The long overdue picture post... I don't think I've posted pics in a while... for your viewing pleasure...

Max takes it and keeps loving us... I give you... Mother Max. Sometimes Ellie thinks Max is her baby. Apparently she thought he was cold.
Max, tenderheart and love-a-lot bear napping...

I gave a woman I work with 2 pack-n-plays cause one of her daughters has 5 (or 4?) kids in a 2 bedroom apartment and some were sleeping in the living room... we have 4 pack-n-plays between my parents, sister and I... for one kid, Ellie. I thought her daughter could use them more than me... so in return she hand made Ellie this doll... which you can see she loves. Am I the only one who see's an odd resemblance?
Our weekly get together with the girls... Jess, Nora, Tanya and Hunter... Ellie and Hunter are so totally into being princesses...
Wardrobe change! Ellie and Nora
Greg was the best man in his buddy Hunter's wedding this weekend... It was at a really cool place in the twin cities... outside and a bit chilly... but the ceremony was short so we were inside in no time! (and thank god for that cause Ellie decided to take a big crap right in the middle of the ceremony). The bridesmaids wore a really cute orangish colored dress... perfect for a fall wedding. You know... I don't think I have a picture of the bride?! Go HERE!
Ellie and her godfather Hunter the groom... I think this is such a cute picture!
Ellie enjoyed the chocolate fountain!
Time to get these darn shoes off...
We have been busy, busy, busy. Working, playing, rearranging our house, cleaning... I'm pooped and need some sleep.

I'm so happy I'm in tears! My oldest friend (she's the reason I started my own blog) in the blogging world just had twin girls. They are so angelic and beautiful! I'm so proud and happy for her. Congrats Chas. You guys did a beautiful job.

I don't even have to do a post about why I believe Obama should be president. I think McCain/Palin are slowly (or maybe not so slowly) taking care of this all by themselves.

This Letterman bit cracks me up. You seen it? It is entirely worth the 9 minutes 11 seconds it takes out of your busy day.

what do you call yours?

I changed Ellie's diaper tonight and she pointed to her vajayjay and told me it was her "giny". I was so caught of guard I said, "your giny"? and she said "yeah! my giny"! in the happiest most proud little voice, like she was showing me some art project she'd done that day.

I asked her who told her it was called her giny and she said our daycare ladies name. Which, by the way, is totally fine with me. It actually cracks me the eff up.

Hearing your 2 year old talk about her giny is hilarious.

I just sat down on the floor next to Ellie's bed to read our usual 2 books before bed... usually she sits in her bed but tonight she crawled into my lap. I started reading "Dear God"... she was being kinda squirmy... she gets up, grabs her B (blankey) and covers my lap then sits back down. This was her subtle way of telling my my legs are prickly and I need to shave.

So not in the mood to blog lately. No reason really. I need a vacation. A mommy only vacation. A day at a spa. All. By. Myself. Get my hair cut/colored. Get my toes and nails done. Get a massage. Get waxed (tmi? sorry). Sip a beer margarita (ok, probably not served at a spa... but this is my dream, ok). Read a book. Peace and quiet. No one asking me for ANYTHING. I'm stressed at work. Stressed at home. Stressed in general. Need I say more?

I'm watching the Locator right now on the WE channel and am crying like a freakin baby!! Good grief!!

bottom of the barrel

This is an email I sent a few of my friends today... I rarely talk about work on my blog... I'm not sure it is an appropriate place and I'm not always certain who reads... but remember if you are reading this and know me in real life, this is my place, my space to vent.

I just can’t work with people who don’t do teamwork. I am at the bottom of the hierarchy here and it is made WELL known. When a worker above me offers to do something nice to help me out… they are told their time can be better spent and that they don’t get paid what they do, to do that kind of work (whatever it is they were doing to help me). So how do you think that makes me feel?????? When someone thinks they are better/more important than someone else it creates huge animosity. I am tired of being made to feel like shit. Like the bottom of the garbage can. Belittled. Like I don’t matter. Like dirt. Seriously… I’ve been on the brink of tears all day… just trying to keep them in. I’m going insane. I just can’t feel like this every damn day.

