weekend before last with Friends from Tally

Self Portrait


Weekend before last Lily and I were on our way to the park when we got a call from Chris D. He was in town for a friend's wedding and wanted us to meet him for lunch. Yay! I love surprise visits from old friends! We took a detour and headed all the way down to Coconut Grove and had lunch with Chris at Mr. Moes. Lily was well behaved but made Chris nervous by getting too close to the edge of the bench. He kept thinking she was gonna fall over and she insisted on sitting with him and not me. People without kids are funny.

That night we did the "Funtastic Friday" festival downtown again and it was cold and raining. On our way there I almost had a heart attack because we just happened to be a little too close to what looked like a drug bust. It was still light outside and we were walking down the sidewalk to a park in the middle of downtown. Those of you who aren't familiar with Hollywood, our "downtown" is totally safe, well lit, and this quaint little area full of restaurants and bars. All the restaurants have seating on the sidewalks and is totally not a scary place at all.
Anyway, as we were walking along about 20 feet in front of us I see a guy in complete black combat looking gear open the door of a pickup truck and yell "get out on the ground" then he pulls a gun. YIKES! It only took a second for it to register that he was a cop but the next thing that registered was "what if the guy in the truck tries to shoot and it ends up in a gun battle".
I grabbed Lily and ducked behind a concrete fence. I felt kinda silly afterward because there were people everywhere and no one else seemed to freak out like I did. I guess, better safe than sorry right?
Then, in order to get to our destination we had to practically step over these 4 young guys that the officers now had in handcuffs laying flat on their stomachs in the sidewalk and the side of the road.
So, we ended up at the park and it was raining so Lily didn't get to get in the bounce house but she was happy enough to get her face painted and play on the playground a little.


Then, the next great surprise, Jasmin & James are coming in town and want to meet up at the Miami Children's Museum and Jen & Adam are coming too! I was so excited for this. I'd been wanting to take Lily there and I was so excited about all these Poor Paul's people getting back together again.
James & Jaz have a daughter who is about a month younger than Lily and Jen & Adam have a little boy 18 months old. It was perfect. The kids had a blast and the adults were able to have some fun too. Unfortunately, I didn't have my camera and taking pictures of very fast moving children with a camera phone is damn near impossible. I got a ton of blurry pics. Jaz got some good ones if you wanna check out her blog here.


This one was Lily shopping at the "Publix" they have. She was so funny, she shopped all around then took her food up to the register and rang it all up. Ever since then she has been going into the drawer here at home getting a green bag and a purse telling me that she is going to publix. Then she loads up into her car and tells me that she is going to buy cheese and toilet paper.

I thought this was hilarious. This bar here is intended for kids to play limbo. But for some reason, both of our girls immediately thought weightlifting. I guess it just goes to show that we really have grown up to be bad role models for our kids. So much that our children think of exercise before they think of fun. So sad.

Things that are broken that I cannot afford to fix right now

Items in our home that are broken:

1. Clothes Dryer
2. Ross' laptop
3. Our family's desktop computer
4. the heater
5. Ross' camera

The following is a list of things that are either on the verge of breaking or are technically "working" but not working properly.

1. My car
2. the oven
3. the plumbing
4. my camera

I guess I should be thankful that it isn't more. There are always folks that have it worse than us, it is just frustrating right now.

I'm not a Steelers fan, but I made these ages ago... if you know anyone, spread the word

It was either last summer or the summer before, I made these two Steelers tops for someone who didn't end up buying them. (Part of the reason that I now make people pay at least 50% up front when they order custom stuff from me)
I figure that this would be a good time to try to unload them. I have 'em listed on eBay but if you know anyone willing to pay $20, I'll take down the listing and deal outside of eBay. If they are an out-of-towner, I can ship it (they have to pay shipping though... first class would be $2, priority $5).
The cost of the fabric was about $7 for each top so I'm really not making near enough for my time, but if I don't sell 'em now, I'll be stuck with them for awhile.
If you know anyone, who may be interested, please let them know, thanks

