Marcelus' Messy Situation

For you veteran mom's out there, does this mean anything: Marce will go in his room and shut the door when he needs to go poop in his diaper. It's like he doesn't want me to know or something. He also will take his diaper off almost every time he has no pants on...
He just turned 2 in February so I doubt he's ready to potty train, but are these signs off wanting to?

This morning he was in the shower with me and then I get out and dry off and then get him, while I dry off he just plays in there, but today he made better of his time and took a poop right in the shower. I kept asking him as I put deoderant on and tone my face, ect. if he was ready to get out and he kept saying no. I just figured he wanted to play a little longer, then I saw him on all fours and he was quiet, so I checked and sure enough, behind him was a nice little pile for me...Ha Ha

It's Over

It's over for the Suns. I'd like to say that we are inconsistant and surprising at times in that sense. I'd like to say about the Spurs, that they are whiners. They complain after EVERY call as if they never can do anything wrong. It's like they are in total disbelief...I'd also like to say that they are dirty. They will trip, grab, hold, ect. players and not get called for it. They are floppers. For anybody who knows anything about basketball, you will know what that is. It's a cheap way of playing and that's exactly what they do: they play cheap. I especially hate the hack a Shaq approach. What kind of coach has his team do that to try and get ahead. If I were his player I'd refuse. That is like the biggest whimpy girly way of trying to win I have ever encountered. Let the MEN play. If they want to win, they should have to win as men. They are nothing but girls to me...the hack a Shaq and the cheap fouls and flops are just too much for me. Any time they win a title, it is so tainted for me by the way that they play, it's not a true win for me. It doesn't help that for some reason the reffs of the NBA are just so in love with the Spurs, why is that? They complain on every little call against them, no matter what! I have to be honest and say that the reffing really does play a huge role in these games and the reffs were incredible this series, favoring the Spurs the whole time,...it's not even questionable because they show the replay right there on the big screen for everyone to see. But, when the call is made and it's wrong, there is no reversing it. It's so frustrating when you have more than a few of those happen to your team. The Spurs move on, dirt and all to play New Orleans, who has been playing well all season and dominated their series against Dallas. I don't love New Orleans but I hope so badly that they kill the Spurs. I would say that I hope Duncan or actually Parker gets injured or something...but I want them to be at their best when they get killed, knowing they gave it everything and lost cause dirty players don't deserve to win.

Our Day

Yesterday (Monday) we went into town. Our first stop was my favorite store to shop for Marce, and now Phoenix too, Once Upon A Child. I walked in and it was like cut in half almost and there was a wall where there used to not be one and they have downsized. That was a bummer. But, it's still an awesome store and between that and Duderbugs out here in Maricopa, I think I will get my second hand fix. Afterall I found as much this time as I normally do. They had a bumbo seat behind the counter, I asked about it but it was not priced yet. I would have boughten that. It's one of the last things I really want to get and I'd like to just buy a used one if I can. It's one of those things that can't really be worn out...anyway I just shopped for clothes. I bought Phoenix 3 dress shirts for church, a pair of white/grey Nike basketball shoes, a pair of cut off sweat shorts (OshKosh), a white/orange rash guard (Old Navy) It's tiny 0-3 months! I had a coupon anyway so it was even more cheap.

We also went to Rio Salado college to have Shar talk with a counselor about school. Apparently he needs more credits for his associates in Corrections than we thought but it doesn't really matter. He would go online so he can start anytime but probably won't for a few more months anyway.

After Rio, we took Marcelus to a Park that was really big and farm themed. I was exhausted at this point in the day so we didn't stay long. I knew had I not been pregnant I would not have been hot, it was a pretty nice day but my feet hurt and my body is just so tired, good thing we only have a couple more in town Mondays before Phoenix comes. After the park we had to finish up and shop for food at Walmart. After an oil change and a car wash, we headed home! It was dark when we finally came home! We didn't have time to go to get my phone charger so I will have Sharrid's phone for another week at least. I want my own up and running in case I needed to get a hold of Shar if I'm in labor. I still could anyway, and I am still just 35 weeks but still. Hopefully this next Monday I can get it, but I don't know if we're going into town so maybe another 2 weeks. Yikes!

Today is Tues. and the Suns are back in San Antonio for tonight's game. We'll see how it goes. I don't doubt they'll win another or maybe 2 but it's unlikely they'd win the 4 in a row they need. The Spurs are going to come back strong at home and since they got killed last game.

Marce has been watching so much Backyardigans, he is glued. I bought him the Surfing DVD yesterday. It was only ten bucks. I was really happy about that because I'm going to have to get more but he has been watching it non stop and last night (the first time) he just stood there, glued, holding the case...he didn't even move or sit down the whole time! It's nice for me, I am so tired and worn out. Lately Marce's terrible two's have been pretty bad. He's been crazy tantrum like, and real physical. I know when Phoenix gets here he'll be better and as he edges towards age 3...

I can't believe it!

I can't believe it but the last couple days Marcelus has been asking for milk. He learned the word from Baby Einstein a long time ago even though he has never liked milk. I have been drinking a lot of strawberry and chocolate milk I guess and maybe he's just in this copy stage, because he does this with ice water. Don't get me wrong he still loves juice but has a lot of water and now is starting to drink strawberry milk too. I've tried it before but he didn't take to it, but now he is so I had to blog about this. It's pretty cool for us. And he is doing great with his little Dixie cups!

Family History

I have mentioned many times before on this blog that my favorite form of family history is footage. Memory boxes and trunks are also very cool if you have some information behind what you are handling. This blog is going to be a wonderful peice of family history as I make it into a book every year. Pedigree charts just don't do it for me, or geaneology in other words, without more information and stories to really get to know the people, names and dates mean nothing. That's why I love footage so much, I can see my ancestors walking, talking and they come alive of course, whereas when you just see a picture or their name in print, it just doesn't compare, esp. the pictures of those days when you really couldn't smile or move. One day we are going to have moving pictures, like in Harry Potter.

