Tagged by Tiffany

places I've worked
1-Target
2-Aunt Chilada's as a hostess
3-Sylvan Learning Center as a tutor
4-O2B Kids (preschool)

movies I can watch over and over
1-Father of the Bride 2
2-Can't Hardly Wait
3-Dirty Dancing
4-When Harry Met Sally

places I've lived
1-San Ramon, CA
2-Franklin, TN
3-New Port Richey, FL
4-Monroe, NC

favorite tv shows
1-Grey's Anatomy
2-The Office
3-So You Think You Can Dance
4-Supernanny

places I've been
1-Bora Bora
2-New York
3-New Orleans
4-Bahamas on a cruise

favorite foods
1-Mexican
2-Italian
3-Southern
4-whatever I am craving at the moment

majors I've considered
1-Dance
2-International Finance
3-Education


places I'd rather be
1-visiting my mom
2-in the hospital having this baby

If you are reading this, you are tagged! All of the categories are supposed to have 4 items but some just didn't apply to me.

My Water Baby

Last fall Leah took swim lessons (well the baby kind where you just get them used to the water). She pretty much HATED them. She was happy to play games with me but ANYTHING that required her to get her face wet and/or go under made her scream. After a lesson or two, she would scream whenever we approached the pool. It never got any better.

That's why I was so surprised today. We went to the water park at the aquatic center and the water was kinda chilly. At first only Christine and Alex were there (Alex is Leah's age too). Leah would barely dip her toes in then. Alex and his mom were going on the slides but Leah said "No thank you." (Literally) Then after a bit Ian and Ty show up with their families. When Ian started going into deeper water and bouncing around like a bunny, Leah wanted to do it too. She didn't even want to hold my hand! She would also lay on her tummy in the shallow area and push up with her arms so that she was floating on her tummy! You have no idea what trying to get her to float was like in swim lessons. Last but not least she wanted me to swing her through the shoots of water so that they would hit her on the back. This is a child who has a conniption if "sprinkles" touch her. So I was VERY proud of my water baby today.

On another note, the sleeping is still not going well. We had one good night and two good naps since I wrote last about it. Yesterday she spent almost 2 hours in her room in bed BEFORE she fell asleep. I put one of those doorknob things on the door so she can't get out and wander around and it TICKS her off when she tries to get out. Also at night, I think she is having dreams and they wake her up and freak her out. For example last night:

She wakes up screaming Mommy at 4am. When I get to her door she is standing there with blankie saying "I want to sleep in Mommy and Daddy's room." I didn't want to bring her in because usually when I do, no one sleeps anymore that night. But I had to pee so bad (damn prego bladder) that I did anyway. She told us that there were sharks in Leah's room. We talked about how sharks live in water and I said "Do you have any water in Leah's room?" and she said "No, only at the movies." Ahhhh, we had seen Shark Tale on Wednesday as the kids' movie. I guess I can't do anything about her dreaming, can I?

I laughed so hard I cried

Last night was supposed to be so relaxing. Leah did not sleep well the night before due to several coughing spells, but she had a great nap yesterday. She was pretty cranky all day, crying over EVERYTHING. So I decided early bedtime and we would have the evening to ourselves. I have not gotten it together enough to put her to bed early in a LONG time. By 7:20 she was bathed and we were reading stories in her bed. I left at 7:35 completely confident that sleep was imminent. Throughout the next TWO hours, she proceeded to request the following: medicine on her bug bites, more medicine on bites I had missed, a sip of water because she was coughing (also cough medicine), something to put her boogie on (she had picked it out of her nose), and last of all chapstick. This child, at 2 yrs old, has learned the making excuses at bedtime routine. Mike and I were cracking up at each new request, but I was so tired of climbing the stairs every 10 minutes with 50 extra lbs strapped to my front that I was almost crying. This CANNOT happen again tonight. We are going to cover all those bases in advance to see if that works out.

Quick Dr Appt Update

My doctor told me that I am 1 cm today! It is the beginning of the end. No thinning of the cervix though, so he says probably not this week. I predict within a week of my due date. He said we will induce if no baby by August 22nd. So there you have it - one month left no matter what! I have weekly appts now, on the next 2 Mondays. Stay tuned for Baby Watch 2007.