Another worker has been talking to me about it… how the front desk is treated like dirt. And she said she’s always taught her kids to treat the front desk staff wherever they are working like gold… cause they are the most important part of the office, keeping everything together.

I’m not stupid. I’m smart. I went to 4 years (5 actually) of college for goodness sakes, I have a degree. I have run a Planned Parenthood clinic. I have run a gift shop. I run a household. So why am I feeling like I’m . that big… and I’m letting her GET TO ME?

Tonight I feel drained, exhausted, beat down and sad. I need some sleep and am hoping tomorrow will be a better day. One things for sure, it's Friday, so that makes it better already!

mommy's are entitled to a little bragging... right?

Lets start out with a little background on our daycare. When Ellie was first born and I had to go back to work 11 weeks later I about had a heart attack. I couldn't fathom the idea of my little bitty baby being at a daycare with a bunch of 1-? year olds who were rowdy and rambunctious. I was afraid of her getting hurt, not getting enough attention, etc, etc. Because after all, who better to care for her than me? After many days of sobbing and near anxiety attacks when I thought about going back to work Greg and I came up with an idea. We planned to ask my cousins wife, who was a stay at home mom with one little boy and a school aged daughter to watch Ellie. I thanked God when she said yes. I loved LeAnn. She was the next best thing to me. She cared for and loved Ellie just as I did. Towards the end of 2006 LeAnn found out she was pregnant. Jacob was born in August and it was determined that he had had a stroke in LeAnn's belly and had also acquired a disease called CMV. One day LeAnn let me know that she would no longer be able to watch Ellie as Jacob was going to be a full time job. I was so sad, but knew that it was for the best for Jacob. She gave me as much time as I needed to find a new daycare. So my search began.

Our local social service agency provides a list of all the daycares in our county. I got that list and started making calls. I had gotten suggestions from friends and family... but nothing was panning out. Ellie was below the age of 2 and daycares are limited hugely to how many kids under 2 they can have. I got no after no after no. I even was told by one lady, rather rudely, that she would only take a full time kid (we only needed daycare about 10-12 days a month) so rather than take Ellie this bitchy lady didn't get any business. Serves her right. Anywho... I had heard about (for privacy I'll call it B's daycare) B's daycare (and preschool) before. A few people I knew took their kids there. I'd also grown up with her kids (well sorta, one was in my grade and I knew him). I just happened to pick up the phone that day and she answered and said, "it's your lucky day, I'll have one opening on November 2nd". I was SO, SO happy!

So that started our venture with B's daycare. I had spoken with the woman who licenses daycares in our county and asked her some questions and for some evaluations of B's daycare. She had excellent reviews from other parents and even went as far to tell me that B does not need to do daycare she does it because she loves it (apparently her hubby makes plenty of $). She also told me that when a new must-have toy comes out, B will go to Target/Walmart and rather than have the kids fight over 1, she'll buy 4. So, I was sold. Not that any of this made me any happier to be leaving my kid at daycare 8.5 hours 2-3 days a week (Greg is home with her the other weekdays while I'm at work). But it gave me an inkling of comfort.

B's daycare was a separate addition onto her 3-4000 square foot home. It is beautiful. She usually has 3 staff there with her every day. She also purchased another home and runs another daycare there. She employs more staff at that site. She also has a preschool teacher on staff.

Over the last year I've slowly, very slowly started to realize that Ellie (and I) are ok with daycare. My SAHM wishes are going away and it is ok with me. I feel great about the position we are in financially (finally!) and I love Ellie's daycare. And most importantly Ellie loves her daycare. She plays with other kids, learns, does crafts and just enjoys her day. I have actually come to the conclusion (and remember this is my opinion and I'm NOT JUDGING YOU or YOUR CHOICES) that Ellie has grown so much more in the daycare setting than she ever would have with me. They just have so many more resources than little 'ole me.