As my part of family History I try to take plenty of quality footage, and I think about the future when I take it, sometimes we think we're getting the goods but when we watch it years later it moves too quickly, I will move slower sometimes and leave the camera on a person a little longer so people in the future can really SEE them. They might not have had the chance to meet this person...I also try and film nothing, I mean you know it's great to get all the occasions, events, ect. but it's also just as great to get candid real moments that may seem boring now but will be a treasure in the future, because in the future it will be different. Those boring things will become facinating. I also, aside from filming try to really make an effort on this blog (it's not hard for me to do that) and I think anyone who is not doing a blog is really missing out on a chance to do some major family history. I will also do scrapbooking, but will start that sometime in the future when I have more time, money, and space to do it. For now I keep all my pictures dated and in order filed ready to go.

My uncle Paul has recently visited my Grandma Willard and gotten her to record some stories and memories of her life, especially as a kid. I have just finished them and it was so cool to read them. I can't wait to read them for a family night when my kids are older. I learned some things about my grandma and after I was finishing the last part I knew the names of her parents and siblings mostly. I wish she would give more stories. I'm glad I at least have what I do. It was interesting to find a couple names that I have in mind for my kids that are actual relatives of mine...

I have been planning for some time to interview my grandparents on the other side (Packard) together at their house. I need to organize questions and such for our California trip this late summer and will ask my grandma if they'll have a time to sit and do that. I'll then come back home and put it on DVD. I want my kids to know how amazing they are, esp. my grandma. She's one of my favorite people. I love watching the footage of my mom and grandparents a lot younger, and growing up and hope my kids gain the same love.

For anyone that has those stories of Grandma Willard, get reading them. They are great!!

Push Over

Marcelus has been waking up early lately, his sleeping is off. I put him to bed at pretty normal times. Maybe he is trying to do away with naps but he has one just about every day, again lately the naps have been early because of his getting up early. He has been worse behavior wise because of his sleeping. This morning he was a complete...ugg...can't think of a good word, but he was horrible. I about strangled him as I am getting sleep but never feel like I have enough in the morning. He asks for a million things I think so he can just get me up. He used to do fine when he woke up early, he'd leave me alone but since it's every day now, he's bugging me so much for things he doesn't even end up wanting at all. He had 2 major time outs this morning BEFORE 8 AM. If I don't kill him before Phoenix arrives I think we'll be good to go. His sleeping is improving, even if his cycle or pattern or whatever you want to call it is off, it is improving, now if I can keep improving while getting him back ON track...he would behave much better. The more pregnant I get the more irritated I am and I'll have a much shorter fuse with him. I'm glad they don't go through the terrible two's when they're 10 because he is already stronger than me and physically he is a work out for me, he's a tough cookie and he's tough on me anyway.

On the other hand of all this, I am becoming a bit more of a push over the more pregnant I get because I'm tired, and I'm sick of behavior problems and I just want peace. Marcelus has had way too many marshmellows this morning...but do I care...NO, he's happy, I'm happy, and I don't have to fight him. I admit I would not normally give him handful after handful but I'm kind of at the end of my rope here.

So it's either strangle Marcelus because I'm at the end of my rope or become a complete push over because I'm at the end of my rope, there's really no in between for me right now. The marshmellows are gone now and it will be until Monday that I buy a new bag...thank goodness Shar will be home for the weekend!

We're finally going to make it!

Sharrid's family is all up in Stockton CA. except for him. He hasn't been up there since before we were married, (over 3 years ago), and I have never been up there, which obviously means that Marce hasn't either. We have been wanting to go forever but never have been able to. Sharrid's family is well,... pretty disfunctional and most of his brothers don't have the means or cars even to come and see us. We would have to stay in a Hotel and eat out probably for every meal. So that kind of makes it more of a major trip for us.

We have recently come across a way that we will be able to go and so it's pretty exciting for us. We will probably go for Thanksgiving or near that time. Sharrid's dad has not spoken to him for a long time, we don't know why but it would sure be good to make some kind of effort along those lines, the ball is in his court, maybe we can have a Holiday together. We don't know even if we'd be welcome at his house but I guess we'll find out. Either way Sharrid will see his brothers and we'll have a good family road trip up the 5. It's an 11 hour drive from our house! And you know, eating out every meal sounds pretty good to me...

The next trip we'll be taking though, the one that I posted about just below is for this summer. We are going in either August or September to Carlsbad to visit my grandparents and relatives that live there, and then we'll head over a few hours to Sharrid's grandpa, who lives in a little place called California City. From there we'll head home but while in Carlsbad, we want to take the boys to the beach a couple days and probably to SeaWorld, I think I've decided on that one. We have not gone anywhere since Thanksgiving but that's what happens when you're pregnant. We will both be ready to get out and go a few places after the baby is here and before I get pregnant next time!

Those little things

I have been trying to structure Marcelus' mealtimes more. He eats healthy but it's basically all little snacks at whatever times he feels like them. I won't ever make him wait for food because I know that I couldn't have someone do that to me, and he was 4% weight last time, but I still want him to eat more on a schedule, so I've been trying it for at least breakfast - plus it's been hard because I kind of don't have as big of appetite as usual. Anyway, it has been hard because Marce wakes up so early now that I am not ready to get up so initially he'll have a snack when he gets up and then our normal breakfast at a more normal time after I am up. I make us pancakes, eggs, and this morning I made us Oatmeal and toast. This morning I got our food and we were sitting at the table together and after a couple minutes I looked over and Marce had done exactly what I had.
We grew up tearing our toast up in small peices and putting it in the Oatmeal and kind of mixing it up and then eating it. It sounds weird but it's not really. We got that from my mom and her family I guess. I don't know if she even remembers who in her family started that but anyway, I don't want Oatmeal any other way. It was cute, I looked over and his wasn't mixed in, and the peices were a little big but boy kids do watch you huh, and he's carrying on just one of those little things...

