2/11/11: Interesting TerriTORI

I must be in some sort of reading mood lately.  I tend to go in and out of these.  I read a lot for months and then I stop for about 6 months or so it seems.  Obviously I've been on a reality celeb kick.

This is the 3rd Tori Spelling book I've read. I didn't realize I actually liked Tori Spelling until I watched her reality show and couple years ago.  You know what? She's actually really funny.  I found myself relating to her in a lot of ways.  A couple of years ago we went to Myrtle Beach and I bought her first two books, sTori Telling and Mommywood.  I read them both that week, one actually in one day on the car ride home.  I'm not ashamed to admit that I totally loved them.  If you ever want an easy, funny read pick up any one of her books.  I actually can't wait for the next one!

2/10/11: My baby is sick!

Rylee got her first fever today.  It was a low fever but still a fever.  Sick kids are so sad.  You can always tell by my kids eyes when they are sick.  We had gone to my mom's this day and Rylee just wasn't having much of anything.  She was mad when I tried to give her a bottle.  She was mad when she woke up from her nap, she was mad when my mom told her she was going out to eat without her.  No really, she started bawling, it was actually quite humorous. These pictures were taken at dinner.  She's never to sick to shove her mouth full of puffs though.

Never the one to be left out of a photo op, Morgan needed her picture taken too.

2/9/11: It won't be long now...

Rylee figured out how to do this today. I'm not ready for her to "cruise" let alone *gasp* WALK.  It's just so funny how you want your first child to achieve all these milestones so quickly.  With Rylee, I would prefer if she were still  a tiny baby that didn't move but of course slept through the night.  I will admit I do love this age with her though.  She says mamama and claps and smiles and naturally gets in to everything.  Her and Morgan and finally starting to be able to play together and nothing warms my heart more than listening to them laugh together.  It's sad to think that in a few short months she'll be a toddler already.  Does time just go by quicker with your 2nd, 3rd, 4th, etc. child?  What happened to my baby!?!?!

2/8/11: Birthday Themes? Check!

Paul (and probably everyone else) would say I over do it.  I like to think I'm efficient and creative and the best party planner EVER.  Rylee and Morgan's birthdays aren't until May and June but after Christmas I go into full planning mode.  I've been thinking about the general theme for each girl for a while now.  Morgan is getting to the age where she has a say in what happens at her party.  Which makes things a tad bit simpler for me.  Rylee is at an age where the party is well, mostly for me.

Morgan has decided her party will be Shrek themed.  I've already started the guest list and what decorations I will create and what her invite will look like.  I won't have as much time for her party since Rylee's party will be less than a month earlier and in between parties we will be on vacation in the OBX (Yay!)  I'm cautiously planning around Shrek knowing that it could change to Dora or Mickey Mouse at any time.  I'm optimistic though because I've never watched Shrek more in my lifetime than I have in the last 6 months.  When you can repeat every line from every movie in the Shrek series...that's a problem.

Rylee's party I knew would probably have the colors Red, White, and Blue being that her party would be over Memorial Day weekend.  I decided to incorporate a circus/carnival theme into that.  I'm excited to talk to my fabulous cake maker/decorator Becky Klein about what we (okay she, I really only provide some ideas) can come up with.

I know not every one goes this nuts for their kids birthday parties and some might think I'm a bit nuts. I love birthdays. I love my own.  I celebrate the whole month.  I once had a Super Sweet 26. True story. I will never stop celebrating my birthday in a big way. It's one special day out of the year.  I want my kids to love their birthdays as much as I love mine and as much as I love planning theirs. I don't care if I'm crazy.

2/7/11: The Girl Next Door

I love all things reality.  So of course I watched The Girls Next Door and now, Kendra.  I stupidly thought that I might have time to read on our plane ride to Minnesota back in January. Ha. Ha.  No dice.  I ended up finishing this book today and actually really liked it. I love hearing about behind the scenes stuff of TV shows and all things celebrity.  There was a lot of behind the scenes looks into the Playboy mansion, The Girls Next Door, and Kendra's life now with Hank and Hank Jr.  If you like all things celebrity and want an easy read, I would totally recommend! 

2/6/11: Superbowl: Birthday Edition

This is the second time I can recall celebrating Kelly's birthday during a Superbowl Sunday.  As a matter of fact the last one was the day immediately following her 21st.  It was extremely cold and most schools were being cancelled that night for the next day.  This is the day we found out that my mom is referred to as the Big Cheese by her co-worker. Well needless to say that nickname has stuck. Big Cheese it is!  This year was in celebration of both Ashley and Kelly - 21 and 25!