Latest in my life

This weekend was BUSY! Friday afternoon we (Leah, Laurie, Ian, Chase, and I) met Bryan and Mike at Carowinds to go to Boomerang Bay, their water park INSIDE the regular park. It was lots of fun. Leah and Mike went on the Platypus Plunge, which is a double tube ride for kids. We all went as a family on Crocodile Run (a lazy river). I laughed so hard at getting myself into a tube. Mike had Leah already in his lap and was heading down the river when a lady took pity on me and held the tube still so I could flop on it on my belly and flip over. Getting out was hilarious too. I floated past the exit and was starting the river again when I finally hauled myself out. Then I had to wade with my tube against the current to get to the exit. A RIOT! After a yummy Cracker Barrel dinner, Leah passed out the second she laid in her bed and slept until 8am (a miracle!).

Saturday morning, I prepared meals to freeze at Dream Dinners. I made yummy things like Maple Glazed Pork Chops with Bountiful Baked Beans and Canadian Bacon Stuffed French Bread. Those will remain in my freezer until I need them when the baby comes.

My new Harry Potter book arrived at 1pm and of course I started reading RIGHT AWAY! I read for an hour until my baby shower. Laurie hosted a CDS (cul-de-sac) party for me at her house complete with a 10-minute massage for everyone. How awesome was that?!? We played silly games and used our favor bags to work on our fingernails (cute collection of supplies). I had a diaper cake and a BIG basket of baby things to go through. Thanks so much Laurie and all my CDS girls! Pictures are on our website for your viewing pleasure. I read that evening from 5-6:15, then again from 8:30 until 2:15am. I finished the book that night and am VERY happy with it. That's all I can say about that because I have LOTS to friends who are working on it.

Remember if you are reading Harry Potter, be thinking about a discussion question to email me by August 10th.

The Escape Artist

Leah decided to showcase her new skills today. She has not been going down well for naps lately. Some days she won't sleep at all, others she talks for an hour or more before falling asleep. It's really frustrating. So today I cleaned out my van where I couldn't hear the monitor and closed the garage door when I went back inside. I guess Leah heard the door because I could hear her crying through the monitor on the kitchen table, but from FAR AWAY. I happened to close the upstairs baby gate today because of her new skill of opening doors. Even though Leah CAN open doors she has never left her room when she is supposed to be sleeping. I go up the stairs and she is standing on MY bed.

She had gotten out of her room and climbed onto my bed (I have never seen her climb onto my bed before).

Needless to say, there were no naps to be had today.

Just to refresh my memory

I got the chance to relive the good old days when I constantly had poop or spit-up on my clothing. I took Leah to the children's movie of Charlotte's Web today. Toward the end, she was getting restless so I put her on my lap, hoping to last the rest of the movie. As I stood up to gather our stuff after it was over, my pants felt wet. Once I got out into the light I looked down saw a wet spot on my pants where she had been sitting. In the bathroom I discovered that she had EXPLODED out of her diaper on both sides and up the back JUST LIKE A NEWBORN! We had to exit the theater with me, poopy pants, and Leah, naked except for a diaper and sandals. Quite the picture. Needless to say I did NOT get to stop by the grocery store on the way home like I was going to.

One more reminder how FUN those days are.

Note to self: pack extra clothes for EVERYONE!

P.S. I don't know if I mentioned this before, but Leah is now on meds for constipation so those kinds of poops are not unusual, just not usually so explosive.

Book Tour #3

Book: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
Author: J.K. Rowling

Question Due: August 10th

All Questions Listed: August 11th/12th (assuming I am not in the hospital having a baby)

Post Date: August 17th (my due date!)


How the book tour works:

(1) leave a comment or send me an email (angelleg453@yahoo.com) saying that you're interested in participating.

(2) I will keep adding to this list of participants so people will know who is participating and where to go to read other reviews on "post day" (August 17th). You can add yourself to the list up until August 10th.

(3) read harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by August 10th (about 3 weeks from the book's release).

(4) create a single question that would kick off a discussion (in other words, any question that leads to more than a "yes" or "no" answer where someone can express their opinion) and email it to me on August 10th (or any time beforehand).

