Teaholic not quite anonymous

My friend Karen called me this morning to let me know that South Riding is having their rummage sale. I knew nothing about it. So Maddy, grandma and I went out and looked around. We scored a doll house, a sand box, dress up clothes, my little pony stuff and some books for a great price. I was especially pleased with the doll house for $8 with all the furniture to go with! It needs some dolls, but that's simple enough to buy.

I pulled my back this morning just a little bit. I twisted wrong. So now I'm trying to baby it some. So I'm laying down during Maddy's nap even though I'm not tired. I'm sure it's all the chocolate that I ate since Maddy and I made brownies this morning. We added extra M&Ms and also chocolate frosting.

Yesterday was very busy. I spent the morning straightening up the house a bunch. I wanted to start getting that rec room into a livable space instead of the mess it was. I'm sure that's how I made my back tender. I moved around a lot of stuff that I probably shouldn't have. Matt's putting up speakers in the downstairs today after he get's back from Josh's. He's over there helping him lay tile in his bathroom. I know he was glad to go help him since he's been helping us so much with our move in. It's great to give back even a little bit.

Maddy and I ran errands yesterday, too. I dropped off a package at the post office, went to Lowes and picked up a ceiling fan for our bedroom and then went grocery shopping. Oh, yeah, I have no idea what's for dinner tonight. I should figure that out soon, too. YIKES.

Tomorrow my cousin comes for about a month! He's working in the area and I offered to let him stay here. He was having a hard time finding a place to stay for work. It'll be nice to see him, it's been forever. That's the other reason I wanted to make that rec room livable--it's right off the guest room so it will give him a nice place to hang out if he gets home from work late.

Ok, off to rest my back some more before the kiddo is up. I think I just overdid it yesterday and then lifting on stuff today too at the rummages.

I hope everyone has a great weekend!

Tea of the day: Holiday blend by RoT

Whoo whoo! I love our new house. Matt put up our speaker system in the basement and had my iPhone hooked up to it. Holy cow, does that thing pump some sound. Go up two flights of stairs and walk to Maddy's room--even with the door open and the noisemaker not on--no noise....NONE....... now add in the closed door and the noise maker and man, I can even have Mom's Night Out down here and Maddy would never know. In fact, that's the plan!

Well, that's about it here. I'm cleaning up for Matt's arrival. It's going well, but still...lots to do in the rec room. Time to get back into gear. (Matt's enjoying his sound system watching James Bond).

Have a good one!

Tea of the day: Decaf coffee with splenda and creamer this morning.

Not mine, Maddy's. So I think today is the day Maddy skips her nap. I want to give it a shot in hopes it helps with bedtime. As it was she skipped her nap yesterday as she sat in her bed from 1-1:45 whining and crying at me to come in and get her. So...maybe it's time. I'm tired today though. It's my own fault for going to bed at 11 last night. I stayed up with Matt x2 chitchatting since it was really the first night we've seen him before bed. He got home about 9 to walk into a very messy rec room--you never know what to expect around here! :)

I am not looking forward to this. I like her having a nap every day. If not to pep her up, to give me some downtime, too. So we'll see how today goes. I expect her to be one tired puppy by 7 pm when she's going to bed.

Matt and I put up the rest of the crown molding last night and also taped it in preparation to paint. It's a mess down there right now, but we're hoping to get the painting done tonight after Maddy is in bed. It's only trim and it's not that much so hopefully it won't take that long. I know Matt wants to get his new tv up on the wall so if we can start on that side we can get it done.

In a bit Maddy and I are heading out to run some errands. Have a great day, all! Wish me luck!

Yep, at 2 pm, one hour after her normal nap time, Maddy crawled up into my lap and fell asleep. And she's still asleep now!

I keep leaving my keys outside the house. I've never had this problem before. About a week ago Matt brought in my keys as he went out for work in the morning. I left them sitting on top of my car ALL NIGHT and they have both our house and both car keys on them! I took out the trash and on the way in I forgot them.

Then tonight after I rocked Maddy for bedtime there was a knock at our front door and I opened it to find a man and his son handing me my keys. I had left them on the sidewalk while playing with Maddy! This was the second time I did this I told him and he told me that this was the second set of keys he has found while walking the dog. At least I know there are others out there like me.

Anyway, three strikes your out. I need to be more mindful and careful about this! After all, they are sitting outside my house..what if some wacko found them? Sure, he could steal both our cars but he could also walk into our house in the middle of the night.

What's worse is that I didn't know I even lost them--either time. ARGH.

I am TIRED this morning. Maddy was up twice last night but only for a few minutes at a time. And she went back to sleep on her own, thank goodness. But still, it makes for a long night. Even after my shower and a good cup of tea, I'm tired.

I think we'll go outside and play right away this morning. The weather is nice and we can pop over to the park. It only gets warmer as the day goes on.

Yesterday Maddy and I ran to Walmart and I picked up some of their $.05 notebooks along with a few other things we needed. Then we stopped at BJs for frozen salmon fillets and milk.

Other than that, we just hung out and played. Maddy took another nap on the couch from 2-4 again. I'm glad she's sleeping and I should count my blessings, but I wish she'd get back into her own bed so I can get stuff done during her nap instead of spotting her so she doesn't fall off the couch.

Ok, off to get the kiddo dressed. Then I think I may pull out the stroller and we'll go for a walk and then to the park. Have a good one weekend, everyone!

Tea of the day: RoT Holiday Blend

Maddy and I played outside for the majority of the day today. We really had fun. I packed up a bag to take to the park and we played there for a long time. We played on the swing forever and then played with some other kids on the play equipment. Then we packed upa nd took a long walk in the wagon and she had snack. We got home and played chalk on the sidewalk and then my friend Karen stopped over to drop off a thank you note from her daughter. We stood around and chit chatted for a while.