My mom thinks she's quite clever.  She gave Kelly and Ashley a celeb nickname. Kashly.  I later decided it should be Keshly similarly to Kesha.

Another twist on being cheap, use only one "2" and add the second number for each birthday. I can guarantee my mom did not buy these anytime within the last decade. She only had one "2" and this was the only option.  Notice that the "1" is completely different.

Yes we sing and blow out candles.

On a Superbowl note - the Steelers lost and that is the next best thing to a Brown's win.  We do what we can here in the CLE people.  We're not working with much lately.

Also?  Paul and I (okay I because Paul is a slacker and without me Paul's whole life would fall apart. In the very least we wouldn't gamble as much) won $200 on squares!!  All in all a fabulous day!

2/5/11: Who let the dogs out?

Okay, okay, lame attempt at humor.  Funny side note, my parents went on a cruise circa 2001ish for their 25th anniversary.  The song "Who let the dogs out" had not become mainstream yet.  My dad came home and told my friend Jimmy and I that we just had to listen to this CD of music that was played on the cruise.  Yup, you guessed it, Who let the dogs out was on that CD and my dad thought it was the bees knees.  He was totally rocking to it in the living room that day.  All Jimmy and I could do was laugh.   A few months or a year later when it became mainstream, that day became even funnier.

Back to the point, these are our two home destroyers errr dogs. I really love dogs and animals in general.  We got Kalie (the chocolate lab) shortly after we got married when we bought our house. We previously rented my parents condo and they forbid us to have a dog.  What.ever.  I'm was not happy about that.  I was even more ticked to find out later that the next renters were permitted to have a dog. It was my DAD that caved nonetheless. This is neither here nor there, but I think I made my point, no?  (I'm looking at you parents!)

We jumped on the chance to get Kalie.  She was so cute but I always felt she needed a friended.  She was scared shitless of the 3 cats and needed an ally.  Unfortunately our timing never seemed right to get one. When Morgan was about a year old, Paul was off work for a few months and staying at home with Morgan. We decided if we were going to do it, now was the time.  That's when Ace came into our lives. When we first got him, he was so little and cute, you know how puppies are.  In about 3 month (maybe less) he was HUGE. I wanted a big dog but I wanted a dog that realized he was a big dog.  Ace did not.  He still thought he was a puppy. He still does.

I'm sure I'll have plenty of stories to tell about the dogs in the year to come so I won't go on.  Both of them love to sleep on the bed during the day.  Ace especially loves my side.  Kalie also loves my side of the bed but that's at night when we're sleeping.  Paul hates it that she's on the bed.  I hate when she isn't.  It's just become part of our routine.  Although I will admit there were times during both pregnancies I could have gone for that whole bed by myself!

2/4/11: Friday Night Playdate

You know you have kids when Friday night isn't a prime going out night but more like a prime playdate night. On this particular eve cousin Mack and their mutual friend Jayden came over to play.  They colored, they bounced, they played with a dumb game that does not work as stated. I really tried my best to get them all in a picture but as you know two 2 year olds and an almost 2 year old don't exactly cooperate. Oh well, come back soon guys!

2/3/11: Happy Birthday Kelly!

Today is my sister's 25th birthday.  I'm not sure when or how that happened.  I still remember her as the little girl that followed me around and repeated everything I said and did.  She then later tattled on me a lot.  Unfortunately these pictures have nothing to do with her, so she will have to wait.

These pictures were taken during lunch.  This is not the first time this has happened.  Apparently Rylee finds her high chair to be a quite comfy napping spot.  Either that or maybe she's on puff overdose.  Either way, I find it cute!

2/2/11: Groundhog's Edition

Woo-hoo that little rodent did NOT see his shadow!  While that may help some other people around the world, here in Ohio I know better.  I'm hopeful but I know better.  