Whew, that was a long history... now here's what I have to brag about. I went to pick up Ellie today and asked A about the preschool curriculum. I've started to check into preschool for next fall since Ellie turns 3 in May. So as I'm talking with A she says, "you know, I think Ellie is ready to start now, she is very smart, when we lay the kids on the changing table to change their diapers we always sing the abc's or count to 10 and Ellie can do both those things. I will check tomorrow, but I think we could start her early." Yes, yes, I am a proud mama. So proud. :) I want her to learn, learn, learn and be smart, smart, smart and go places during her life. So, Ellie might start preschool next week! Wow.

I was second guessing this and thinking, awww... it's to early... I want her to play and have fun and be a kid... there is enough time for school. But after talking with A I realized that they don't sit at a desk all day long and learn. This is preschool for goodness sakes, they make it fun.

Anyone see today's Oprah episode? I can't tell you how sick, sad and disgusted I am. I actually cried my eyes out for about the first 15 minutes and told Greg he might have to turn it off. How sick do you have to be to be doing something as horrible as that to a child, a toddler, an infant! I cannot even imagine what happens during your lifetime that makes you that sick and demented. What the hell is going on in this world? It scares the shit out of me.

this weekend...

Friday

Had dinner at my parents house. It seems like we never see them anymore and we practically live in the same town! We hadn't seen them in over a week and so Friday night we had a yummy chicken and rice hot dish (I picked out the chicken) with steamed broccoli and nummy bread. My dad wasn't feeling well so we pretty much packed'er up after dinner and headed home.

Saturday

Greg had a bachelor party that he had planned. All the guys met in Lakeville for a fun afternoon of paintball (wooohoo -sarcasm) and then they headed out to Old Chicago for dinner and drinks. A pretty low key party was planned for Hunter his low key friend... until I got a phone call at 12:30 a.m. on the dot. It was Greg and he had just taken Hunter home... a puking Hunter home... Hunter who days earlier had said he didn't want to drink to much and wanted to keep things low key. Gotta love a good bachelor party! :) A few shots = a good time. Greg had planned to spend the night but when he called at 12:30 he said he was on his way home... from a town about 2 hours away. I immediately get pissy and tell him to just stay and get some sleep and drive home in the morning as planned. I had just gone to bed at 11:30 (had to catch Michael Phelps on SNL) and I just didn't want to be up worrying until he got home... I wasn't sure how much he'd had to drink, if he was at all sleepy, if he would visit the side of a deer, etc. It just made me nervous. So I pretty much laid there... worrying... waiting for a phone call saying he was in jail... that he'd gotten a dwi... had hit a deer... I must have nodded on and off and at 2:04 I woke up again and called him. He didn't answer. Shit, mind wandering. I called again. No answer. So I'm thinking the worst... he's fallen asleep and is in the ditch... he got pulled over and can't call me... then I start thinking about how much it'll cost to get our car back, let alone his license... (YES I KNOW I'M A WORRY WART). About 5 minutes later he called me back. He was in RW and was getting gas. THANK GOD! He was just leaving town and would be home shortly. So by 2:50 we were safe in bed. What a horrible night. And it got even better when Ellie woke up at 5:35. Seriously. I got about 4 shitty hours of sleep last night, Greg about 3. Fun times.

Sunday

Today we had my cousin Amanda's and her hubby Dave's baby shower. Henry is about 2.5 months old and he is such a cutie! Totally put the urge in me to get going for #2! Ellie really liked holding Henry... which was a change from when Nora was born and she wanted nothing to do with her! It was really fun to see my dad's side of the family... we don't see them enough. Ellie even shared her stickers with Henry...


After the shower we made a quick stop at my mom and dad's to pick up a dress and a princess Halloween costume my mom had bought Ellie. She is totally into the princess thing right now. She cannot get enough of Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, Belle, Snow White, Jasmine and Ariel. We do not have enough pairs of princess pj's and when they are all dirty... she freaks. It is quite funny actually. My little drama queen.