BTW: Marce got up in the night last night and after a few "No's" and stuff, I carried him back to his bed, he climbed in and curled up and went to sleep...at least he hasn't had to have the door shut more than once, if only he would stop waking up or coming out in the first place...AND I'd really love it if he would sleep in a little longer, but I don't know if that one's going to happen.

My Last Mortgage bill!

If only that statement was completely true...Today I wrote out a few bills, actually I do most online now, but anyway it was fun to realize that I will have a new baby before I have to pay these bills again. That's pretty much how I measure time, by our bills. I do the finances in our house. My mom always used to (and still does prob.) measure time by fast Sundays. She'd always say stuff like "Just 4 more fast Sundays til Connie's home from her mission!..." ha ha. I checked my cell phone minutes today hoping to catch how many I'd used this month but the rotation started over already and it said that my next cycle of minutes end on May 23rd. I could SO have this baby by then, maybe not but I COULD, it's possible. That makes me excited, I am really getting there. This pregnancy is going by much faster than Marcelus' did but still.

I think it's cause I'm carrying so low but I have a lot of upper leg/hip pain, like it's inflamed and achy. Today I had a pain so bad on the right side I couldn't walk for a minute. Does this sound familiar to any of you? Never had this with Marce. I'd rather have this than rib ache though.

On a completely random note, it is a must that we get another Backyardigans DVD for Marcelus. He is going to burn this one with how much he watches it. It was on from this morning til about noon or so...and...it's on again, probably til bedtime. I don't fight it, heck what am I going to...it's not like I have the energy to do anything anyway, it's getting harder to take Marce for walks and to the park, so if I have to buy a new Backyardigans DVD every week for the next 5, so be it!!

I have started shutting the door when Marce wakes up in the night, the first night in a nut shell went like this:
Marce went to bed good as always now
Marce woke up and came to me at 5AM
I put him back in his room and shut the door when he wouldn't stay
He woke up Sharrid
Sharrid got up cause he gets up at 5:45 anyway
Sharrid kept Marce from falling back asleep
I eventually went in and got Marce at around 6AM
We both crashed on the couch about an hour later til 9AM (I never went back to bed after 5AM)
Marce had the crankiest day ever

so that was basically the first night...things didn't really work in my favor.BUT, last night went better, it went like this:
Marce went to bed good as always
Marce woke up at midnight
I took him back in explaining he needed to sleep in his own bed
He got in his bed, curled up and let me leave
He went back to sleep on his own
He did wake up early at around 5 again and layed with me on the couch, we fell asleep for a bit again
He had a really rough afternoon but I don't think it had much to do with last night

BTW, I have a sound machine! It was given to me for Marce, I didn't know what it was called til a few of you explained what they were to me through the comments. Mine does not have great sound quality but has a lot of different sounds, maybe I'll pull it out and try it on him, he might want his songs though, he's had those for a long time now...it's what he's used to. The bad thing is that the songs end of course when the cd is over.

Hoping for just as good or better progress tonight with the sleeping problem, NO REGRESSION! That's my motto, we'll see.

Vacation Ideas

If you see my poll to the right be sure to vote but I wanted to ask everyone out there, if they have an even better idea for a fun place to go in the San Diego/LA/Southern Cali area. It has to be something pretty kid friendly of course...feel free to comment below with ideas.

Recipes I Love

All of these or at least most came from my mom. She likes to search for new recipes. I don't, but I sure love when she does and shares them with me!!

Cheesy Sausage Penne

• 1 lb. italian sausage, hamburger style
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 jar spaghetti sauce
• 1 pkg. penne pasta
• 1 8oz. soft cream cheese
• 1 c. sour cream
• green onions sliced
• 2 c. cheddar cheese

In a Lg. skillet, cook sausage and garlic over med. heat. stir in spaghetti sauce, bring to a boil. reduce heat, cover and simmer 20 min. meanwhile cook pasta and drain. in a sm. bowl combine cream cheese, sour cream, and green onions. grease a 3 qt. shallow dish, layer half of the pasta and sausage mixture. dollop with half of the cream cheese mixture, sprinkle with half of the cheese. repeat layers. bake, uncovered at 350 for 30 min.

Mom's Crock Pot Ribs

spray crock pot with Pam. put ribs in, salt and papper, garlic...whatever you want to do really to season them. Put about a cup of water in there, maybe even less and turn the crock pot on Low. Cook overnight or 6-8 hours.

Fold Over Biscuits

• 2 pkgs. reg. size biscuits
• 1/2 cube butter, melted
• 1/2 tsp. onion flakes
• 1/2 tsp. basil
• bit of garlic powder

Add all ingredients in a bowl except biscuits. spray 8x8 sixe pan. dip biscuits in butter bowl and put in pan, fold biscuit and pinch, kind of like a fortune cookie shape...Do 4 rows of 5 biscuits. Bake on 350 for 25 minutes.

Jambalaya

• 1 cup rice, uncooked
• 1 green pepper
• 1 yellow onion
• 1 ring of kilbasa, sliced (found by the bacon and hot dogs usually)
• chopped celery (optional)
• garlic clove or garlic powder to taste
• 1 can diced tomatoes
• salt and pepper to taste

Cook the rice, set aside. in a bit of olive oil, over med. heat saute pepper and onion in lg. skillet. add sliced Kilbasa. add celery, add tomatoes. salt and pepper, and lastly add the garlic. then put the rice into the skillet and stir it in.

Mom's Chili and Cornbread
CHILI:

• pkg. of ground turkey (meat section)
• 1/2 of an onion
• 1 green pepper, diced
• 4 minced garlic cloves
• 2 tsp. cumin (spice)
• 1 tsp. cocoa powder
• 1 can stewed tomatoes
• 1 can beef broth
• 1 can pinto beans

in a deep pot on med heat, add a little oil. put turkey in and break it up. add onion and pepper, cloves, cumin and cocoa powder, stir after each. Then add the cans. Bring to a boil, then lower heat to med/low and simmer uncovered for an hour.

CORNBREAD:

• 2 c. bisquick
• 6 Tbsp. corn meal
• 1 c. sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 c. milk
• 1 cube butter, melted

It makes a 9x13 pan size, but I half mine and make only an 8x8.

