Last Weekend

Last weekend we went to Collinsville, which is across the Delta from where we live. Out there grows wild asparagus. We must have gotten 5 lbs!! It was kind of an adventure. We took my husband's truck (named the 'Coyote truck') and used the 4WD. The boys had fun. It was a nice family day.

Needless to say, we have been eating asparagus almost every day of the week since. This is fine because my dh and I love asparagus. I like it cooked until it is soft but I overcooked it a couple of times. Hayden doesn't mind. He likes to eat the mushy tops. I like that he likes it. I just can't get Hunter to eat veggies. He eats some fruit but he is such a picky little guy.

I have been dieting and had been doing a pretty good job. I almost made it to three weeks without a slip. However, I am PMSing and my bloated self is wanting to munch out on goodies.

Neither of us cooked last night. Rob was supposed to make dinner but he ended up handling some calls in order to help out his father. Hence, he went and got some authentic Mexican tacos (I guess my diet wouldn't have survived that anyway). Tonight, my dh is BBQing tri-tip and making a boxed pasta along with, you guessed it, asparagus.

Because I did not have to cook and wash a bunch of dishes last night, I used the time to fold clothes, vacuum, sweep and mop the floors. I have to be really diligent with vacuuming because I vacuumed one day and the very next day I saw Hayden put something in his mouth. It was a fuzzy (you know, the kind from fabric). I have to vacuum a lot anyway because, Hunter gets messy, but now it is more frequent. I don't mind, I like that Hayden can sit on the floor and explore the toys. I have to sweep most of the kitchen every evening because Hayden is learning to eat and he makes a mess. That's okay. If I walk barefoot, I like the floors perfectly clean. I have been spraying Fantastic anti-bacterial on the floor before I mop and it really makes a difference in lifting dirt.

I am thinking of taking the boys to see my paternal Grandmother on Saturday and Rob wants to go back to Collinsville for more asparagus on Sunday. I have the feeling that we may have to give some asparagus away because I don't want any to go bad before it's eaten!!!

Flu

Hunter has been running a fever for the past two days. Poor little guy. He is doing allright. It isn't a bad one. Usually, when he has the flu, he sleeps all day. This time, his sleep patterns are pretty normal. He has been playing also but not to the extent that he usually does. I stayed home for half the day yesterday. Then Rob came home from work early and took over while I went to work. Today, I stayed home with them. I think that Hunter is doing better. He still won't really eat, but unless he has a high fever tomorrow, I am going to bring them to Linda's.

Hayden's first haircut was Saturday. Hunter also had a trim.


"Baby brother's hair was cut, I want mine too!"

Hayden's First Haircut

Daddy, what is Gary doing to my head?

Rebate Check is Here and Gone!

I received a rebate check for the computer we purchased in January. Our last computer just stopped communicating with the monitor, keyboard, etc. one day and we just could not do anything to get it to work. We keep our checkbook in Microsoft Money and lost a lot of information. Yes, I did backups on my file but Rob had not done any. Anyway, we needed a new one so that we could use the wireless DSL which cost the same as the dialup we were using.

The day we decided to look for a new one my Mom came over and gave me some money. It was like she caught a vibe as to what happened to our computer and what we were about to do.

The computer we chose had two rebates, one from the manufacturer and one from the store. I received the check from the manufacturer yesterday and have already spent it this morning. Yes, that was quick. I had previously been to Allaboardtoys.com and planned what I will purchase when I received the first check. I went on-line this morning and placed my order. I bought some Thomas the Train valances and drapes for the playroom. The house we rent is so dreary because the landlord likes to use 'wood' paneling rather than painted walls. I figured these would brighten the room up a bit. I also purchased Hayden the Thomas and Friends Board Book and the Surprise, Thomas! Board Book. I bought Hunter a Thomas outfit. I love that store. It has the largest selection of Thomas items I have ever seen. I can shop by character too. I love that store (do you see how much I love that store)!! They have pretty good prices. Their clearance prices are very good.

Linda, the daycare lady, is out today so Rob 'took the day off' to be home with the boys. When he takes a day off, it is not really off because he handles most of his work on the phone whether he is at work or not. I am going to go home for lunch today and eat with the boys.

My Hair

Here is a picture of Hayden. After dinner, I give the boys a bath and we dress them for bed. I brush Hayden's hair while it is wet and I guess this time he was lying down when it dried or something. He's probably thinking, "What are you looking at?"



Here is Hunter in his 'tiger towel'. He got it for Christmas and LOVES it. He likes to look in the mirror at himself with it on. He also likes to make sure that I see him in his 'tiger towel' before Daddy puts his jammies on.

Caught Up

I was out for a week and during the week after, I was out for two days and now I am totally caught up at work. It feels so good to have an empty in-box but then I really liked the 'action' when I first came back to a full in-box. When I worked for Kiewit, I most of the time, I would be swamped and I really enjoyed that kind of environment. I am a geek (at least, I admit I am a geek freely).

I think Hayden had a recent growth spurt. It seems that just last week or the week before, I was putting size 9 month and a bit of 12 month clothes on him. Now, most of the 12 month clothes I try to put him in don't really fit. He fits best in 18 month clothes. He is getting taller. Cute little guy. He is scooting around a bit. He crawls backwards a little and somehow, when I set him on the floor to play, he moves over a few feet to where he wants to go. We have been working with him to try to get him to crawl forward. He really wants to but just can't get his baby body to do it. I can't wait until he can walk. Then he can play where he wants to and with the other kids instead of always spectating (poor little guy).

