Concert Time

Last night my friend Mettina and I went to see Leann Rimes and Kenny Chesney in concert. We went to dinner beforehand and enjoyed talking and not having kids to manage. I was worried it would rain since it had been off and on all day and it did rain on the drive there but stopped just as we got to our exit and it didn't rain again the rest of the night, so luckily we didn't get soaked.

Leann Rimes was ok, her vocals were great and she played a fun set list but she didn't put on much of a show. Kenny, as always, rocked the house. This was my third time seeing him in concert and he is a lot of fun. He had been playing for an hour when he mentioned that he was just getting started, surprised to hear him say that so far into the show I checked the time and it was 10:05 pm. Since we had a 30 min. drive home and Mettina's mom who was watching her kids also had a 30 min. drive home, we decided to leave by 10:20. By the time we got to the car (it was such a long walk) it was 10:40 and we could still hear him going strong - I wonder when he eventually ended. I was so wiped out! Being 34 weeks pregnant and sitting on a lawn for that long wasn't very comfortable, but I am glad I went and thank my brother John for giving me the tickets to go. Also, thanks to Brent for taking care of Jacob so I could enjoy an evening out. This will most likely be the last concert I will be able to go to for a very long time.

Watermelon and Jacob

I have always loved watermelon and when I bought one the other day I was very excited to dig in to it.. I don't buy them often because Brent doesn't like melon of any variety and watermelons are so big that I can't eat them alone. But I did get one of those small melons a few weeks ago and Jacob was diggin' it as much as I so I thought it would be ok to buy the big one.

I cut it up last night and for dessert Jacob and I ate the equivalent of a quarter of the entire melon. This morning we almost ate the other half. SO GOOD!! Sweet, juicy, fresh, invigorating... ::drooling:: I am just loving this melon and will most likely eat the rest of it tomorrow. Yummmy.

Jacob
Yesterday was an odd day for Jacob. His balance has been off for a few days which I attributed to a molar that came through last week. Well yesterday the kid couldn't walk three steps without falling over and had a strange sort of limp. He would cry and then crawl everywhere (very strange since he has been walking/running for the last 9 months). He bumped his head pretty good at one point after falling straight into the wall. I would hold his hands and walk with him and noticed he was favoring a leg, but I couldn't figure out which. I inspected both legs, ankles and feet and all looked well. When by 9 am he was just a crying, crawling mess I decided to call his doc. They got me in at 10 and he checked out completely well and healthy. He couldn't walk well for the doc either, so at least she could see I wasn't making it up. She said the only thing she could think of was an infection of the inner ear (very rare in babies and she'd never seen it) which she can't see and was a hard procedure to do on babies. So she sent me home saying if he hasn't improved by Thursday to go back in. He was wobbly the rest of the day but after a really nice long nap he was 70% better and this morning he is doing fine. Weird huh?! What do you all think happened? It is so random and out of the ordinary. Brent thinks maybe he had baby vertigo... possible I guess. But his eyes were tracking well and the doctor said that in people experiencing dizzy spells their eyes don't track well. I'll probably never know what happened, but maybe one of you have either seen this or experienced it yourself? Speak up if you have. I'm just glad he seems to be fine now and I won't have to take him back in.

The insanity continues

I was making some very important phone calls (insurance company fiasco junk - another stress in my life) when I looked over to saw this...


- My "A League of Their Own" tape is now destroyed -


- The little monster going back for more -


I happened to have the camera right next to me so I snapped some evidence. As you can see our entertainment center has no glass door and he can reach the bottom two shelves easily and is trying for the top shelf (heaven help me when he can reach the VCR). There is no way to put these up higher or child-proof. I would just have to pack them all back up. Maybe I should before I get packed away to the nut house.

To add to the terror he is beginning to have real tantrums. His squeal can be likened unto the Ringwraiths in LOTR "Fellowship of the Ring" - high pitched and ear-piercing. A few days of hearing that several times a day is enough to make anyone go nuts.

Brent, send the wonky mobile for me - I need a break.

I am going crazy!

Jacob has been testing my sanity the last few days. We have an entertainment center and the movies on the shelves are within his reach and he simply can't leave them alone. He is 18 months and capable of knowing yes and no and I want to have things in my house that he knows not to touch (otherwise everything stays in boxes). I have said "no" probably 25 separate times in two days (sitting at his level in front of the movies) and it simply does NOT work, a mean glare does nothing, a sharp "pat" on the hand is useless, I've tried a 10 second time-out which was useless, I've even spanked his diapered bottom... still nothing. No punishment or consequence works. He thinks it is funny or something and grabs them at least 20 times a day (no joke) and looks in my direction. Then he laughs and runs.

