Snaggletooth

I think that mothers of small children are not cut out for 30-for-30 challenges. This is the remnants of yesterday's bloody clothes - which I did actually keep on all day until I changed into yoga pants and a pj top in the evening.


We had a great day yesterday. We bundled up and walked to the Target plaza (2.9 miles round trip) and I let him check out all the animals at Petsmart and all the video games at Best Buy and all the toys at Target before trudging back home at a decent clip (3 miles, 54 minutes and I was pushing 65+ lbs of child flesh and stroller accouterments the whole time).

Then he played out on the back porch while I got things done/watched bad movies/played my video game.

About 5pm he pooped in his pullup and decided to go potty again before getting a new one on. He then fell OFF the toilet while I was in his room grabbing a new pullup and hit his face on the bathtub.

Meet snaggletooth:



There was blood everywhere - it looked like a scene on CSI and I looked like the culprit. Somehow I kept my piece of mind, I put on a new pullup, grabbed his pants and a blanket (cold outside) and threw Henry in his seat and started out for the doctor. We were all shoeless.

However, I called on the way and they couldn't see him, so I had to deviate and get to the after-hours pediatrician. Broken teeth, blood everywhere - my son's beautiful smile. Down. The. Tubes.

Halfway there he wasn't crying anymore but I was, so we went ahead and saw the doctor (which involved me and a nurse holding him down and the doctor putting a tongue depressor between his teeth so he wouldn't get bitten) and he's fine. A bad cut on the inside of his mouth which he won't leave alone so it keeps weeping and is still swollen, and two broken teeth.

This is how he looked 20 minutes after getting home:


This morning we visited the dentist as soon as they opened, and while he wouldn't let the dentist look in his mouth, we discussed that the teeth weren't gray and they don't seem to be hurting him, so it's fine.

Fine.

Anyhow, I did take my picture for today, and I'll hope that I can keep these clothes blood-free.

Top: Old Navy, seriously old (and I'm not sure it'll make it through the 30-for 30, but I needed something quick).

Bottoms: Khaki's Macy's Labor Day clearance sale in September.

Not shown - same Sketchers sneakers as yesterday

Accessories: same black sweater from yesterday, butterfly earrings, rings, and I didn't put a lick of make-up or even dry my hair this morning (I didn't take my shower last night so I woke up with Spencer's blood still between my toes. That obviously needed to be remedied quick). Now that the crisis of the day has been attended to, I'm going to go put at least something on my face before dragging Henry to the doctor because he's on day 5 of this horrible cold and I'm terrified he's going to have an ear infection the moment I go back to work. On Thursday.

Remixing it backward

I thought about not doing 30 for 30, because once I checked my closet (which I felt was woefully understocked) it turns out I have 26 black and gray tops. Plus, I'm going back to work from maternity leave on Thursday, and I don't know what work has in store for me: meetings? trials? The holiday season is always a busy one. Everyone wants money.

Anyhow, so I've decided to do this backward. I don't think I utilize most of what's in my closet, even though I just cleaned it out and tried on every piece, confirming what fit and what didn't. So I've decided to do it backward. I'm going to take a picture of my clothes every day and see if I make it by the end.

Today:
Jeans - I bought these at Loft on clearance plus my credit card discount which made them around $30 from $70, and then I spent another $7 getting them hemmed. I'm so glad I did it because they are great, comfortable and I think they look good on. Original boot cut.

Top: purple top, Loft clearance. I love this color and have a couple other tops in the same color.

Shoes: Sketchers sneakers, DSW clearance. Are we noticing a clearance theme? I rarely buy anything full price.

Accessories: my watch (ahem, going out of business sale at a jewelry store), my wedding rings, Coach ring (birthday present last year?), black sweater (Target, clearance) (because it's freaking cold out there for a Florida early November!) and a flower for my hair.

Menu Monday

Last week's menu:

Monday: Cajun dirty rice
Tuesday: we had a late lunch at The Bungalow after the Children's Museum so we didn't eat dinner. I may or may not have snacked on Halloween candy instead.
Wednesday: steak, cheesy risotto and brussel sprouts
Thursday: TGI Fridays (we had a BOGO coupon!)
Friday: tilapia and veggie parchment packets with linguine and pesto sauce
Saturday: late lunch at Olive Garden after a drive to enjoy the beautiful weather, so no dinner.
Sunday: chicken and dumplings

So I looked through the last 11 weeks of Menu Mondays, and I think I've stuck to my schedules pretty well. We've still eaten out more than we should have, but I think we've tried to be careful to watch our food-related spending. In the last 11 weeks, I have cooked 34 dinners, we've had 5 nights of leftovers and 6 nights of no dinner, and my MIL cooked for us once. We've eaten out 15 times. That's a much better ratio than in the past, but I'd like to average less than once a week eating out, if possible. (Well, if someone else was paying for it, I wouldn't mind averaging more but I don't think that's likely.)