We got home and everyone took a short much needed snooze. Woke up and thought I'd make some dinner but neither Ellie nor Greg were hungry so instead I made a batch of cauliflower puree. I think making purees is therapeutic for me! I get to be in the kitchen alone... Greg plays with Ellie... I have an hour of me time! I'm excited to make homemade mozzarella sticks... I'm thinking I'll be doing that tomorrow night... will let you know how that goes and post the recipe. So, I cleaned and cut up an entire head of cauliflower, steamed it in 2 separate batches for 8 minutes, then pureed 5 separate batches in the blender. Adding a few teaspoons of water in each batch to make it a bit more smooth.

My beautiful puree! Puree tip - place a baggie in a cup and pour your puree in it for freezing... it is much easier than just holding the baggie and and hoping it all goes in the bag!


My least favorite thing about making puree... lots of dirty dishes.
Oh I'm so sad the weekend is over. I just ~HATE~ Mondays... work... ewwww.

VMA observations... to be updated as the show goes on

Anyone watching the VMA's right now??

Brittany is beautiful (hair, makeup, body, dress) and did a great job opening the show...

Rhianna sounds horrible... agree, no?

Whoa Mr. Brand... he went there... talked about Palin, her daughter and the poor boy who knocked her daughter up... yikes... called the prez a "texas retard"... double yikes... asked the audience to vote for Obama... wow, I just sometimes think there is a time and a place for politics... was the VMA's the right place? Not so sure it was... I'm totally a liberal feminist democrat if you haven't figured it out yet (duh!) but that was a bit out of line in my opinion!

Go Brit! She won her very first VMA!

Spencer and Heidi make me wanna vomit. I cannot stand them.

Demi Moore is HOT.

I seriously want to buy Lil Wayne a tighter belt.

The building these awards are being held in looks like a high school gymnasium. What's with that?

How did Paris get so famous?

Go Brit! She won her second!

I am in love with Kid Rock. He's so scruffy, old school and for some odd reason that I don't even understand, hot. Or maybe it's just that his new song brings me back to the good 'ole days...

I'm hungry... I need a snack.

Go Brit! She won her third!

Kanye... not sure what I really think about that dude. Kinda cocky.

VMA's over. Not that exciting this year... my highlights... Kid Rock and Brit.

Now I'm watching the US Open... GO Serena!

i *heart* jon stewart

This made me laugh out loud... I know both Republicans and Dem's do it... but this is just too funny ;)


http://www.thedailyshow.com/video/index.jhtml?videoId=184086&title=sarah-palin-gender-card

Seriously. Ellie just pee'd on the kitchen floor (while wearing a diaper). Then she came and told me. She said it "leaked momma". Umm. O. K. It leaked. Riiiiiight. ;)

This is why we got rid of the dog...

cute kid alert

You MUST go here (the Sept 5th entry) and check out my cutie patootie goddaughter ohprincess2. She had her first day of kindergarten this week!

can you walk out with just one thing?

I went to Target for this: (suggested by my dermatologist)
and left with this: (she prances around and sings that she is a princess, which is pretty cute)
and this:
and these:
and these:
Spent $25 when I intended on spending $4. I'm such a sucker.

3 dr. appt's

* went to the dr. Tuesday afternoon. have been feeling a nauseous/nagging feeling in my stomach since we went on vacation the second week of August. with a 2 horrible nights of diarrhea to top it off... (tmi, sorry).

* dr. ordered an abdominal ultrasound to be sure it wasn't my gallbladder.

* dr. gave me a Rx for omeprozole... a reflux med. he thinks that this is all related to reflux (if not the gallbladder).

* went to the dr. Wednesday morning at 7:15 for ultrasound. ultrasound came back just fine.

* started my reflux med's. already feel better.

* had a dr. appt today with my dermatologist. had three moles removed. 2 scary looking ones and one i wanted removed simply for cosmetic reasons. it has been two years since I saw her last. the one I blogged about a few months back was removed. dr. was concerned about it because two years ago that mole wasn't there and it looked funky. then i showed her the one on my back. she said that one looked even funkier. crap. 3 less moles on my body and I can't shower tomorrow. crap again. but hey, at least its Friday :).

