The Hard Way

My grandmother has been in town from Tulsa, Oklahoma, and tonight was her last night to be on our side of town.  So, we took her to Cracker Barrel with my parents.  I really love Cracker Barrel - their food is awesome, love the biscuits, and they really do have something for everyone.

Dinner was great, but something awful happened that really helped me learn something.  I finally understand the whole point of where the high chair is situated in a restaurant.  Despite the TGI Friday's issue, the manager finally makes sense . . .

We had Sophia in one of the high chairs at Cracker Barrel, which are really cute and I totally love the design.  We were seated at a round table in the corner of the restaurant, and Sophia was on the outside of the table, facing towards the wall.  When the waitress was bringing our food, a gentleman who was being seated decided he didn't like his table, and jumped up in front of the waitress, and crashed into her. 

She had a large tray of food on her left hand, with a single plate on her right hand.  I don't know how she held onto the tray in the milieu, but she lost the single plate in her right hand, and it crashed down right behind my daughter's head.  The plate shattered on the floor into a million pieces, and the food was all over the place underneath Sophia's high chair.  It was seriously centimeters from Sophia's head. 

I watched it happen, in slow motion, and all I could think was to duck and cover Sophia's head.  Thank God it did not land on her.  She was remarkably unfazed (as she always is), and totally safe.  Unfortunately she did have a bit of egg (over easy) coming up the legs of her high chair.  I'm sure you can imagine how I felt about that! 

So, I learned (almost) the hard way, that you should always put the baby in the least flow of traffic in a restaurant.  Obviously if your table is in the middle of the room, there's not much you can do, but if you are in the corner as we were, always put the high chair next to the wall, so there is no possibility of flying food or plates.

Incidentally, the gentleman who was the cause of all the ruckus said nothing at all, but his dinner companion did pause to ask us if the baby was OK.  Neither one asked the waitress.  She had an awesome afro, a big smile, and a great attitude.  She set down the full tray, sweeped up the mess, quickly ordered the lost plate of new food, and delivered the tray with a smile.  God bless her - she kept my baby safe and a smile on her face the whole time!



Got any restaurant snafus to share?

Pictures!

Today we went to JC Penney and had our monthly pictures taken.  Want to know a secret?  I skipped Sophia's 7 month pictures due to an unfortunate incident that occured during her 6 month pictures, so today I just brought two different outfits for her.  We'll say one is her 7 month picture, and the other is her 8 month picture! 

Both the kids did really well, and I was also able to stay calm and collected, unlike last time we were there.  I also took the opportunity to apologize to the manager there for what had happened during our 6 month pictures (although honestly she really didn't deserve it).  However, she accepted my apology, and even grudgingly offered up one of her own!  I like it when we can all play nice.

Here are some of my favorite shots from the sitting!

Hands down my favorite!!  I had it done in a 20x24, with a silver frame.  So beautiful!

A sweet pic - this is her "7 month" picture.  The bear is from my parents, and the quilt is from Mike's parents.

Me and my sweet kiddos!  I asked the lady if they could photoshop my hiny to make it smaller.  No dice!

Such a sweet pic!  I got copies of these for the grandparents!

Sophia's such a toot - she kept trying to crawl off!

And now for her 8 month picture!  See - she looks older, right?  I cover my mistakes well!

I loved this photo collage - look at the bottom pic of her hands and feet!

Thanks for looking, hope you enjoyed!  I do like JC Penney, they are inexpensive and generally do a good job.  Today made up for our last experience!

Sleepless Nights . . .

I believe that Sophia is either about to get more teeth or else she is about to start crawling.  She's been army crawling for about a month now, but she has yet to get fully up on her hands and knees.  Last night, I put her down at the usual time, but she woke up at midnight.  I tried to wait it out to see if she could fall back asleep, but no dice - she screamed for an hour.

Finally, I sent Mike up to get her, and then she got into our bed with a smile on her face.  Where she stayed, for the next two hours . . . laughing, nursing, grabbing Mike's hair, crawling around.  At 3 am, big brother Sammy came down the stairs and crawled into the bed, too.  It's a good thing we have a king size bed, otherwise, I don't know what we'd do! 