This week's menu:

Monday: chili
Tuesday: sausage ravioli
Wednesday: grilled shrimp and rosemary risotto
Thursday: chili cheese dogs (well, my husband's will be, mine will probably just be w/ catsup and mustard because I'm not particularly adventurous like that)
Friday: grilled pork chops and tater tots
Saturday: lasagna

Mourning of relationships

I found out tonight that one of my closest friends and her fiance have called it quits. To say I am heartbroken is an understatement, and yet, they live 1200 miles away so does it affect me?

Yes.

I was there when they got together. I remember the very moment that A invited D to a party given at my apartment in college, pulling me around the corner so we could spy on D sitting on my couch and saying, See him? I want him. He should be mine. And he was, and it was glorious. They were my ideal of a perfect couple - compatible, indestructible, wanting exactly the same things and perfectly suited for each other. They wanted the same things (living in a big city, writing) and didn't want the same things (children). They seemed to be living out their perfect life.

Yes, they had their problems - doesn't everyone?

But they both seemed to believe in Love so strongly as a tangible entity. And after a ruinous prior relationship and subsequent messy affair, A was so fragile. D made her believe.

I thought they were so strong. Others have fallen lately too, but while sad I could look back and say, "I can see." With this, I can't see. I know I live 1200 miles away and simply cannot see, I don't want to see. I want things to go back to the way they were.

Because if they're doomed, what does that say about the rest of us not living our dreams?

Something to worry about.

In July we found out that my husband's company was disbanding their IT department and sending it to India. Given that I was 6 weeks out from having Henry, I refused to worry about it. It's not supposed to happen until the end of the year, and in the meantime he still has a job. He qualified for a few open positions in the company (8, I think, and 800 being laid off), but there were others who had been there longer who apparently got the jobs.

His company does some work for the government, and those contracts would have to have stateside contacts, so there were a few open positions with the new company. My husband applied for and got one of those positions, set to start Nov. 2.

Then Nov. 8.

Then Nov. 11.

In the meantime, they have been terrible about getting back to him about every question he asked, even small things like, "can I still work for the regular company until Nov. 10 since you changed my start date so I'm not missing any days?"

So Friday he called and asked my opinion about saying no to the job for the new shady company and instead continuing his hunt. It does mean that there is still no guarantees on the job front come 12/31 (although if he ends up there that long, there is an excellent severance package). But I respect his decision to not take the new position and hopefully something will come along that he'll be happy with, with a company that he'll be happy with. Here's to hoping we don't go down to a single income come January 1.

More than seven

-- I turned on the Wii Fit yesterday and it had been 779 days since I last used it (what is that, 2 years, 2 months or so?). I've lost 3 1/2 lbs since then. Of course, I also had a baby in between. Woohoo for goals!

-- I let Spencer run around with the Wii remote and let the game think that it was me to earn fitness credits. Hey, he loved it! Probably not helping me with my goals though.

-- He then cried for an hour for not being allowed to play any more video games. I'm thinking no on letting him play any more.

-- We started attempting 1-2-3 Magic on Thursday. Spencer was in time out at least 10 times over the course of the day including one timeout in Target where we stood in the stationary aisle for 2 minutes. I'm hopeful for it, but I don't know. It's similar to what I already do, I think just more consistent. I'm hoping that consistency can save my sanity.

-- I'm giving up on potty training for the next week. If he does it, great, but I'm not even going to mention it for the next 6 days, except having him go potty before bed. Maybe when he's in daycare again more and I have to deal with it less, we'll all be more inclined to actually deal with it.

-- We've bought three Christmas gifts for Spencer so far: Buzz Lightyear pjs, a Cat in the Hat floor puzzle and the Toy Story trilogy. I have no idea what to get Henry. I know he doesn't care but I feel obligated to have an equal amount of presents for him too. Maybe I can buy a package of socks and wrap them individually. Hey! Maybe I can do that for my husband too!

-- I think I'm going to print pictures of everyone and put them on their Christmas gifts this year so Spencer can hand them out.

-- I go back to work in less than a week. Oh, the humanity! Where's my coffee?

-- Henry has his first cold, and I don't know where it came from since I've kept him home more than any time the entire last three months, and Spencer's been home from daycare this week, but he's a sneezy snotty mess and I've had to suction out his nose three times a day and mist him with saline. He's still a happy baby though, just one with slightly less sleep.

-- I'm going to see if Camp Rock 2 is on Disney On-demand.

-- Yes, I know I have a problem.

Shutterfly loves us

I'm so excited to hear that Shutterfly is giving away 50 free cards to bloggers, I just can't even stand it.

I ordered the above cards last year, and they turned out fabulously, as you can see. Isn't he the cutest? I ended up ordering 20 cards on the beautiful stationary for family only, and then ordering another 20 cards on photo stock to send out to friends that looked like this:


And really, the stationary cards are a cut above but they both turned out just great. I'm super excited to be able to order them again this year FOR FREE (except, you know, with different pictures of my now TWO little charmers). I just can't decide which cards to use this year - this one? This beautiful one? And how cute is this??

And what pictures of the kiddos? Maybe this one?



Or this one?


Oh, the decisions that have to be made! Order yours today!