Potty Training, Level 2 ultrasound update

Lily is working on using the toilet like a big girl and let me just tell you what an adventure this has been. Everyone I've talked to says that one day, it just comes. Well, not so much with Lily. Yes, there was a turning point right before Christmas that made her decide that she did in fact, WANT to use the toilet, but it has not been smooth sailing ever since.
She is about 90% trained on the pee part of it. She does still have accidents but I've noticed that those usually come when she is totally engrossed in something else. Most of the time I don't have to even ask her if she needs to go, she tells me! It has been interesting when we go places too. I've had to re-adjust the way that we do things now and I always have a second outfit and a bag to carry home wet undies just in case.
We have to pee right before leaving and I have to plan my day around bathrooms. We now only visit the parks that have bathrooms and the other day when we went to the beach for the day, we took her little potty with us. It was kinda funny her sitting on the toilet on the sidewalk! She thinks it is interesting that all these places that she has been to in the past actually have toilets. The one at Kohls is the funniest, it is miniature for a kid!
Now, for the poop part, we are about 30% trained on that end. For some reason she is not at all bothered by having poop in her britches. I can ask her if she needs to go and she will say no then poop her pants 10 seconds later. Many times she will even be standing in the bathroom NEXT TO the toilet, but go in her drawers instead. It is very very frustrating but I don't want to get mad at her and have her end up with emotional trauma over it.
Oh, and did I tell ya'll that our dryer broke? Yep, right before Christmas and we just can't afford to buy another one until I get a job so we have to air dry all these loads and loads of toddler panties that I'm having to wash. Our neighbors must hate us.

Update on #2.
I had a level 2 ultra sound on Thursday and everything is coming along fine. I'm not even sure the reason for this scan, last time they had me do one because Lily had a bright spot in her heart and they wanted to check further to see if there were any problems, but this time there was nothing wrong, they just sent me for it. The NP told me that these "screenings" became common in '07. Maybe the docs are in cahoots so they can refer their patients to one another and get more out of the insurance companies. Who knows, maybe it is a good thing. Irritating for me becuase the specialist is WAY across town and I have to drive my clunker on the interstate and pay 2 tolls.
The tech said that if she had to guess the sex at this point she would guess boy. We are only 12 weeks along so I asked how accurate her prediction would be at this point and she said 50/50. :)
I guess now would be a good time to put in your predictions and we'll see who guessed it right in a month or two.
Go ahead, post your prediction here if you want, it will give you bragging rights later down the road.

Odd jobs, New baby

We've been so broke lately after getting laid off I tried my best to get my websales up in order to make up the difference, but it hasn't worked out. I was hoping that selling aprons would help too, but that didn't make a dent. Unfortunately, during a recession is not the time when people go out buying premium handmade aprons.
So, lately I've been doing all sorts of odd jobs to fill the gaps and am trying to find a part time job that will fit into our schedule. Yesterday I was a maid. It was actually pretty fun. My friend has a condo that he rents to vacationers and I volunteered to clean it in between visitors. Lily was bored most of the time but it was cool that I didn't have to pay a babysitter and thank goodness for cartoons.
This little jack russell in this picture (no, it is not Zelda) is going to need a good home soon. If you know anyone looking for a doggy, let me know. He has some issues and would need someone who is willing to put in the time and effort for some training. Other than that, he is a great little guy.

New baby, coming along fine. I went to the doc on Monday and was 11 weeks. Baby has a strong heartbeat but that is about all they can tell me at this point. I've already gained 10 pounds!! I have a level 2 ultrasound today so I'll let ya know how that goes.

More pics from Christmas

My dad sent a bunch of pictures from Christmas but I have to download them one by one in my email so it has taken me awhile to get around to it. Here are some:

(notice how I am using Lily as a shield so that you can't see my flab?)

Lily is not allowed to have scissors, I'm not sure who allowed this to happen but I'm pretty sure that is what the face is all about.

Questions answered

Many of you emailed asking for more info on my pregnancy, here goes.
Baby #2 is due July 31 (exactly 3 years and 10 days after Lily's original due date). We found out that we were pregnant the week after Thanksgiving and at that time I was about 6 weeks along. I had suspicion of a pregnancy weeks earlier but twice got negative results on home pregnancy tests.
I've been feeling like garbage for since before my birthday. (hence the lack of blog posts.... sorry) I have been overwhelmingly exhausted and have been feeling nauseous almost constantly although only actually getting "sick" two or three times. I think Ross is starting to get irritated at my sleeping all the time. I go to bed right after Lily does every night and most times can't tear myself out of bed until after 9AM. I keep wondering how someone can sleep 12 hours a night for weeks and still feel tired.
I've said over and over that Lily was such a wonderful child and easy to take care of that I am sure that the possibility of having two that easy are slim. If my pregnancy so far is any indication, we are in trouble!
Besides my nausea and exhaustion, doctors say that so far everything is fine. He/she is healthy and I'm taking my vitamins (which make me sick by the way). I haven't really put on any weight yet other than in my boobs, which have gone up a full cup size at least. I look like some sort of freak of nature right now and can't wait to even out with the big belly.
Lily has taken the news in stride, I'm not sure she understands completely though. She talks about the baby in mommy's belly and has expressed with certainty that she wants it to be a girl.
I feel bad though because she comes to my bed in the mornings with a somber look saying "mommy you aren't feeling good?" and the guilt pours on about not having the energy to be up playing with her.

This picture is one of Lily acting like a lion just after a bath. This is part of our daily routine and my Dad took the picture when he was in town. We dry her hair with a towel and tell her she looks like a lion so she growls and tries to scare us.