After Sammy got in our bed, Sophia was really excited, rolling over to laugh at him every few seconds.  At this point, I was done.  I took her back upstairs to her bed, fully expecting her to start screaming again.  But she didn't - she crawled around in her crib, on her hands and knees, for about two hours, laughing and smiling the whole time.  Lucky for me, I was safe asleep back in the king size bed again - but I know what she was doing due to our trusty video monitor. 

Sophia fell asleep, and thank goodness no one but Mike got up before 9:45 am . . . otherwise there would have been one very grumpy mommy around here!  I'm ashamed to admit that we've all been in our pajamas all day long, with the exception of Sophia, who got prune juice on hers, so I had to change her into her ducky outfit.  I even ran outside in my pajamas earlier to check the mail - only one neighbor saw me, thank goodness!

And, guess who's starting to crawl on her hands and knees now, instead of slithering like a snake!  Yep, you read it here first - Sophia is well on her way to becoming totally mobile!

I am a Bad Role Model . . .

I am a bad role model for my children.  I've decided it.  I don't always use kind words, and sometimes I don't make good choices.  And the main reason for this post is that I don't try everything on my plate before I decide I don't like it.

Now, don't get me wrong, I've got the big stuff down to a science as far as being a role model, but it's in the finer points that the details get lost.  Take today for instance, the catalyst for this post.  My wonderful husband, Mike, got up and decided to make omelettes for breakfast before we went to church.  Very sweet, right?

Well, yes and no.  As many of you know, I do not eat eggs.  No way, no how.  I'm not going to get into the details here about why I won't eat eggs, but suffice it to say, I just don't.  The only exceptions would be eggs in a recipe (such as a cake or cookies) and Paula Deen's breakfast casserole.  No eggs for me - no scrambled eggs, no eggs Benedict, no over-easy, no hard-boiled eggs, no way, no how.  When I used to teach, my students found out I didn't eat eggs, and when they asked me why, I told them I don't believe in them.  That was an interesting conversation - "You don't believe in EGGS?"  Nope, I don't believe in eggs.  Really I just didn't want to prejudice them for life about why I don't eat eggs, but that is besides the point.  I just don't eat eggs.

Back to the matter at hand, my poor role model abilities.  Mike made omelettes.  Good omelettes, with cheese, ham, spices.  And he knows I don't eat eggs, so no pressure or anything, but he did put half an omelette on my plate.  And I want you to know, I tried.  After all, who else's husband wakes up on a Sunday morning and makes a gourmet breakfast for everyone in the house?  I didn't want to discourage him, but I also was having serious issues with my abilities to put a smile on my face and eat my omelette, therefore acting as a role model for my highly food-conscious 3 year old son. 

Let's just say I couldn't do it.  I got up from the table to make coffee, and while thinking about putting a piece of that omelette in my mouth, I started gagging and making retching sounds.  You'd think I was 3 months pregnant - I used to make those gagging sounds all the time!  But I wasn't, and there was really no excuse for my behaviour, I just know that I don't, or let's just say I won't, eat eggs.  And I want you to know I tried, but I couldn't. 

God love Mike, he wasn't upset - he understands my food idiosyncracies.  He does, after all, pull chicken off the bone for me in the other room and throw the bones away so I don't have to see the evidence.  So he understood that I couldn't even try a bite of the omelette.  But the fact that he was so kind about it is what made me feel so bad.  I mean, I know he hates meatloaf, but I love it, so I made it one day, and he even went back for seconds.  That's love - either that or he knew it'd be chinese take-out and pizza for the rest of the week if he didn't pretend to like my home-cooked meal!

Mike moved the omelette away from me, and I poured myself a bowl of Lucky Charms.  Lucky for me, Sammy didn't notice that Mommy wasn't eating her food and got a snack instead.  One of these days, he's going to notice, and then I'm going to have to choke down an omelette.  But maybe I'll have grown out of my food preferences by then . . . or not.  I don't believe in eggs.



What are your food idiosyncracies?

Best. Christmas Gift. Ever

Back in early December when it was snowing one day, I made my move and moved our loveable German Shepherd, Kona, into the house for good! Kona's been in and out of the house (depending on his behavior) for about 3 years now, but I played my cards to move him in for good, this time. Mike, of course, was less than thrilled, but he'll adapt!

Mike's main condition of our agreement was that I was in charge of cleaning up all the shedding. Well, of course I am, don't I scrub the toilets, too? So for the past month, I've been taking turns between vacuuming and sweeping. One day I do all the vacuuming, the next day I sweep all the floors. I'd love to be able to do both in one day, but hey, I'm only human, right?