* dr. said, a letter = good news. a phone call = bad news. i'm praying for a letter!

v-day #4

4 days and counting. So far so good.

I'm in *LOVE* with Morningstar veggie burgers. They are SO yummy. And the corn dogs! They taste EXACTLY like the real thing. I bought Silk soy milk tonight. Had a half a glass of it tonight with dinner. I was thinking I really wouldn't like it... but it wasn't bad at all. I'm excited to try the chocolate... I think Ellie will like that too.

I have encountered one problem. People's perception/judgement of a vegetarian.

Why do people care that I have chosen to not eat meat and limit my dairy intake? I don't get it. Is it offensive to some people? I certainly don't think I'm any different a person because I choose not to eat meat while you choose to eat it. What's with the eye rolls and comments? It's almost like something I need to keep a secret so people like me still. How lame ass does that sound? Is it intimidating? I would never think I'm better than someone because I don't eat certain foods. So what's up with that?

Oh lord. Do you think McCain saw this coming?!

www.celebrity-babies.com/2008/09/sarah-palin---b.html

Skinny Bitch

So, I've been reading this book. Have you read it? What'd ya think of it?

I'm not about to go all extreme and turn my family into a non-everything eating vegans... but I think we will start with a small change. Or I will anyway. I am going to go vegetarian. I'm going to give it the best go I can. What affected me the most was the parts about the inhumane treatment of the animals on the factory farms. It really bothers me. I've been researching the vegetarian lifestyle all morning. Trying to learn exactly what it entails. Reading recipes and other ways to get enough protein, etc out of your diet. Greg and I went grocery shopping and we purchased a few MorningStar items. Veggie burgers, veggie chicken sandwiches, veggie corn dogs and a bag of veggie meatless meat. We just made a lasagna with the veggie meatless meat (it's like a lb of burger meat, frozen). It is very good. I have to say I'm pretty impressed. Greg is taking a nap, so we'll see what he says when he gets up.

I've always been a little iffy about meat. Yes, I've eaten countless burgers, chicken sandwiches and steaks in my life. But it's the memories like my aunt chowing down on a rare prime rib still soaking in blood on her plate that make me quiver with disgust. The smell of ham brings me back to 12th grade biology lab... where we dissected baby pigs (it seriously smells the same and I've had a hard time eating deli sliced ham since). Ours was named bacon. That is so sad.

While giving up meat will be challenging at times... I think overall it will be a healthy lifestyle change for me... maybe even help me loose a few lbs... since I can't eat much fast food anymore... (crying inside)... but the alternative versions to meat are, from what I've tasted so far, pretty good.

The other part of the book that bothers me is when they talk about milk. Mainly the hormones that are injected into the cows to aid their bodies in producing unnatural amounts of milk and what these hormones can/will do to a human. I've heard before from my chiropractor (who specializes in pregnant women's chiro) that we are the only adult species on the planet that drinks milk. And we drink another species milk. Why not zebra milk? Elephant milk? Why? Because cows are easier to house. The book eludes that this all comes down to money. The dairy industry being a billion dollar industry every year due to the help of very clever advertising campaigns. Is milk entirely unnecessary for our diet? Did you know that like humans, cows only produce milk when they give birth. That is when the are meant to produce milk... not at a farmers request. They aren't animals that actually need to be milked. This is all very perplexing to me. Really makes me consider what I'm putting in my (and Ellie's) mouth. Have any of you tried the Silk soy milk? Your opinion?

I know a few of you out there are vegitarians. I'd appreciate any info/advice/products/recipes/websites that you have found helpful.

My mom just called and wants to meet me at McDonald's at noon with Ellie... this will be my first challenge... salad and a fruit n yogurt parfeit it will be. :)

p.s. I don't actually think I will ever become a skinny bitch. ;)