(5) on August 11th/12th, I will post the list of possible questions. Everyone will choose 3 questions off the list and answer them in a blog entry (if we only have 3 participants, we'll all be answering the same questions. If there are more questions, we'll have more variation on the blog entries because people will choose to answer different questions).

(6) on August 17th, everyone will post their entry. I will post my answers too and a reminder that it's post day so people can go around and read the entries and comment (start a discussion back and forth in the comments section).

Blogaversary

I just realized that my blogaversary was July 11th! I have officially been writing in this blog for one year. I have actually been doing it more often lately and am really enjoying it. If there is anyone out there who reads my blog that I do not have on my links list, leave me a comment. I'd love to know if I have other readers.

Kids say the darndest things!

I have to put in a few of Leah's latest quotes (all today):

L: Mommy, I'm say-rd (scared) She comes to hide next to me and tucks her face away.
Me: Why are you scared, baby?
L: There's a ghost! Where's Daddy?
Me: He's at work, but I am here.
L: I want Daddy come home!

Where is this child learning about ghosts?

I offer Leah a Nilla Wafer before I pack some in a bag to take as a snack.
L: No thanks. Put it in the bag for safekeeping.

Um, safekeeping?

Leah is in bed, supposed to be taking a nap. I hear over the monitor:
Mommy, I have a surprise for you. I have pee pees.
Turns out to be poo poo and that was NOT the surprise. Apparently she has a birthday cake for me. But she put the two topics together to make for a WONDERFUL surprise for me.

Gotta love those little ones. :)

Oh yeah, I had the ultimate pregnancy brain experience today too. I let Leah climb into her carseat by herself this morning while I tied her balloon on the seat. I then helped the guy load groceries into my trunk. We drove off and I called Mike to tell him some of the cute things she said this morning. I am about 2 blocks from the store and I hear Leah saying "Stop talking for a minute Mommy. I have something to tell you. You forgot to buckle my seatbelt." I had NOT strapped that child into her seat! Just drove off and forgot about it. Dang, I need a 2 yr old to keep me on track.

My view on the new HP movie

I have been to the movies more lately than I have been in a year! Mike's weekly wakeboarding trip got canceled due to weather so we WERE able to see Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix last night. This small town of Monroe we live in is SO ridiculous when it comes to movies. It was OPENING night for goodness sake and there was no line and practically no one in the theater 25 minutes before the show started! In Clearwater we would have had to get tickets a week early and wait in line to even get into the theater. AMAZING!

So this might be a spoiler here, do not read on if you are planning to see it and haven't yet. I don't know if it was too hyped or what, but I was left a little disappointed. I truly do think the reason was the shortness of the scenes. This was the longest book and I think it was a struggle to fit all the important plot points in. Everything except the major battles was shown in snippets that really did not give you the proper emotions of the characters. I felt everything was just a bit too SHALLOW. I felt much more deeply while reading. The scene where the students battled for the prophecy was awesome. My favorite by a mile though was Dumbledore and Harry's battle with Voldemort at the end. It was SO well done. I actually liked the changes the director made to the scene BETTER than the book version, which is saying a lot.

There, I don't think that paragraph gave anything away that you would not have known after reading the book. No spoilers here. If you saw it, what was YOUR opinion?

Just FYI

I am planning on Book Tour #3 being Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. I haven't set dates yet but I am guessing we only need like 3 or so weeks to read it because I am sure everyone will be DYING to finish it quickly. I myself will probably finish it by the end of that weekend (July 22nd) so it will not interfere with birthing babies in the slightest.

Hey, I just remembered I was reading Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince when Leah was just 2 months and I read obsessively while she sat in her swing A LOT (sorry, baby). Good thing I read so fast, she was not confined there for long.

Anyway, I guesstimate a question due date of August 10th.

A Pea in the... Nose?