My only complaint is that our vacuum has seriously bitten the dust. Don't get me wrong, it is a good vacuum, it's just not the best tool for the job that is Kona, the incredible shedding German Shepherd! Enter the best Christmas gift ever . . .

Sorry if you're reading this, Mom, but seriously, Mike's parents Rita and Bob got us the best Christmas gift ever. Rita was wondering what to get us, and Mike had mentioned to her that I wanted a new vacuum cleaner. She, of course, was less than thrilled about this option. Who among us hasn't been the recipient of the dreaded cleaning gift - such as an iron, a new mop, etc for a birthday or Christmas gift. On the one hand, yes, you need a new iron, but on the other hand, what does that say about you, the recipient? Did the giver think that you needed to iron your clothes or something?

In any event, Rita hemmed and hawed, and finally Mike came in the other room and said, "Lindsey, Mom wants to know if you are going to be mad if she gets us a vacuum for Christmas?" My answer - a resounding NO! I want/need/desire a new vacuum cleaner, and if you don't get me one, I'll buy my own!

Rita and Bob got us the best vacuum cleaner ever. I'm not joking - this thing rocks! It's a Bissell Lift-Off Multi-Cyclonic Pet. That's a mouthful, but seriously, I love it. Mike made me help him put away all the Christmas presents before he would get it out, and when he did, I went crazy!

This vacuum has awesome suction, it's bagless, and let me tell you what, it picked up a ton from our floors. My only regret is that I should have vacuumed once with our old vacuum, and then gone over it with the new miracle vacuum - then we'd really know how bad off the old vacuum was.

The best part about our new clean machine is that is comes with pet vacuum tool. You think I'm joking, but it really has a tool that you attach to the hose, and you rake it down your pet's coat, and it picks up all the excess shedding. After I vacuumed all the floors in the downstairs, I brought Kona to the kitchen with it and went to town. At first, he wasn't sure about it, and seemed downright scared, but I think he ended up loving it! He actually came back for more after I'd turned it off and then turned it back on again and called him to me.

Another great thing about the vacuum is that is does bare floors as well. So much for doing half the cleaning in one day - now I can do it all at once, just carry the vacuum around from room to room. I guess maybe I'd still better sweep once a week or so, but meanwhile my new trusty Bissell can take care of the rest.

My only regret - the new vacuum works so well that I won't be able to tell little white fibs to Mike anymore about when and where I cleaned. If I didn't make it into a room before, I could fib and say, "I vacuumed in there, but our vacuum is awful, so I know it doesn't really look like it." Now I can't say that anymore - my sidekick Bissell will tell all on me!

Rita, I know you're reading this, and I just want to say - Best. Christmas Gift. Ever. Period! Thanks!



PS - I bet my house is cleaner than your house! No? Did you vacuum your dog today? Yeah, I didn't think so. I win!

Merry Christmas to All!

My house looks like someone broke into a toy store and went crazy. Seriously . . . I have Lite Brite pegs all over the floor (choking hazard!), little balls that the Busy Ball Popper pooped out while it was going across my floor, pieces everywhere from the Little Einsteins rocket, teacups and fake desserts - it's crazy!

But I'm so glad we got to celebrate Christmas with our sweet kiddos! This morning was a little rough - we got in late from Mike's family last night, and come 6:30 am, Sammy came running into our bedroom, exclaiming "Mommy, Daddy - Santa brought me some more presents!" He was so excited! Mike convinced him to cuddle with him for a bit, so Sammy climbed in the bed next to Mike, where he stayed for about a minute.

Then Sammy jumped down again to go see if the presents were still there. They were, and he came running back announcing it at the top of his lungs! Mike rolled over and looked at me, and we silently communicated that sleep, unfortunately, would have to wait. Mike took Sophia, and he had a rough time getting her to wake up, but finally she opened her sleepy little eyes when we got by the Christmas tree.

I tried really hard to stick to our 3 gift rule, but unfortunately, I did not succeed. I ended up getting each of the kids 5 presents, plus their stocking stuffers. I guess that's better than 20, though!

Mike got me a beautiful silver and gold Pandora bracelet, just like I asked for. He found a cute little boy and little girl charm, and then he got me two silver and gold S charms. I think he did a great job, I was really happy!