Grease the pan with Pam spray. in a bowl combine first 3 ingredients. stir with wooden spoon, then add the next 2. then add the butter and mix just until blended. Bake at 350 for 35 minutes. Because I half the recipe for the time I just keep an eye on it and when a fork comes out clean out of the middle, and the edges are golden, it's done.

Sausage Marinara

• 3/4 bag or box of penne noodles
• pkg. mild italian sausage
• 1 green pepper
• 1 onion
• garlic clove to taste
• 1 sm. can tomato paste
• 1 can crushed tomatoes
• basil to taste
• 1 c. chicken broth
• 1 tsp. sugar

Med. heat, brown meat in a lg. skillet. add pepper and onion. gradually add everything else. Cook noodles and add everything together.

Chimichangans

• 4 chicken breasts, cooked and shredded
• sour cream
• salsa
• flour tortillas
• toothpicks

Toppings: lettuce, tomato, olives, cheese

In a lg. bowl combine 1st 3 ingredients, just enough sour cream and salsa to make a thick enchalada like consistency. In a skillet heat a bit of oil. spoon mixture onto a flour tortilla and fold it up in a square. Punch a toothpick in it to hold it closed. with tongs put it in the oil and brown both sides. top with toppings, you can usually fit 3 of them in the skillet at once, cooking.

Sweet and Savory Crock Pot Ribs

• 1/2 onion sliced into rings or diced
• 2 lbs. boneless pork or beef ribs
• 1 bottle BBQ sauce ( I recommend Famous Dave's brand)
• 1/4 c. maple syrup
• squeeze of mustard
• salt and pepper to taste

Place onion in crock pot. top with ribs, combine all other ingredients in a bowl and pour over ribs. Cover and cook on low for 8 hours.

Pork Chop Dinner

• 6 chopped carrots
• 3 med. potatoes, cubed
• 4 boneless pork chops
• 1 sm. onion, sliced
• 1 envelope dry onion soup mix (usually found by the Raman noodles or soup aisle)
• 2 cans cr. of mushroom soup

Place carrots and potatoes in crock pot. top with pork chops onion, soup mix, and soup. Cover and cook on low for 6-8 hours.

Well, there you are, it was tough to choose. I picked some of my favorites. I love crock pot cooking so there are 3 of those recipes above and maybe I'll do this again as I've got a few more I could have donw. I'll probably do one more installment of this cause I don't want you to miss out on them, all of these are great. If you have any questions email me or comment.

It Takes A Lot Of Guts

Yesterday I was 34 weeks along and at my next appt. I'll be 36 weeks and into weekly appt. schedule. I love weekly appt. towards the end but it's a love hate thing because you usually get checked which I hate. Anyway I had to stay outside yesterday afternoon while Shar pulled the weeds because Marcelus wanted to be out there with Shar but Sharrid couldn't watch him good enough to make sure he didn't go into the road or anything. It was hot so after a while, I was dying and decided to put my bathing suit on. I wanted Sharrid to take pictures of me with it on anyway because I'm sick of the pictures not giving me full credit for this nasty low as it can go belly! My swimsuit is not Maternity, I don't have one but it's a Tankini so it worked, I just couldn't keep the top down well. Ha Ha. I must say that although I'm white as a ghost, my body aside from the belly looks pretty normal. I tan really well, just never get the chance anymore.

Yesterday at Duderbugs while we were walking out, someone I don't even know yelled from a nearby bench "You're having another boy, aren't you?" and I said yes, and she said "yeah I knew it, you're carrying SO low!" and all I could say was "I know". Everyone at church says this to me every Sunday, you know I get the regular when are you due question...but mostly comments about how low I am carrying. At the rate I'm going, next pregnancy I'll be carrying between my legs! I wanted pictures in the swimsuit because when I wear clothes, the great majority of my belly is in my pants, it's not fair, it's like hidden. Speaking of pants, yesterday I wore a green pair of Maternity pants, and after I got them on (I was not about to try to get another pair on) I said to Sharrid that this was the last time I was going to be able to wear these...that's how low I'm carrying, when a pair of Maternity pants don't fit you anymore, you know that's not normal. I have not boughten any Maternity clothes this pregnancy and have had very little to work with. My mom got me a pair of jeans and 2 long sleeved shirts thank goodness, those pants have a hard time staying up too! I've decided though for the last few weeks I'm going to go to Walmart or something and buy a few T-shirts out of the boys section...oh, one little tidbit from my appt. I'm measuring a centimeter big, so she said it wasn't that big of a deal but I'm measuring at 35 weeks, not 34. Well, it's a big deal to me. A better chance of going early!

Sound Machine

Ok first of all, just wanted you to know for those that are waiting, the recipes are still coming!! Sorry about that but this week for sure!

Next, I have decided most likely to not get a baby carrier. They are not as cheap as I thought they were, but if I do get one, they had a handful at my local second hand store Duderbugs I posted about below, so maybe I'd get one then.

Third, here is where I need your comments...How much is a sound machine and where can I buy one? I have no idea what they look like or anything but I want to give it a try, and if it doesn't work for Marce I will shut the door. (still with the sound machine), I will prob. use it regardless to have it so the boys don't hear each other as much as they would without it...so where can I get one?

Providential

Today (Mon.) we stayed in Maricopa and went to my dr. appt. (everything's on track),ran local errands, took Marce to the park, and pulled weeds in our front yard (well, Shar did anyway). He also fixed the pipes he broke so our watering system works again now...way to go babe! One errand we ran today was to a place called Duderbugs out here. It's very similar to my favorite store in Chandler Once Upon A Child, except for it's smaller, less of a selection...but another great store none the less. I have been looking for a used rocking chair off of Craigslist lately to have for Phoenix room for breastfeeding in the night and putting him to bed. The ones that were decent were about 80$. I found this rocking chair below at Duderbugs for 45$!! It is sturdy, strong, and was exactly what I was looking for! It matches my kids furniture and the crib perfectly! I'm going to get cushions myself probably and throw a blanket over the back prob., maybe not, we'll see. A BIG Thank You to Karena, because this is what I spent your shower money on...aren't you super proud! What a deal. I'm thrilled. I felt like it was so providential.

