I don't feel the least bit guilty or sorry over it.
As a matter of fact... I feel as pleased about it as the cat that ate the canary.

I am going to Disney World June 16-20.
And I'm not taking my kids. Not only am I not taking them, they don't even know about it, they just know mommy and daddy are going on vacation. When they accidentally hear one of us mention Disney, we say "Yeah, remember we're going in 5 years when y'all are 5, 8, and 10." They really want to go... I really want to go for once without kids. So, I'm going without them.
Am I mean and sneaky or what?

Its an age-old argument.

Okay, maybe not age-old, but a pretty common one in my house between John and I. There's not much we agree on entertainment wise. He likes one kind of music, I like another. He likes to watch sports and reality shows on tv, I prefer the news and biographies. He thinks a good date is a movie and going to the same restaurant every time, I like to try new things. But even with all those differences we still manage to find some common ground in those categories.
There's only one thing we have trouble ever agreeing on, watching movies at home. I'll go to the movies and see any movie he wants, generally I want to see them anyway, so I don't mind. For the movies he doesn't want to see, I go with a friend or my sister to see. Its an arrangement that works well for us. However, watching one at home always leads to an argument. About 90% of the time he wants to watch a horror or suspense movie. I do not like to watch those kinds of movies after I have seen them once. I mean where's the fun in it? You know what's going to happen so they are no longer suspenseful or scary. A good comedy or romance you can watch over and over and over again, because the story line is good and it can still make you smile, sigh, laugh, or think over. But does John see it that way? Nooooo. He says those movies always have the scare and suspense factor. I just don't give them a chance. Pfft. I do, not always voluntarily mind you, but I do. About 50% of the time I'll let him pick one of those kind, but it has to be one I haven't seen in a while.
So John and I have sort of worked out another agreement. We have a small, but growing, collection of movies that we picked out for movie night. True, its about 75% action movies, a genre neither of us are too fond of, but we have found a few comedies we agree on too. But still it never fails, we always agrue on movie night.
(But the cuddling on the couch after the kids are in bed makes it worth it.)

About Nursing

I know this isn't my digital scrapbooking blog, but I want to share this page, since it is related to mommy-ness. Click the page to get the full image to be able to read the journaling.



























(Made with the digital scrapbooking kit "New Day" by Color with Caryn)

Wrong blog!

LMAO! Ooops.