I think the best part of Christmas for me was getting to see Mike's face when he opened his iPod. He was completely shocked! I honestly don't think he had any idea that I even listened to him when he mentioned it once back in November that he wanted one. And since he knows now, that means I finally get to post the full details from my Black Friday shopping experience!

All in all, we've had a wonderful Christmas. I'm so glad for our wonderful family and friends that helped make it awesome for us. I hope your Christmas was great as well!

Love that Roomba!

I forgot how much I LOVE my Roomba! I honestly haven't used it in several months, as I've been a vacuuming fiend since we let Kona live in the house again. However, we've got friends coming over today, and I just don't have the energy to get out the dustpan and broom, and the vacuum. HELLO, ROOMBA! It's so awesome - you just push that little button, and off goes your own personal cleaning fairy!

The best part about the Roomba is that it's willing to go under and around all of your chairs, so all those times I've put off moving the giant chairs out of the dining room are now gone forever. My best friend, the Roomba, is completely willing to go to town and get down and dirty!

Would it be bad if I let the Roomba charge, and then went and put it into my bedroom? And then let it charge again, and brought it upstairs to the playroom? And then let it charge again and put it into every single room in the house? Mike will think I've become a cleaning genius overnight!

Speaking of cleaning geniuses, I found the best product the other day. I am LOVING the Scrubbing Bubbles http://www.scrubbingbubbles.com/products.aspx?product=flushable-bathroom-wipes Flushable Bathroom Wipes! They came as a sample in my new Scrubbing Bubbles disposable toilet scrubber, and I'm hooked - can't wait to buy my own! I love cleaning the bathroom, and with my life I've got to get some shortcuts - there's nothing like having a sparkling bathroom in less than 5 minutes, with no laundry to do afterwards!

What are some of your favorite cleaning shortcuts?

Black Friday Mayhem

OK, I did it . . .  I finally experienced a Black Friday.  I've never done it before, but this year was different.  Several weeks ago, Mike mentioned to me that he wanted an iPod.  My husband wants a lot of gadgets, so I normally tune him out when he starts on this vein, but this time, I listened.  His reasoning made sense, so now I just needed to figure out where to get him one from.

I was honestly looking at the Toys R Us Black Friday ads for my children, but I couldn't help but notice the large "8 GB iPod, $199.99 plus a $50 gift card!" splash in the top corner of the ad.  Sounds like a good deal to me!

I texted my girlfriend, Amanda, on Thanksgiving day to see if she was in.  She totally was - Amanda is awesome - she's always willing to make fool of herself or try something new with me.  That's why she is fast becoming my BFF, even though I've only known her since June!  We agreed to leave our houses at 11 pm, and I planned to pick up Starbucks on the way.

For some Godforsaken reason, Starbucks was closed.  How does that happen?  All the crazy people are going to Toys R Us at midnight, but Starbucks isn't open?  They totally lost my business!  I drove on, un-caffeined and pretty ticked, to Toys R Us, where I noticed the parking lot was completely full.  I happened to park by Amanda, and quickly climbed into her vehicle.  We gossiped for a bit about our family celebrations, but quickly decided we'd best get out of the car and go get in line.

Yes, I said line.  The line wrapped around the front of the store, down the side, around the back, and probably up the other side.  Luckily we were in the first quarter of the back of the store.  It was totally crazy!  Some of the people were standing in line with their children.  How weird is that?  Here it is, in the 40's, and you have your 2 and 3 year old (at least bundled up in a coat), but out at midnight outside of a toystore.  Who does that?

Amanda and I both agreed that was strange, but some of the other people there were even stranger.  One lady got in line pushing a shopping cart (more on that in a minute), and others had brought chairs they were camped out in.  I have no idea how long the first person in line had been there -  I wish I had thought to ask, but really I don't want to know. 

I suppose over the past few years, what with the Walmart tramplings and other ridiculous Black Friday events, stores have gotten smart.  The big ticket, limited number items are now given out before the store ever opens.  A store employee walks down the line with a stack of tickets in his hand.  He calls out what it is, and if you want it, you raise your hand.  Hopefully there are still tickets left by the time the employee gets to you.  But, it makes sense to me!