I also skimmed the clothes and found this grey suit for Phoenix. It is sized 6-9 months so he'll be able to wear it all through the winter. I got Marce a black suit a while ago at an enrichment second hand exchange activity, and he'll be able to wear it this winter as well as next prob. So, I will have two little boys in suits and ties...how cute will that be?? Maybe not so cute since they'll probably be screaming and fighting during the sacrament or something...but at least I will have done my part!

Coloring Candids

The Backyardigans

I thought it was bad when we got Teddy Ruxpin! Marcelus got his first Backyardigans DVD from my sister Kira (a BD gift that came a little late). My sister Connie's kids have a few of these DVD's and love them. I like that Marce is starting to get a good collection of DVD's rather than all Pixar, or all Einsteins, or all Disney, ect. He has some of everything almost. When it came in the mail, Marce watched it, but he was in and out of the room a bit and playing at the same time, but then he wouldn't let me take it out once it was over and said he wanted it "again" (a word he's recently learned) So, I put it back in and he watched the whole 3 episode DVD two more times...
This morning at the crack of dawn (Marce has been getting up way early lately) he wanted to watch a movie which is good cause I can sleep. He wanted Backyardigans and watched it 3 more times! I think we need some more of these DVD's! I think I'll get him another when I go into town next time...

It's pretty crazy with Teddy Ruxpin too because there's a DVD with 10 episodes on it! And another one with 10 more! As long as he's happy and entertained and I can do other things and get some things done, it's fine by me. At this point in my pregnancy I'm not really concerned with it. I'm tired, lazy, and irritable!! Thanks Kira for The Backyardigans!

What Am I Going To Do?

I am so stressed out, but let me first say that any comments are greatly welcomed on this post, and all ideas will be consisdered heavily. Here's the problem (I would say situation, but this is a problem)

I have posted about this before but for a recap I want to describe Marcelus' sleeping habits to refresh you all. He now goes down to bed perfectly. We have a little routine (it really only consists of turning on his songs, a little prayer, and tucking him in) anyway he goes to bed good. He will get up in the night and come to me. OK, pay attention here: if I try and take him back he will run out of his room, he will not stay, maybe if I stayed there with him, but maybe not. So, the only way I can put him back to bed is to let him come to me and wait til he falls asleep then transport him back to his room (if I can even stay awake to do this)...OR...I could take him back and shut the door so he cannot get out and let him cry to sleep again (waking everybody up in the house)...OR...I don't know. I feel like those are the only two options. I feel bad because it's one thing to make them cry it out when going to bed like we had to before, it's another to do that in the middle of the night when they may be confused and out of it a little...it would be harder for me but I would do it.

Alright, here's the bigger problem, consider all of that and now add a newborn to that problem. A newborn who will be breastfeeding in the night, who will be woken up by Marcelus, and who will wake Marcelus up also (since their rooms are right next to each others). I am planning to keep Phoenix in my room for the first part, but after that he will cry from his crib, if he wakes Marce up...remember Marce doesn't go back down easily, unless he's in my bed. I can't keep Phoenix in my room forever and even more than that I can't have Marce getting up in the night anymore. If they both just wake each other up continually in the night, I'm going to get no sleep, and even worse: inconsistant,shallow, interupted sleep. I'm a person that needs my sleep. How will I be able to cope the next day and take care of 2 kids like I should be able to, or in other words doing my best. I don't want to just get by during the days, I want to be a good mom, a great mom, an in control mom. I want to control my kids, not them control me. If they walk all over me at night, I KNOW they will all day, cause I won't be able to hardly function with that kind of sleep. I have no problem with Phoenix being up in the night, he has a reason. I have got to have Marce sleep through the night and even though he's such a light sleeper, if he gets woken up, I need him to go back to bed, like a good boy.

I am so stressed out about how this is all going to work out, I knew I would have to face this at some point, but I feel like I need to take some action now maybe before Phoenix gets here. I'm 34 weeks now. It's comical to me because even if I could do both in the night, I can't. I cannot physically breastfeed Phoenix and get him back to sleep while trying to get Marce back to sleep. I can't be two places at once. Sharrid cannot help me and I would not let him because he is working literally ALL day, and sleeping 5 and a half to 6 hours a night. He's not even able to sleep in on Sundays as we have 8:30 church. On top of that I usually have a morning appt. on Monday for one reason or another and we've got to get into town at a decent time. So really Shar has the opportunity to sleep in on Monday mornings only sometimes, and go to bed semi early on Monday nights. That's it. So, this is all me. I do not know what I am going to do. Do you think I should really push the envelope and shut Marce in his room in the night? We did this to get him to go to bed in the first place when it was bedtime when he wouldn't stay but it didn't work until he came back from being at my mom's a week and a half. He went to bed so good after he got back, so it was probably not shutting him in that worked but rather going to my mom's. We just happened to get lucky on that one. I would just pray that it work with in the night though cause I feel like unfortunately that's our only option...What do you think???? Big time comments please!!

Predictable

After a blown 16 point lead and double overtime, I knew we would lose to the Spurs. That is not a team you mess around with. Phoenix can create huge leads, but we can never be sure to keep them because we play so inconsistantly. If a game is close we usually lose because we're not the best in clutch moments. Our winning games are won by coming out, playing really fast tempo ball, scoring tons, and it eventually gets to the point where we have huge leads and it is impossible for the other team to come back, that's how we win usually.

This game was so frustrating to watch as we of course blew our huge lead. We were in early foul trouble and I'm surprised we did as well as we did with the trouble we were in. Nash stepped up and hit huge shots but not until it was too late. We have got to win the next game or I think it is over. You cannot give them 2 home wins to start this series off. We were so close to winning this one, it just kills to lose when it's like this. Tony Parker and Manu always get too many "free" uncontested lay ups. That's got to stop or we will lose every game, because quite frankly Tim Duncan is going to score some points (as boring as he is to watch)...as crappy as we played, especially in the 2nd half, I'm surprised it was so close and this gives me hope, but not too much. We are going to have to get big leads and keep them to win games against the Spurs. They are way better when in pressure situations and when it is a close finish.