I had to blog about this. It was hilarious and terrifying all at the same time. Last night at dinner Leah had some peas and carrots from the can. Mike and I are sitting there with her and she is watching Dora as a special treat. We usually don't watch TV at dinnertime. So all of a sudden I notice that she is digging in her nose. I tell her to stop and she says "A bean." I immediately thought of pea and said "Is there is pea in your nose?" She said "Yeah." I still didn't think it was true, I mean, why would she put a pea in her nose? Then Mike held her other nostril and made her blow, and suddenly we could see the pea. It worked well for a minute, then I guess she freaked out and sucked in. We couldn't see the pea at all anymore. I run upstairs to get the tweezers and I can hear Mike downstairs telling her to blow again. At this point I think he was scaring her and she started crying. I was afraid that crying would make her breathe it in even farther, so we had to calm her down. I took her on my lap and talked calmly to her while reaching in her nose with the tweezers. I still could not see the pea, but I kept grabbing farther and farther in. I was freaked out to go to far, but it didn't take too long to grab the pea and pull it most of the way out. Five seconds later it was out and she was back to eating chicken nuggets, no more peas today. :) We starting having her repeat "Food only goes where?" and she says "In my mouth, not my nose, not my ear, only mouth!"

Ahh.... parenting adventures!

This weekend and our trip to Chimney Rock

This past Saturday we had an extremely busy but fun day. First we packed up our stuff and headed to the Lazy 5 Ranch in Mooresville for our neighbors' Kenna(6) and Andi(4)'s birthday party. We got to ride a wagon around the ranch and feed animals like bison, ostriches, and giraffes out of our hands! Leah did not like to let them eat from her hand so much (and I can't blame her) but she would watch Daddy from the safety of Mommy's arms. Very fun trip to anyone who comes to visit us, it's about an hour and a little drive from our house. I do not have any pictures because we FORGOT our camera. We are bums. My friends should be sending me their pictures soon so that I can post them.

After we left there, we headed straight for Mike's boss's house. He lives on Lake Norman. They have this party there every year called the Dock Crawl. Several neighbors get together and throw this party on their collective docks. This year Matt hired a band to play on the top of his dock (the bottom is where the boat is dry-docked). FYI this is where Mike goes wakeboarding every week. So we stopped at Wal-Mart on the way and bought me a pop-up float and Leah a little blow-up boat and Mike a tube. I thought Leah would be a little scared to climb right in the lake since she is hesitant to get in the pool most of the time. She was NOT AT ALL! She LOVED floating around being pulled by us. After a little while she wanted to sit at the bottom of my float, which was nice because she was more in the water. She wore her swimsuit with the floaties built-in so we didn't worry too much about her jumping from float to float. We finally headed home that evening to see my dad and Myrn who were waiting at our extraordinarily messy house.

Monday we drove over to the Chimney Rock/Lake Lure area. It is really nice over there. We explored the town a bit when we got there, but it was raining at first. We ended up having really good pizza overlooking the lake and walking around this pretty boardwalk once the weather cleared. Tuesday we headed up to Chimney Rock itself. That was an awesome drive up and an even better view at the top. Leah and Mike took some other paths too. The first picture is a rock called Devil's Head that they saw when they took a little walk without the rest of us. After we were all done exploring and almost ready to head down the Rock, Mike realized that he had locked our keys, his wallet, and both of our cell phones in the car! We then proceeded to wait 3 1/2 hours for AAA to come and let us in. I guess we couldn't have picked a better setting, but still we were all STARVING when we finally could leave. (We snacked out of the gift shop in the meantime.) We stopped to grab a sandwich and take some pictures by the river (had forgotten our camera in our explorations the day before) before we headed home utterly exhausted. I really want to go back up there next year and hike some of the trails that go to the waterfall. The top of the waterfall is the film site of The Last of the Mohicans. They rent kid carriers (backpacks and front packs) if you don't already own one to hike around with.

So now we are gearing up for 4th of July dinner at our house (homemade spaghetti and meatballs from my dad, YUM) and then a trip to the park to see the fireworks. We may also head over to Waxhaw to the parade. Will post pictures of that later!

Let's be honest here

I only got halfway through the book and was not psyched to finish it. I have also heard this from several sources. Do you gals want to call it a day on this round and start fresh after this week? I have too many other interesting reads lined up to spend so much time on something I don't enjoy. If you are mortally offended by this, let me know. :) Otherwise Book Tour #2 has been canceled.