Darn Molars

My poor baby. These molars are just kicking his little butt. Load up on the Tylenol Mom! I feel so badly for him, especially before the Tylenol kicks in. I think they are hurting so badly at times that he cannot suck on his sippy cups. I am going to try to time his Tylenol intake better tomorrow so that he will have as little pain as humanly possible when he eats. A child cannot survive on raisins and fruit snacks alone!

Real life, good people

I love life. I love reality. I love nearly everything about, well, everything. There are, however, things that annoy me.
I am annoyed that I find it hard to accept the fact that there will always be someone out there who does not like me. I know that seems strange, but to me it matters. I am a Leo, constantly seeking approval, desperately wanting people to like me. I am likewise annoyed that I find it hard to admit that there are people out there I just do not like. Plain and simple, I am not required to like everyone I meet just like they do not have to like me. Why is that so hard for me to get? What is it about that concept that escapes me?
I am annoyed when, after giving many people the benefit of the doubt numerous times, I still get burned. I know that not everyone is going to live up to all expectations people have of them, myself included. I do, however, believe in constructive criticism. I believe that if people can dish it out they should be able to take it. I wish that more people would give me constructive criticism because I know I am not perfect and that I have a ton of room for improvement. Sometimes it is hard to improve if you do not know what you need to work on, and I invite a third party to let me know the areas in which I need to grow.
As annoyed as I can get, I am also heartbreakingly thankful for the wonderful life I have. I just have a few beefs, ya know!

Swimming Outside In February....

I have swam outside in February. At the Castle Mountain Pools and at Terrace Lakes Pool, both of which are heated by natural hot springs. I have also hiked my butt up to hot springs by the highway and down to hot springs by the highway. Once I even jumped into an unheated pool on a dare...but that was in December, so that does not count. But never, in all of my life, did I think that I would allow a child of mine to swim outside in February in an unheated pool. That was before I lived in Texas.
See, down here in Texas winter is all of about a month long. Sure, there are some cold (and by cold I mean clear down in the 50's) days, but for the most part, February is Spring. I am guessing March is Summer. We will see about that.
Where was I? Oh yeah. A few days ago Kyle and I were at Target looking for some Sandals. They were for him, I swear! After I found a super cute pair I noticed that the store already had all of their summer stuff out. And by summer stuff I mean pools, pool toys, water toys, water guns, water balloons, etc. Then I saw it. The Pool. Need I say more!
Since Kyle has always had an extreme fondness for water, and since the day was a blistering 88 degrees, I decided that a pool was the way to go! Boy was I right! For 20 bucks I created hours of bliss in not only Kyle's life, but Levi's as well. Those boys are so funny!
It took Kyle all of about 1 minute to figure out how to get into and out of the pool. It took another minute or so for him to figure out that he could splash all he wanted without being told "No, you are going to soak the entire bathroom!". Yay for outside! Needless to say, the pool was a hit.
The other night, however, Kyle got into it fully dressed. Yeah. I guess even great things have downfalls. It was sure cute though :)

Death-Defying Weenie Dog

We all know that dogs cannot fly. It is common knowledge that in the world of reality, they cannot. In fairy tales and Disney movies, maybe, but not in my world.
Apparently nobody told Summer that. Seriously.
Day before yesterday Danielle and I loaded up Kyle, Weenies Summer & Sadie, and her rat terriers Belle, BJ, and Joe into my way-too-small-for-five-dogs-and-a-baby car and headed to the park for a nice walk. It was a beautiful day. Nearly 80 degrees, and at the beginning of February no less. Anyway, we turned onto the road that takes you into the park and drove along at a leisurely 25 mph as per the posted signs. I had both Summer and Sadie on my lap, paws on the window sill, lapping up the joy of a car ride on a nice day. And then, boom.
Summer JUMPED OUT OF THE WINDOW!!! While I was driving! I hit the brakes, looked in my side mirror, and proceeded to watch her roll a minimum of 5 times. The poor thing yelped every time she went full circle. I opened my door as soon as I came to a complete stop and she promptly landed on her feet, trotted to the car and jumped in.
She seemed fine, especially considering everything she had just gone through. We went on our walk and about 3/4 of the way through the walk she started acting like her right front leg was hurting. Because of her excellent sad-dog face she got to ride the rest of the way to the car in the stroller with Kyle. They were both more than happy with the situation.
So anyhow, she is OK. I was worried about her back and her legs, but at this point she is not showing any signs of being in pain. Everything else is back to normal too, so hopefully she did not do any long-term damage. And hopefully she will only ever do it once. Dumb dog!

Octuplets!!!

OK, I simply have to blog about such an interesting, controversial subject.

The news all over the world is reporting that the woman in California who recently gave birth via c-section to octuplets is single, in financial ruin, and has 6 children already. Now, it is pretty much a fact that she is all of those things, unless the mother of the woman is lying to the news.