Lastly, I'd like to say that I am sick of Amare Stoudemire being so underrated in the NBA generally. We talk about him here in Phoenix of course but in the NBA as a whole, he is barely ever mentioned and he is one of the top 3 best power forwards in the game and can also add center to his resume when needs be. He consistantly scores about 30 points every night even when we lose. He is the best player at finishing, even when fouled. And he gets more (and 1's) then anybody in the league. He also makes his free throws, not a lot of big guys do. He is so underrated it almost makes me sick. He is my age.....my age....24! If he's this good now, wait a couple more years! He has become my favorite player from watching this season. There is nothing he can't do well, he does it all. I love Steve Nash, but this year it's Amare for me. I just feel bad about how he gets little recognition if any in the NBA. I feel like he's the BeeGees of the music industry, ...and that's enough to boil the blood!

If You Are Trying To Reach Me...

My cell phone is dead and the reason is because last night I found out my charger is broke somehow...so if you are trying to reach me I have Sharrid's cell phone until I get a new charger which is hopefully this Monday, but we are not going into town this Monday, so if I can't find one here in Maricopa, then it will be later. If you do not have Sharrid's cell number please email me and I will give it to you, thanks.

Baby Carrier

There are some things that I have never had with Marcelus, some I know I want for sure with Phoenix (like a swing), some I'm not sure, so the question goes out:

Is a baby carrier worth getting?

If you have one or have had one in the past, please comment your overall opinion of them below and if you are pro baby carrier, please tell me the brand you have or prefer. I just need as many reviews as possible so I can make a decision. We would mainly use it on Mondays when we go out because we don't have a double stroller now and I don't know when we'd be able to get one. If you have one, please tell me in what situations you use it. That would help too. Thanks everybody.

Update

Well, after a "no juice" rule I imposed yesterday, Marce's loose bottom (as my mom calls it) is much better, actually the last couple hours of last night were good, and I was so glad not to have a problem in the night. Today, so far so good, and we're still avoiding juice.

The Suns won the game I did not get on my TV and now are faced with the Spurs for the first round of playoffs, if we play every game against them like we did last time, we'll have no problem. But, what I'm more worried about than anything is the Spurs playing dirty and what seems to be bad reffing. We all know what happened last year...

Today I almost passed out for what seems the millionth time. I was holding Marce sitting here at the comp. actually and he was falling asleep for his nap, and I guess after I layed him down I was all hot and a bit clammy. So I checked the air which was not the problem, it was 76 inside...Marce does start to sweat a little on his head when he falls asleep, he made me hot I guess, but then my body jumped on the bandwagon and said "Hey, she's already hot...let's let her know she hasn't eaten anything since 8 this morning." It was lunch time and all the sudden I was getting shaky. I opened the fridge to try and cool off while throwing a plate of leftovers together. I wet a paper towel and put it on my head, yeah that lasted 2 seconds. I took my food to the table and started scarfing. The sooner it was in me the better, meanwhile I was fanning my face with my hands and eventually cooled off a bit, but I was still a little shaky even after I'd finished eating. Marce was taking his nap all through this. Good as new now!

I was reading my pregnancy journal from Marcelus' and forgot that I had passed out the first time I used the restroom after delivering Marce. Ha... now I remember. I was on the toilet with one nurse there, when I woke up there were 2 nurses there on either side of me holding me up...I needed a lot of help the first part of the day because my right leg was numb half the day from the epidural. That was funny to me.

Burning Bum

Yeah...Marcelus has the runs today. I don't know why, he's fine otherwise. He eats a lot of bananas, but drinks juice on the other hand. I hope it doesn't turn into anything worse, but it is so annoying going through so many diapers! We all know they are not cheap...the funniest part about this is that this last time I changed Marce but before hand he pointed to his bum and said "Hot" ha ha He kept on saying this but of course he says the first syllable of every word about 2 times before he finishes, so it's more like "Ho Ho Hot" It's hard to explain but it was the cutest thing, poor guy has a little burning bum, so I put cream on it this time and I'll put him in a cool bath later.

Our hot water heater had a gasket thingy break off it this morning and was leaking outside on the side of our house, so we have a guy over fixing that. I didn't have the strength to shower yesterday, so tonight it will be greatly welcomed.

There is a Suns game tonight but I don't get it through my channels, such a bummer because I think from here out with the pregnancy I'm going to be pretty lazy, I am feeling worn out and tired even when I do nothing, so I'm a little bored some times, and a game would be so nice to watch but the playoffs will be on soon and there will be lots of games and baseball has started too...

Yesterday I caught Marcelus putting his doggie down for a nap. He got pajamas out of his drawer and attempted to put them on his doggie but failed and gave up instead just putting them in the bed with him, then he got his beanie out and asked me to put it on his doggie, then he pulled the covers up and covered him up and cracked the door, like I do....it was THE cutest thing ever. I'm so glad we got him that doggie, he loves him and who knows maybe it will help when Phoenix is here. Here are a couple pictures I sneaked of him putting doggie down for a nap, ha ha.

On Monday we don't have to go into town. We are trying to only go every other week because of gas prices. With our new car it is double the money to fill it up...It's nice staying in Maricopa because it allows us to do things around the house that would otherwise go without doing. I of course love the Mondays when we go into town but am happy to try and save a little money too. This Monday I have a dr. appt. I'll be 34 weeks! I love going to my appts. and making sure things are good and on track and it just means you are that much closer, they are like hitting a landmark for me. I'm really getting down to it, almost ready for the appt. every week schedule!

Marce is so cute, he's starting to sing along with his movies. I love it!

Marcelus Target Pictures - 2 yrs.