We had been in line for about 15 minutes when the first tag made it back our way.  Understand that there were at least 200 people in line ahead of us, so the fact that a tag made it was luck in and of itself.  Sure enough, it was the 8 GB iPod that I had planned on purchasing for Mike.  I got the 2nd to last tag, so I know God was smiling down on me.  The store employee made some half-cracked comment about how he wasn't going to be able to get one now, so I felt bad for about two seconds, but you know what, it's really not my problem!

Once midnight rolled around, they did not let us immediately into the store.  I believe they let about 15 people in at a time, let them get where they were going for a few minutes, and then let more in.  We made it into the store around 12:30 am or so.  Once we walked in, we immediately asked a store employee where the Home Depot tool benches were.  They are normally $50, and they had them on sale for $19.99.  Both Amanda and I wanted to get one for our 3 year olds, and we had jokingly said that if there was only one left, it would be every woman for herself.  Luckily, the employee pointed us in the right direction, and when we got over to it there were about 8 left.  We each grabbed one, and then we looked down and they were all gone.  Talk about luck!

Our only problem now was that we didn't have a basket.  I think that crazy lady who got in line pushing one had the right idea, because baskets were apparently a hot commodity.  Amanda set off to find a car for her daughter, Bailey, and I set off to find us a cart.  I am embarrassed to admit that I stole one.  Someone had left their cart outside of the electronics area with one toy and a roll of wrapping paper inside of it.  There was no one near it, and the old lady next to it had no idea who the owner was.  I quickly unloaded the toy and the paper, loaded my tool bench into it, and joined the traffic flow with my stolen basket.  I felt bad for whomever I stole it from, but seriously who leaves their cart alone on Black Friday?

I'm so glad I stole that cart, because Amanda and I loaded it up!  There were toys coming off the top of the basket about 2 feet up in the air.  The only mistake that we made is we got everything we wanted first, and then got into the line to check out.  BIG mistake - checking out took us about 2 hours.  If we could go back, we would have grabbed our big ticket items first, and then one of us would have gotten in line while the other one went looking for extras. 

So, my first Black Friday experience was positive!  I got my big suprise for Mike, got a great deal on a tool bench for Sammy, and learned a few tips for next year.  I have listed them for all you Black Friday virgins . . .

1.  Get in the store line with a cart.  If you can't find one when you get in line, steal one as soon as you can.
2.  Work in teams.  Separate, then divide and conquer.
3.  After grabbing your limited amount items, get one member of your team to stand in the pay line.  Then take turns until you've gotten everything you've needed.
4.  Bring your own coffee from home.
5.  If there is something you want that appears to be sold out, it's probably not.  Go look in the check out line - some people get tired of waiting, and they will drop toy roadkill along the way for you!
6.  Stay positive, and laugh at all the crazies.  One lady stood in line for hours at Toys R Us, only to run over and get in line at Walmart after that.  Apparently her daughter wanted a Zhu Zhu pet, which is really just a stuffed hamster that you can't find anywhere.  I told her to go buy a real hamster, but she wasn't interested.  Her loss!
7.  Go eat pancakes when you're done.  I wish Amanda and I would have done that, but there's always next year!



What's your craziest Black Friday experience?

It's Never Too Late . . .

The other day I was getting ready to take Sophia to the studio for her 3 month portrait sitting. I looked back at Sammy's 3 month pictures, and realized that Sophia was not holding her head up nearly as well as he was at the same age. I panicked! I started thinking of how often I was having Sophia lay on her tummy during the day, and realized that it was not happening very often, if at all. Bad Mommy!

So, to make up for it, I started Sophia on regular tummy time right away. She screamed so much! It was awful, but I felt like it was for her own good, so I made her do it. I actually discovered that if I faced her towards the television while Sesame Street was on that she would put up with it. So, television and tummy time. One good, one bad, right?

Either way, I'm so glad that I jumped on the tummy time bandwagon. Here it is, two weeks later, and she loves it! Sophia is holding her head up like a pro, and she's no longer screaming. Plus, we don't even have to endure the fun of Sesame Street any longer to get her to do it.

I felt so bad that I had put off her tummy time, but once we got started it got so much better so quickly! Is there anything you've been putting off? It's never too late . . . to mend a broken relationship, to get right with God, to call your family . . . Just do it!

Out of the Mouths of Babes . . .