Might I be the first in my little world to say WHAT THE HELL!!!! Larabee and I are taxpaying citizens who provide a loving, stable environment for Kyle and it is going to 'financially strain' us to have 1 more. This lady, on the other hand, gets to have 14! Where does her income come from? It says she is going to school full time- who watches the kids when she does that? And who pays for it? California taxpayers? And if she is going to school and not working, where does she get the money to support her family? Welfare? I just do not understand.

It makes me think of our a person I know who 'loves kids', but screams profanities at her 4 children and hits them and God knows what else. And she is probably pregnant again for all I know. Why does she, who is in no way prepared (intellectually or financially) to have 4 children, GET to have as many kids as she wants? Why do I have to limit the number of kids I have because my husband does not want to strain our family financially to have many children? Why can't we just get our kids paid for too? We obviously provide our children with a much more stable environment. You have no idea how tempted I am to tell Larabee that we are declaring bankruptcy, moving home, getting on welfare, and having 10 kids. If we did that though, we would not be providing for our own.

Going on welfare because you have fallen on rough times is one thing. Rest assured my dear friend, it is not you I am talking about. Had Larabee not gotten this job we would have been in the same boat. You, however, do not plan your family around the system. You do not take advantage. You use it for what it is there for- to help you out when you need it. Good for you!

Ok, this turned into a rant more than anything, but honestly, unless this woman is independently wealthy or something, she should be fixed. Those children should be raised by a mother and a father, not by a mother, a grandmother and a grandfather because they have NO IDEA who their father is. *eye roll*

Too Many Pictures?

Is there such a thing as too many pictures? I used to think so because they take up so much room, and then they get out of order and it is very hard to keep them all neat.
Not now! Thank heavens for digital cameras! Yay for downloading pictures to your computer into neat, chronological files. Yay for always knowing when the picture was taken and for being able to easily find the ones you are looking for! Yay for having over 2500 pictures of your son's first year of life!
My husband laughs at me for how many pictures I take but I do not care! When I decide to print all of them out, then he will have room to talk because THAT would cost some moolah. As of now, he is only out batteries, and even those dont die that often. And Kyle will never have to wonder what he did as a baby or what he looked like at any point in his life! Oh yeah, and I am bound to have a few that will make him blush when I show them to girlfriends!

Stress and dealing with it

I know that everyone thinks that I have no stress in my life. Everyone thinks that I am in Texas and I don't work outside of the home so life is perfect. Please do not get me wrong- I know that I have it pretty good and that my life, in comparison to a lot of people's, is A-OK.
That being said I want to express the fact that I get stressed out too. I try not to show it. I try to hide it. I try not to dwell on it. Most of the time I am pretty good at all of the previously mentioned tactics. Most of the time. But most of the time is definitely not all of the time. *sigh*
In my starry-eyed youth I thought that my life as a twenty-something would consist of a family, a career, a home, and fantastic luck. Luck being when preparation meets opportunity, of course. I thought I would simply be superwoman and that, because I wanted it to be, everything would simply fall into place and be perfect.
Not once in all the time I spent daydreaming about my future did I consider the possibility that my husband and I would be 20K in debt for something that our insurance *should* have paid for. I paid our premiums every year before they were due and in full. I followed all of their rules. I had blind faith that because we were doing our part they would do their part. That is the way it works, right? Wrong.
Not once did I think that by the time I was 25 I would know what it was like to be a project coordinator and a construction manager, all without being paid to do it! Not once did I think I would owe money that could have paid for my child's education, and not because I got to go out and have fun spending it in the first place. I look at people in debt that spent it all on Gucci handbags and manicures and feel sick inside. We were responsible with our money and they weren't. We planned, we followed the rules, we didn't spend extravagantly or live above our means. Why u? Why did this have to happen to our family?
Not once did I think that I would know how the legal system works if you want to file a lawsuit against an insurance company. I feel so disheartened. I also know that just because you know something is not right doesn't mean that you will ever get justice. That is just a plain fact. Plenty of people get away with crimes and plenty of insurance companies get away with not paying for things because there are so many legal loopholes.

OK. Thanks for listening to my rant. I know that I have a ton to be thankful for. I have a happy, healthy, fantastic child. I have a husband who loves me unconditionally and who gives to his family selflessly. I have family and friends who love and support me and who would travel the world to rescue me if I need it. Our bills are paid, even if the credit cards are getting there more slowly than we would have liked. We don't deal with drug or alcohol addiction, mental or physical abuse, or crime in our daily lives. We don't have to worry about so many things, but likewise have to worry about things that 99.9% of people will NEVER have to deal with in their lives. All in all, I would rather be 20K, or even 100K in debt than have a horrible illness in the family or have us hurt or destitute. There are so many things that could make life worse for us. I definitely need to drop the attitude I have today and get back to my "glass is half full" mentality. This has been very cathartic.