I am going absolutely nuts and have no idea what to do. I've searched the internet for ideas and have found nothing I haven't tried. If he simply played with the movies or made a mess I wouldn't care, but he's ripping the covers and damaging them - not acceptable. I've asked my older sister and the only thing she had to say was, "sounds like Michael" (her oldest child). I left the house after he woke up from his nap yesterday and went anywhere and everywhere for 3 hours JUST to avoid the movie battle. I HATE feeling like a mean mom or a bad mom, and maybe some of the problem is that I am simply exhausted from being 32 weeks pregnant and my hormones are raging, and I have no patience but I feel like I am going to need Brent to admit me to a nut house if I don't find some sort of solution.

Can anybody offer me some help? suggestions? a light at the end of this particular tunnel?

Update time!

Massage Time (Wednesday)
For Mother's Day Brent "gave" me a 1-hour massage. I went on Wednesday and he watched Jacob while I received a wonderful pre-natal massage from a very kind and very energetic older masseuse. She was almost 60 - you'd never know it by looking at her. I haven't had a professional massage since probably 1999 and I thoroughly enjoyed it. She spent half of the time on my hips and lower back since with this pregnancy that is where I feel the most sore. ::sigh:: It was great! I came home feeling like jell-o. Thank you Brent!

Picnic Time (Thursday)
We are just entering the lovely heat wave that all you folks have been talking about. The luxury we have is that we are surrounded by lots of very tall, full trees that give us great shade and we also have a very nice breeze. So, since it wasn't unbearably hot, Brent suggested we have a picnic. So, I made a cheese tortellini salad (I highly recommend this very tasty salad) and put it in a cooler along with my home-canned peaches and we all went for a picnic in the park. Sophie (our old neighbor friend) is with us for a few days and she took Jacob over to the playground and snapped this picture which I think is pretty cute. What a nice way to spend an evening.



The Crystal Springs Rhododendron Garden and Duck feeding (Today)
We went to this beautiful garden this morning with a new friend of mine from my new ward and her two daughters (who are in love with Jacob). It was absolutely beautiful!! Every where you look there are flowers (there are over 25,000 in the garden) and photo opportunities. Jacob was good the entire time and really enjoyed seeing the plethora of ducks. I took lots of pictures, but I'll just post a few. Afterwards, we went to a lake that had hundreds of ducks/geese and feed them and then had a picnic lunch. We got home just after noon and Jacob, being so pooped out from all the fun, took a 3-hour nap enabling me to take a 1-hour nap. So I am a happy camper. We are now waiting for Brent to come home so we can go out for dinner (a nice Chinese restaurant) and begin our weekend.

Another cake

I made this cake for my niece Caitlyn who turned 3 on Saturday. I used a green apple fruit roll-up for the stem and leaves which I think turned out pretty cool. She really liked it and I had fun making it.


- We were asking her how old she was and since she didn't know how to put up 3 fingers this is what she did... so cute -

We also went to the zoo that day and so I had to post this picture of Jacob because he is such a stud. More zoo pics will come later.

Thank God for answered prayers

I have to say first off that all of this stress is our own fault for getting our taxes in so late.

So, today I went to mail our federal tax return. I drove up to the outside mailboxes in front of the post office and dropped it into the second box. I then continued on my way and before I even got to the street I thought, "did I put a stamp on that?" followed by, "no", followed by "oh crap! what do I do?" See, if the taxes aren't post marked by tomorrow we will not qualify for that economic relief return which is a $1200 value ($1200 bucks!) to our little family (not to mention avoiding late fees). I promptly freaked out and called Brent telling him what happened and asked him to say a prayer after we hung up. I went inside the post office to find out if there was any way I could get my envelope back and they said, and I quote, "No ma'am. Sorry but we will not go through every letter in that box just to find yours". I left feeling like I was about to cry.

After buckling Jacob in I sat in the car and prayed. I asked that somehow we would get the envelope back tomorrow requesting postage and then I would be able to run it back. I then started driving away. As I turned on the street I looked in my rear-view mirror and saw a postal worker emptying the boxes. I quickly parked on the street and ran back to him. He had just emptied the second box and I asked if he could look for my envelope. He was nice enough to oblige and we quickly found my envelope, I was almost in tears by that point and I thanked him profusely. I put a stamp on the envelope and I went on my way. I said another prayer of thanks and sat there breathing deep and trying to calm down - I felt drained from the stress and rush of the past 20 minutes.

I am just so grateful that he blessed me and helped me out of my mess. I felt like such an airhead for forgetting something that important. We need that money greatly and to have lost it all simply for forgetting a stamp is so lame that I would have had a hard time forgiving myself. I had to share this with all of you because I am too grateful not to. This is something wonderful that has happened in a stress-filled busy passed few weeks. Sorry if I'm rambling.. I'll end now.