Do you remember that saying, that little ears have big mouths? My 3 year old must have the world's smallest ears, because he sure does know how to talk! I've been joking around for days that he didn't come with a mute button, but seriously sometimes he needs one. Recently, my mother thought it would be great to teach him the Junk song. As in, "whatcha gonna do with all that junk, all that junk inside yo trunk . . . " Picture a three year old running around at the playground, the pool, Sunday School, the grocery store, singing that. Other kids sing the ABC song, but not mine, oh no, he sings the Junk song.

However, I suppose it is a marginal improvement over the Sexy song, as in "I'm too sexy for my shirt," by Right Said Fred. He picked that one up from Shrek 2, and spent several excruciating minutes screaming it at the top of his lungs in the middle of the mall the other day.

He's also picked up several other bad habits from his dad and I. One day in the house I was running around trying to find the ringing telephone, muttering "oh, sh*t" under my breath the whole time. Miraculously, every time our phone rings now, there goes Sammy, muttering the same thing as he runs frantically around the living room looking for the phone. And he has an endearing habit of saying, "ah, dangit" every time something doesn't work exactly the way it's supposed to (thanks, Mike!).

I can't stand these things - but in all actuality where did he learn them from? Yes, it was Meemar who taught him the Junk song, but every other annoying little habit came right from us. So, whose fault is it . . . the fault lies within. We seem to spend an inordinate amount of time teaching our kids the "right" things to say, and the "right" way to do things. But at the end of the day, the lessons that stick with them are the ones that they learn from observation, not from lectures.

I hate that he has picked up some bad habits from us, but at the same time, when I watch him showing concern for another child who is crying, or when he says prayers along with us, I know that we're obviously doing some things right. So, I'll take the Sexy song any day - as long as I can get a hug from my little man!

What are your kids observing?

How did she pee in YOUR pants??

Today, my daughter peed in my pants. Yes, that's correct, I said MY pants.

First thing in the morning, I laid her on the floor to change her diaper. Sophia was screaming her head off, which makes me jumpy to begin with, and we were getting ready to have coffee with a friend, so I already had myself and Sammy ready to go. I was sitting spread eagle, with her in between, and when I opened her diaper I leaned over to grab a wipe.

About that time, I felt a sudden warm feeling, right in my personal areas. I looked down, confused, to see that my pants were wet, and the wetness was spreading. But I wasn't peeing. It was Sophia! In my haste to grab a wipe, I forgot to make sure she couldn't spread the wealth and make any one else uncomfortable. Everyone says that boys pee on everyone, but to be honest I think my daughter has sprayed me at least double in the last two and a half months than my son did the entire two years he was in diapers.

I guess that's life - you have to make sure your bases are covered. Don't borrow more than you can pay back, and always have a backup plan, because sooner or later, someone's going to pee in YOUR pants, and you're the one who's going to have to deal with it. Laundry, anyone??

Wait a minute, that's MY toy . . .

Why is it that children don't want a toy until they figure out that someone else is playing with it? Today I took Sammy and Sophia to the splash pad with some of our friends from church. I brought along a few of those small sand pails you can pick up at the dollar store, and some shovels. Even though it's a splash pad, kids still like to dump water, right?

We had been there for almost an hour already, and Sammy wanted nothing to do with his sand pails . . . until he looked up and noticed a little girl having a grand old time with them. It turned into an all out grabbing war - Sammy pulled the bucket towards him, the little girl pulled the bucket back to her . . . Luckily, although we were grabbing toys, nobody was smacking anyone yet! Sammy is yelling the whole time, "That's MY bucket! MY bucket!"

I think that at times, even as adults, we can still turn into our three year old selves. Here we are, going along in our daily lives just fine until we look up one day and notice that the neighbors got a new car, or a coworker is going on an all-inclusive vacation to Maui. Before, the car you had in the driveway ran just fine, a/c was cool, windshield wipers worked, but once Neighbor Nancy pulls in with her brand new SUV you can't wait to trade in the old model for something to show up that Nancy girl and let her and everyone else know that you, too are the proud owner of a $600 car payment.

Three years ago when Sammy was born, our budget was not in a place where I was able to stay at home with him. I felt very angry about this, even though there was nothing we could do to change the status for the time being. As a result, I started looking for something to fill that emotional wound . . . and I found a Jeep Commander. We bought it used at a Hummer dealership, and actually got a really great deal, even though we really didn't need a new car. I find it interesting now that we thought we couldn't afford for me to stay at home, but we did think we could afford an *almost* new car.