#1

#2

#3

#4

#5

#6

#7

Here are the pictures that Marce took back on March 31st. I took pictures of these pictures with my digital camera to post these. I got 2 5x7's of each of these and an additional 8x10 of #1 to frame for our wall here at home. I will probably by a 4 in 1 -4x6 frame for some of the others and put it on our bar. When Phoenix is born I will take a digital shot of him and blow it up to a 8x10 for the wall next to Marcelus'. Then in late summer I'll take the boys back in to Target and do pictures together and Phoenix seperately to replace the newborn pic, they grow so fast at that point! Target gave me the same coupons I used with these shots for next time so WooHoo!

I numbered these pictures so Mother you could tell me what picture you want to replace the one on the long table. Just make sure in your comment you let me know what number and I will send it to you this coming Monday. I will also send you 4x6 copies of the rest for scrapbooking/ect.

To Lisa: If you email me what number you want I can frame a 5x7 for your new house, and/or I can make you 4x6 copies of them all, just email and let me know what you want me to do. I am going to give Grandma 4x6 copies of them so she can put one on her cork board if she wants.

My Charm Bracelet

I got a charm bracelet from my mom who had picked my name for our gift exchange a couple years ago for Christmas. It's one of my favorite gifts. The idea of putting your whole personality on a bracelet that is simple and not too girly is perfect for me. She had put 5 charms on it already, and since, I've been trying to collect ones that I want on it. The charms I have on it are: my birthstone in the shape of a heart (Oct.), Follow the Prophet, the San Diego Temple (symbolizing my marriage), Reeses Peanut Butter Cups (favorite candybar), the letter "M" (for Marcelus), Micky Mouse (symbolizing Walt Disney - I think he's a genious), the Chinese symbol for Happiness, and I Love Music.

Charms I still want to find for my bracelet are: Africa (symbolizing the land of my favorite nationality) , Harry Potter (The books that made me much more of a reader), Michael Jackson (the source of my inspiration), Jesus Christ if I could find a decent non creepy one, a music note, the NBA logo or Phoenix Suns logo, there's more I know but I have a list written somewhere but these are off the top of my head.

I just bought a letter "P" charm at the mall yesterday for my bracelet to symbolize Phoenix. Every kid I have will have their letter on my bracelet. So, here are pictures of my bracelet now.

Teddy Ruxpin

Yesterday (Monday) we were in town running our errands as usual. We first went over to Connie's house for a visit, then we went to Target to pick Marce's pictures up, then to the Mall for a brow wax/face wash, and then of course to Walmart for grocery's. At Walmart I always go to the Hygene area first for whatever I need there, this time around: a little (you know the travel tiny ones) toothpaste/shampoo ect. for my hospital bag, YES, I am starting to compile things. Then I always head back and across the electronics and baby section to the food. I stopped at a 5$ bin full of videos...I start to rummage, and I find a complete treasure! Teddy Ruxpin! Me and my little sister Michaela had a video with one episode on it. I found a 2 disc video with 20 episodes for 5$! I thought surely it would have the ONE that I used to watch as a kid, and it did! I love finding things that I grew up on that come back or you just find, like when I found The Chipmunk Adventure video for Marce!

Easy Transition

Marcelus has always been good at drinking from a cup, I just never felt the need to push this. I have no problem with him being on sippy cups. I've always boughten the soft top ones or the ones above with the soft straws. Lately Marce has wanted to drink water. He is a juice/Gatorade nut so it's weird but it's because he sees Shar and I get ice and water from our new soft water dispensor thing, and we've been drinking more since it's getting hot. I figure if Marce can drink out of a cup and wants water, then why not give him a cup of water?

So Marce is officially drinking from cups. I bought these Dixie cups (above) and he even has his juice in them. I'm not dumb, I am not going to give him anything that can stain my carpet in one of these Dixie cups, and he will still use a sippy for smoothies and in the car, out and about, ect. But, at home he can use these cups. He could have made this transition at 18 months seriously but who cares. I wish he could make other transitions as easily as he did this one...like sleeping all through the night EVERY night,...that would be nice.

5 Things I Can't Live Without

I was tagged by my cousin Karena and thought they had to be products so wasn't going to do it cause I couldn't think of anything special before, but as I've read others I guess these 5 things don't have to be products...so here they are in no particular order.

I collect footage. Footage of music history mainly, but a lot of old concerts, and a lot of interviews of people that I really like, not all of them are music people. My footage is somewhat random so it's hard to explain what exactly it is but it's amazing and I love it. It's historic. I love music history. I think I've mentioned before that I am very into home videos and that footage is my favorite form of family history. So, I also collect my own home videos but those of my grandparents/parents. I have copies of all of the footage of my mom growing up, even from the time she was born. So, there you have an idea....I can't live without my footage collection. (and to help me do this is ebay but mostly amazon. I've also had very good connections)

I love camping, I have no problem getting dirty, roughing it and all that but I am glad it only lasts for a few days usually because I cannot live without certain personal hygene things. For instance, I have to cut my nails and file them, I cannot grow them out, I like them short. Also I get my eyebrows waxed at the mall every few weeks, I cannot go without this, to me it's a personal hygene thing. Next, I can't go without shaving my legs. I never can grow a "winter fur" and I especially can't let them go if I am going somewhere special or like going on a road trip, and I hate wearing pants when I haven't shaved, most girls like to hide like that but I can't do it, I have got to shave!

I have a black classic video iPod. I cannot live without it. It was made especially for me. Anybody who knows me knows I am a big music person. Hence the music history footage part above...to put all your music collection on this little thing and stick it in your pocket/purse/diaper bag and to just plug it into your car, or stick it in some speakers at home...it's brilliant and I didn't even mention the video/podcast/audiobooks/pictures ect. part!

I cannot live without this store! It is a second hand store for anything for kids, but esp. babies/toddlers. I buy 90% of Marcelus clothes here, and I find brands like Tommy, Polo, Gymboree, Children's Place, Nike, Gap, Sprockets, ect. Every item of clothing is about 3-4 dollars! So I go, quickly search for the best brands in what I need and get a whole bunch of clothes for like 30 bucks, it's the best thing ever. I mainly just get clothes but they also have used books/movies, toys, cribs, any kind of baby gear, ect.