If you don't already know we have a few rodents of our own. 5 to be exact.  3 cats and 2 dogs. This is Stu (the black one) and Roman (pretty obvious by now right?).  Stu is doing what he typically does, ruling the roost.  He was our first baby way back when we moved in together and likes to keep the rest of the animals (dogs included) in line.  Roman is a little more of a newcomer.  We got him shortly after Morgan was born.  All of our cats are rescues and about a month after Morgan was born Stu's brother Leo ended up passing away. :(  A couple months later Roman was a kitten who needed a home.  Paul was suckered in and we took him.  He is basically an in your face cat.  Which sometimes is nice and the other 95% of the time is super annoying.  You know, like those times you're trying to sleep, or eat, or basically relax in general...yup he's right there next to you.  Also?  He likes to terrorize our other cat Henri.  It gets old to hear them tearing and screeching through the house.

All in all, we obviously love our animals.  They definitely keep our house exciting!

2/1/11: Wake up, wake up, it's the 1st of the month...

Better known as the day I filed our taxes!  I'm a nerd and really enjoy doing taxes.  I suppose it's that pesky accounting degree and love of numbers.  I stalk the mail all of January for all of our W-2s, tax statements, etc.  I buy Turbo Tax immediately after Christmas and start running it with ball park figures. I realize all of this is incredibly lame but we did get a substantial amount back this year with everything that went on last year.  Unfortunately for the 2nd year in row we owe Ohio some ridic amount.  Eh, you win some, you lose some.

Again, sorely lacking in the picture department lately..

1/31/11: Crap

Crap - something I say before I get on the scale, something I say after I get off the scale, stuff I shove my pie-hole with that cause me to say the things before, something I accidentally say in front of my kid and she repeats it.  That Ben and Jerrys yesterday was the last hurrah in the world of crap.  I'm clearly struggling for pictures the last few days.

1/30/11: Chubby Hubby

I don't have a lot to say here. I love me some Chubby Hubby.  This particular cup/carton (I'm not really sure what to call this? Weird) had the BIGGEST piece of peanut butter in it. Bigger than any I've ever had in all the Chubby Hubby I've ever eaten.  That really is the best part ya know.

1/29/11: Next Store

We had to do some grocery shopping and that included hitting up three different stores.  Morgan would excitedly get back in the car and proclaim "Next Store!".  She was upset when I finally told her at the end of the night that the next store was home. The kids were in rare form this day. Thank God Paul was with me because Morgan could.not.be.contained.  She kept running through the store, throwing fits, etc.  Typical 2.5 year old behavior. She's lucky we were so happy with her Potty Training. She even got to pick out a prize at Target for being so good. She was finally contained at the end by her own cart.

Rylee on the other hand is happy with my camera in her face and a Lean Cuisine. Puffs and a bottle help too. It's the little things in life.

1/28/11: Conway's Irish Ale

This is my favorite Great Lakes beer. Flame me all you want Christmas Ale-ers, this beer is better.  I do still love me some Christmas Ale though.  I've had a two year hiatus from this beer.  Last year I was pregnant with Rylee and we intended to get some in April, to save for when I had her in May.  Except halfway through April we couldn't find it and never did and I never got any.  I was super sad.  The minute the clock struck 12 on 1/1/11 I've been ready for this beer.  I've been looking.  I was really hoping Rays would have it when we were out but they were still selling Christmas Ale..sigh.  I finally found it this day, it was better than I remembered.  If you haven't tried this and you are a beer lover, give it a shot and tell me what you think! I don't think you will be disappointed. 

1/27/11: A day of milestones

Today marked Miss Rylee being 8 months.  Wow where has the time gone?  As I mentioned before this one is a slick one.  She started saying mamamama the other day and I can only attribute it to how many times she hears Morgan yell "Mommy!" all day long. She is a very good imitator and will mimic almost anything you do. In general she is a really happy baby.  She army crawls her way EVERYWHERE. She also enjoys pulling Morgan's hair. A lot.  Morgan, on the other hand, is not a fan. (Of the hair pulling that is, she loves Rylee)  Listening to her and Morgan giggle with each other just might be the best sound these days.

The other milestones, today?  Morgan has 5 months until she's 3 and oh yes, I'm 29.5!  Happy half-birthday to me! 6 more months until the dirty thirty!

1/26/11: Amazon

If you haven't discovered Amazon.com yet, you really don't know what you are missing out on.  Also are you a mom? Do you  have a .edu address that still works?  If you have either one you can sign up for Amazon Mom, or Amazon Student and get 2 day Free Shipping.  I signed up for Amazon Mom at the end of last summer and when that ran up I signed up for Amazon Student using my old Kent address.  At this point the UPS man and I are tight.  I know him, he's probably super annoyed by me and my dogs, it's a match made in free shipping heaven.  I think I did all but a day or two of my Christmas shopping online this year.  Do you realize how nice it is when you need diapers, fellow moms?  Not only does being an Amazon mom automatically get you a nice 15% off baby items like diapers, if you use subscribe and save you get ANOTHER 15% off.  So 30% off diapers that are delivered to my door, free, in two days? Yesiwilltakethemthankyouverymuchbuhbye! Today's present at the door were wipes..and no they were not for Paul..be jealous people be very, very jealous.