The neighbor kids (5 year old twins, Javier and Leslie) have been making it a habit of coming over to play when we get home. I don't mind Leslie (she is polite and behaves) but Javier is a total brat. He is manipulative, he lies, he tries to take Hunter's toys, and he just won't take no for an answer. The other night he came to the screen door and I told him that he couldn't come in and Hunter couldn't come out. Javier decided to check the garage so he could sneak in the house through there (as he often does). Rob will tell Javier more than once that they can't play in the house because the baby is sleeping and when Rob turns around, Javier sneaks in. Sometimes, when we tell Hunter that it is time to go home, Javier will try to make Hunter go into his house and we have to get the parents involved in order to retrieve Hunter. When we tell Hunter that he can't go outside, Javier tells Hunter to come out and tries to sneak him out. Last night, they wanted to come in. I told them that they had to stay outside (I was too busy to supervise them and Rob was outside to watch the kids). Javier had Leslie tell me that he wanted to come in and use the bathroom. I didn't understand her. He came in and said 'bathroom'. I understood and said that it was okay. All of them came in and Javier and Leslie turned on the Nintendo, the TV and proceeded to make themselves comfortable. I said to Javier as I turned the TV off, "I thought you needed to use the bathroom". That little turkey got up and turned the TV on. I turned it off again and again, mentioned the bathroom. I told them that it was getting late and they had to leave.

I think Javier's parents know about his bahavior because the day after Rob sent Javier home for acting up, when the children were over playing, they sent an older child over and she told us to let them know if Javier acts up again. We really have to watch him. Rob mentioned that last night. He doesn't want Javier's behavior to rub off on Hunter. He said we really have to be firm with Javier. I agreed and comended Rob for sending Javier home the other day. I know that it is not a communication gap. Leslie speaks better english than Javier but I know he understands me more than he lets on and what he doesn't understand, she interprets for him. I can tell by his actions that he understands most of what I am saying.

I haven't decided what we are going to do this weekend with the boys. Saturday, Rob is going to install a new swamp cooler and I don't know how long it will take or if he will have to work on it Sunday also. I am thinking about doing something on Sunday. Maybe another trip to Pixieland. Hunter loves it there and although, Hayden only got to go on one ride (which he LOVED), he really liked to look at all of the rides and the children. That place is so cute. I love how it is tailored for the little ones.

I haven't gotten much work done on Hayden's sock. Geez, the way he is growing, by the time I finish the second one, he might be too big!!!

My Back

Oh, I haven't been blogging. I have been trying to minimize my time sitting at a desk. I have been out of work almost all week of 3/2 and 3/8, 3/9. During those days, I put the boys in daycare and tried to do nothing but knit and read magazines. It is hard to make myself just relax. With the boys at Linda's, my mind races through all of the things I could be doing. However, I have to keep reminding myself about my back and I force myself to just relax so I can heal. It is funny how the mind wants to do this and that even when the body can't.

I haven't done much housework in the past two weeks. I mean I do it but as often or like I usually do. It drives me nuts, but I just tell myself to relax because I need to rest.

It is hard to sit here, at work for so long. I have contacted my DR. and she is going to have me go to physical therapy. This is good. Although, I would like to take more time off to rest my back, I can't miss anymore work. I do not want this to perpetuate.

We took the boys to Pixieland on Sunday. They have about 6 rides so we only spent about an hour and a half there. Hunter 'flew' an airplane, 'drove' a car, went on the carousel, and is finally tall enough to ride the frog hopper. Too bad the roller coaster was down for maintenance because he is finally tall enough to ride it too. We all went on the little train. I held Hayden on the ride. He was so excited. He really had fun. I love that place. It is not too big and not too small (well it could stand to have a couple more rides)and you can spend an hour or so there and ride everything (no time to get tired, bored or grouchy). It is made for the little ones (I would say 8 and under) so there aren't any older kids there saying bad words, acting up, knocking little ones over because they aren't looking, etc.

I worked on Hayden's socks during my days off. Before I even cast on the first one, I measured his little food. When I worked on the foot part, I shortened it because I couldn't believe that his little foot was that long. Therefore, after I completed the sock, I tried to shove it on his foot. It was too short. Therefore, I measured his foot again and sure enough I got the same measurement as I did before. So, his second sock has now become his first sock. I completed his first sock and am now working on the second one.

My Back

I haven't been posting much lately because last week the boys and I were sick. Therefore, I stayed home Wednesday and Thursday. Friday was a busy day at work.

On Sunday, I was sitting on the floor and Hunter jumped on me. His weight put pressure on my lower back and it hurt. Later on in the day, it really hurt. I stayed home from work on Monday, put the boys in daycare, and went to the Dr. She had me stay home all week and wanted me to rest. Tuesday, I doubled my medication (I am sure it is okay, double is the same dosage I had been prescribed after my c-section) and went in to work for most of the day to catch things up and do payroll (I am curious to see if I made any mistakes because I was feeling pretty 'high'). I have been home all week. It is so tough to just sit here and relax. My mind keeps going to the chores I could be doing and how easy it would be without the boys. However, I know I need to heal so I force myself to stay put. Chores can wait. I can't afford to take any more time off of work. I have been working on Hayden's socks. I finished the first yesterday and am now on the second sock.

My back kills me. Especially in the morning, before I take any pain pills. At least it is a little better than it was. At the beginning of the week, I would wake up in pain just before it is time to take another pill. The only way I was able to sleep for the first couple of nights was if I was medicated. Now, I the pain does not wake me up.