I must put my cell phone (pictured above) on this list. Lately it's been all about safety for me. Remember the Walmart miscommunication experience? And yesterday Sharrid brings his cell phone into town, but leaves it in the car for a few of our stops! Doesn't make sense. The whole point is to keep it on you so you can communicate if you want to seperate,and we seperate all the time! It does no good in the car! Anyway, among being a big safety item for us, it is just flat out convenient for me. I can't say enough about this, if you are on the road and lost, you can call 411 for directions or the person you are trying to reach...make reservations from the road, call your dr. office to say you are running a bit late for an appt., too many things to name...but more than anything it is just safe to have one.

Recipes Coming...

I got comments from Jen and Kristie about posting some easy and cheap good recipes, so I am planning on doing that soon...Recipes are coming!

Thanks

Thank you to my cousin Karena for loaning me a bigger diaper bag for the boys and to my friend Julie for loaning me your baby swing and giving me a crib mattress! These will all be a big help!

Big Shoes To Fill

These are Sharrid's boots that are part of his uniform for work at the prison. Marce also likes to put on dad's socks. (See previous post) Toddlers are so much fun!

Big Win

The Suns played the Spurs last night and what an important game, the west is so good. So many teams have a shot at taking the western conference. The cool thing about it is that there is actually some competition in the east when usually there isn't. Whoever does come out on top in the west has a lot to deal with, either the Pistons or the Celtics probably. It will not be easy.

I really don't care if we have home court advantage, for PHX that means nothing, we can win anywhere, I love that. But it does kind of make a difference of who they will play in the first round. I think it will be tough no matter what. I would hate it if the Lakers or the Spurs win the western conference. I hate both teams. They are dirty. For instance last night Bruce Bowen's defense was by far too agressive, ...and that's why he got a couple fouls called on him up at the top of the key. He's always been a dirty player to me and after what happened last year the whole team is tainted that way to me.

Last night was awesome because quite frankly we killed them. We beat them by 17 and that kind of lead with these 2 teams is just embarrasing for the loser. I thought we were going to lose because of the foul trouble we were in but in the 2nd half we got a lot of rebounds and made our baskets. Shaq was awesome and actually everyone made a little something. We play Houston on Friday, another tough game, but we beat them last time. Hopefully with the confidence boost from last night we can beat them easily.

Baseball has started and there are games on but I'm too much in the basketball mode right now to really watch them...after basketball though, it will be great. Last night was a great game, I love it!

Family Fun

This past Monday we really had no reason to go into town like we always do. I was excited about that because Shar almost hates Mondays for that reason. It's bitterweet for him, he gets to spend the whole day with me, but in hell, hmmm. This past Monday we just took care of things around the house, and picked up a few things at our local Fry's. I had planned on having somewhat of a easy going family night. We never really have it unless it's just a parents only lesson manual reading session...we need to figure out how to best involve Marce. I guess we could copy what they do in Nursery (sing songs, show pics of Jesus...) but this time I pulled out a recipe that I had jotted down a while ago called "Homemade Ice Cream in a Bag". If anybody knows me they know that my favorite dessert is homemade plain vanilla ice cream and I can eat it til it's gone! For this reason I bought my parents a homemade ice cream maker....which they never use!! BTW mom, bring that with you when I have the baby, it will be summer time and if you don't mind I'd like to borrow it! So Sharrid and I got out the ingredients and measured them into 2 sand. size ziplock bags. Then we put crushed ice and rock salt in 2 gallon size bags. We then put the small bags in the big bag and sealed it up. We each had our own and for about 15 minutes rubbed the bags to make the ice cream...well, Shar kind of just flung his around a bit and I vigorously rubbed my bag hoping to create a thick ice cream. I was afraid Shar's would not turn out. The truth is that mine was runny after all that and had an unpleasant salt taste although I could not see or detect any hole in my bag. Shar's turned out super thick, almost crumbly but had no taste whatsoever...hmmm I don't know if we'll be trying this one again hence the request for my mom's maker...but it was a fun experiment none the less, Marce didn't really get it and helped me rub my bag for like 2 seconds. We then watched the NCAA championship game. I was rooting for Memphis so was a little dissapionted that they blew a 10 point lead with a minute and a half to go allowing the overtime in which they could not make free throws and ended up losing. I didn't really care that much but it sure was fun watching the tournament leading up...I love college basketball!

This coming Monday we have to go into town to pick up Marcelus Target pictures, I can't wait to post them!!

Ultrasound at 32 weeks

I had an Ultrasound today and found out that Phoenix is growing right on track. He weighs 4.7 pounds and is the 53rd percentile for weight. The Ultrasound tech said he looked like he had long legs, hee hee. No surprise there. She said that he was head down for right now. My cervix is fine, so they are not worried about it being too short, and I do not have Gestational Diabetes. After so many unanswered questions and possibilities, everything is pretty much as normal as can be. I do not want to have him get too big though. My tailbone pressure is starting to kick up even when I'm not sitting for too long, just when I'm standing or at the end of the day. I'm sure my recovery will be very close to what Marce's was, I just hope it's not worse. I still am hoping to have the baby late May but we'll see of course. My next appt. is in 2 weeks on the 21st. just a regular appt, but not long after that I'll be going every week! That's when you know you're getting down to it! They said I weighed 119, and that I didn't gain any weight this past week, but that that was ok because Phoenix did gain and grow...I weighed 124 when I had Marce so we'll see if I surpass myself on that.

She got some really cute pictures of Phoenix. He's got some pretty big features, nose, lips, cheeks! He has a really great scowl, it doesn't look like he's very happy, but he better be grateful he's being carried this whole time! I think he's got it pretty easy compared to me! She said she thinks he's really cute and takes great pictures. The Ultrasound lady knows me well now, I've been in so many times...Here are the photos. The 2nd & 3rd are my favorites.