1/25/11: Happy 21st Birthday, Ashley!

 Today was my brother's girlfriend, Ashley's 21st birthday.  Here is how the night started:

I iz so happy, I iz getting free shots!

Remember when you turned 21? There is really no where to go but down from this picture on.  Ashley had been out at midnight the night before so I give her props for being able to go out 2 nights in a row.  In the time since my Corey turned 21 (2 years ago) the three of us (Corey, Kelly and I) have not all been out together with our significant others.  This seemed like a perfect opportunity.   Some of us forgot how old we are. Oops. The kids (all 3!) headed to Grandma Kathy's for a sleepover (thanks mom!), we called a cab (Cab's Are Herrreee!) and headed to downtown Kent.

Now seeing it was a Tuesday night, Kent isn't really hopping.  We started at Rays and they still had Christmas Ale on tap.  This is where some people's nights started to go all wrong.  After that we headed to Mugs and I think we were the only people there.  Somehow some cheerleader lifting competition began between the Out-Laws (Paul, Greg, and Ashley) and the Grahams. You can decide the winner for yourself but I think we all know who won.

Grahams:1 OutLaws: 0

Grahams:2 OuLaws:0

Grahams: 3 OutLaws: -1 (They almost dropped her)

Finally a group shot, because at some point of the night  you have to turn in to the cast of Saved by the Bell. I'm not sure who is who but Greg is most definitely AC Slater.

After Mugs we went to Glory Days (which I know is called Water Street Tavern but in my day, it was Glory Days and it used to be next to Paninis, which no longer exists. I'm dating myself)  We were umm asked to leave shortly after because someone *cough*Ashley*cough* wasn't feeling so well in the bathroom.  So we headed back to Rays. This is how Ashley's night ended..back at the place where it all started..

I iz tired, take me home to my awesome hangover bucket.

On a side note, my boot broke that night. Within the first 15 minutes. I was walking to the bathroom and thought it felt funny. I looked down and saw this. Let's just say between that and ice outside I fell no less than 2 times that night. Boo.

1/24/11: To wipe his butt!!

Taking two kids to the store is a task. Especially taking them by yourself while one is potty training and the baby is the only one that fits in the cart these days so you have to chase around the 2.5 year old.  On this particular day we ventured out to buy Ashley (my brother's GF) something for her 21st birthday.  It was intended to be a short trip but it didn't turn out that way.  If it wasn't for the humor of toddlers, I might have pulled my hair out.  

Morgan enjoys roaming the aisles and putting random things in our cart that we do not need.  Now this is probably TMI but Paul is always telling me he wants these little wipes above for himself.  I humored him and put them in his Christmas stocking this year, so of course Morgan took note.  For Ashley's birthday I was putting together a hangover kit for her so we were hanging out picking up things at the travel aisle.  Morgan had put no less than 20 things in our cart by this point so I just stopped paying attention until I heard her scream something as loud as can be when she dropped the most recent item in.  I couldn't understand her or see what she put in the cart so I asked her again. (At this point she had screamed it at least 3 times and there were at least 3 other customers near us)  Then I noticed these wipes in our cart and she yelled again "I GET THESE FOR DADDY TO WIPE HIS BUTT!"  I just had to chuckle, Paul is lucky he wasn't with us. It's funny the things kids can remember.

1/23/11: P90X

Paul decided a while back that he wanted to try P90X.  He borrowed the DVDs from a friend and decided to start this week.  He only got one day in, and after the next few posts you might see why.  He's decided to give it a real start come Monday morning.  After he did do the one day though he did tell me he was incredibly sore in places he wasn't even sure you could get sore.  He also told me how much he does not like Tony Horton and what a douche bag he was on the DVDs.  I would have to agree because I have old Power 90 workout tapes (yes tapes as in VHS) and he runs those and he's a tool.  If Paul sticks with this I've promised him to be the focus of the blog on days 30, 60, and 90 of his workout.  If that doesn't motivate someone, I'm not sure what will!