I loved that Jeep . . . and I still do. Full time four-wheel drive, with a Hemi - it's a thrill to step on the gas and roar onto the freeway. It has three sunroofs, a pop down DVD player for the kids, the foldaway third row seat . . . but after all this, it's not really worth it. And I'm honestly not sure it ever was.

Now that I'm at home, we're looking for ways to cut the budget. We've tossed and turned, stayed up nights, tried to figure out how to keep our old friend, but like overnight visitors and dirty socks, after a day or two they really start to stink up the place. We talked to my dad, and he's had the best insight I've heard so far - "That's a pretty expensive car payment for someone who doesn't even have a job . . . "

So, like a jealous lover who's been left behind the morning after, my emotional band-aid sits in the driveway, waiting for a new thrill-seeker. Mike has started driving it back and forth to work, hoping that someone else will see her and take her for the joyride we've had the last three years. We've listed her on Craig's List, and also on AutoTrader. But so far, no one's taken the bait.

What did we learn from this? Don't use things to fill an emotional wound. That's what prayer and family are for. Enjoy the ride, but don't drive the gas-guzzler home. And like my good friend Dave Ramsey says, "Live like no one else, so you can live like no one else."

Here's to living like no one else . . . Anyone want to buy a Jeep??

Fun at the Library

Yesterday we went to the library, which we have not been to in over a year. I had to get a new card, where they notified me about all of my late fees (all of $5), and about the book I turned in that a dog had chewed the corner off of. Thanks, Kona, way to make Mom proud!

While I was getting my card, Sammy ran over to the children's area, where he picked out several different board books and sat on the children's couch. I looked over, and he was "reading" the books by looking at the pictures and telling himself a story. He absolutely loved it!

Sammy told me he wanted a book about dinosaurs, and so we found two of them. We also got a book called "Are You Going to Be Good?" Hopefully that can help us nurture that inner conscience in Sammy, which is always a challenge for every parent.

I just love that Sammy is so interested in books. We have been reading to him daily since he was born, and it's so exciting for me to see what a little reader he is becoming!

Welcome to Chase Place!

After hearing so much about other friend's blogs, and checking out how cute they are, we're doing our own! Welcome to Chase Place . . . I'm hoping to update at least 2 x per week, but we'll see how that goes, considering everything we've got going on!

We had an awesome weekend - I went to the spa with Mom and Trish and Trish's Mom, to celebrate Mother's Day and my birthday. I am so thankful to Aaron and Trish - what a great birthday present! The lady who did my massage kept telling me that I didn't have to worry about my kids or my husband, because today I was a "Spa Girl." She kept calling me a "Spa Girl," which made me feel so NOT a "Spa Girl!"

Today we went to church, where I ran into two people that I know from other places. One lady, Michael and I met in the pool at Westwood Shores last weekend. Turns out, she lives here in Katy and has gone to our church since 1997. Her parents live in WWS and they were out visiting. I also looked over during worship and saw my Weight Watchers leader . . . now I'm in big trouble. If I don't go to church, she's going to ask me where I was at my WW meeting. And, if I don't go weigh in at WW, she's going to ask me where I was at church!

Speaking of Weight Watchers, I now officially have 0.4 pounds to go to get to my pre-baby weight. Wow, with Sammy it took me two years! Of course, I gained 36 lbs with him, and only 21 with Sophia. Maybe I could do this baby thing more often . . . or not!

This evening we went to Aaron and Trish's and had dinner. Trish always makes the BEST main dish - tonight we had a pork roast that she rubbed with a lot of spices. Sammy had a great time swimming in the pool, and we convinced Meemar and PappaTony to come over and have peach cobbler with us. As soon as PappaTony got there, Sammy jumped right out of the pool and ran over to give him a hug! I'm glad that my training to hug grandparents as soon as they got there is working out!

Have you checked out my new haircolor? After years (and I mean YEARS) of being a blonde, I've decided to return to my roots, and become a brunette. Everyone says it looks good, and makes my eyes really pop. See my facebook for a picture! www.facebook.com/lnchase

"Spa Girl" is off to take a shower and wash my hair, then go to bed . . . check back soon!