Maddy and I took a short nap together today. She really seemed to enjoy that as did I. I was exhausted all morning so it was nice to get a bit of a break.

After we got up we went back out to play again but didn't last as long as this morning. After making dinner, Matt was home early so that was really nice! Even those extra 15 minutes make quite a difference.

Matt is still working on wiring in the rec room. He forgot to string ethernet cable to attach to our gaming systems behind the TV so we took down two of the crown molding strips tonight and pulled it through to our utility room. Tomorrow we'll mount the TV and speakers. We'll most likely be done with everything by tomorrow afternoon and it will look really nice.

Tea of the day: RoT Holiday Blend

Well, this weekend went by really quickly but was a lot of fun. Saturday during the day, Matt, Maddy and I ran errands but it was enjoyable. When we came home we ate a quick lunch and then Maddy and I took a nap. We ordered in food for dinner but we happened to call the wrong phone number so when we went to pick it up it wasn't there. So we wound up just doing sit down. It was a really nice time and Maddy did a great job sitting for a long time.

Sunday morning was my day to sleep in and when we all were ready we took the Metro into DC. Maddy loved the train--absolutely loved it! She didn't love the monuments as much but she did really enjoy the aquarium. We stopped at Pentagon City Mall for lunch on the way home. Maddy crashed in the car and got about a 45 minute nap and when we got home I took about a hour nap. We went over to dinner at Josh and Karri's. Then we had them over for Wii and they also brought over the most delicious pie. It was a ton of fun!

OH AND THE BIGGEST NEWS! Maddy went to bed without any crying both nights in a row!!!! Now, she was up three times last night and who knows how much she'll be up tonight, but at least there wasn't any crying herself to sleep.

Ok, off to bed. As I said, who knows how much she'll be up tonight!

So I wanted to bring stuff to our trip down to DC like water bottles, granola bars, sun block, hats, etc.... I thought about the diaper bag, but knew I'd want to have free hands so I thought about my backpack that I've had for years--literally over half my life since freshman year of high school.

So the hunt was on Sunday morning for it and somehow, we found it! Everything fit wonderfully and we had both hands free which was good when having a two year old and a stroller, too.

Later on in the day, we were going to Josh and Karri's for dinner and I just repacked the backpack with toys for Maddy to play with while we were there. On the way over I was talking about next summer and instead said next 'semester'. Hmm.. amazing how that works, I wear a backpack and I go back to high school/ college.

We are all tired here today. Maddy has been very quiet and quite content to lay around and watch TV. I am also pretty tired. It was a fun but long weekend so it is nice to get the downtime. I am looking forward to our shared nap today (the only way I can really get her to take a nap, not that I'm complaining because I get one too although sometimes it's nice to get things done while she's napping too).

We did get the grocery shopping and meal planning done for the week. That's nice to have our meals planned out through Saturday.

Tea of the day; Republic of Tea Holiday Blend

Today is the day I start potty training in earnest. Maddy's been doing great on her own. Choosing to go on the potty and doing it all herself. I figure I better get on the wagon before it leaves town though. So I made our potty chart today and wrote Maddy her very own Potty book. (I'm quite adept at writing personalized children's books because of school.) So she's running around in a bare bottom right now and I hope that will help her realize when she needs to go. She already had the idea, since she tried to go on the potty after she just went since she wanted to put on another sticker. She was disappointed when she didn't go. But I had to explain to her that she can't go literally every three minutes. :)

So wish her luck! I think she'll do great overall.

So I was supposed to go to playgroup today with Maddy, but the painters are still here so that's a bust. We totally whimped out and have painters coming in to paint our crown molding. We just started it and realized what miserable painters we were. HA! But they planned today to have painters come in and I am supposed to have a playgroup. Oh well!

Maddy and I will go outside to play, so that will be fun. We also need to make a grocery store trip for milk and by the time we go she'll have filled her potty chart line and she gets to pick out a new toy.

We have jumped the gun a little bit. She is wearing big girl underwear today. Yesterday she was running around bare bottomed since it made it easy to go on the potty. But with painters in the house I didn't want her to be bare bottomed so she's wearing underwear and pants. She hasn't had any accidents at all though for the last two days. She's been doing great. We'll see where we stand with the pooping though. We haven't tried that part yet!

She was up a lot last night and then up at 6:05 this morning. Needless to say, we are pretty tired. I am looking forward to my nap today. Oh! And I go get my haircut tonight, too!

Tea of the day: Republic of Tea Holiday Blend tea

We made it to playgroup today, after all! Our painters were done by 10:10 and we were out the door by 10:20 for playgroup. Maddy loves seeing her little friends although she never really 'plays' with them when we get there. They all do the same thing! They ask to see each other but when they are together they don't play together.

I saw the latest addition to our playgroup while I was there, Annabelle's little brother! He sure is a cutie pie! I can't believe how big Nate's little brother is already at 6 weeks. Sarah is due any day now, or at least she looks like she should be. :)

Maddy's potty training has been going remarkably well. She hasn't had any accidents yet and she's been wearing underwear all day. In fact, she even pooped on the potty today. I was very impressed. I thought for sure we'd have an accident at playgroup, but nope. She did great. In fact, she filled up her chart so much yesterday that she earned a toy which we bought at Giant.

Other than that, not much going on here. She's still napping. I need to start cooking enchiladas soon so I hope she gets up in the next 10 minutes otherwise I'll need to get her up.

I'm excited for my haircut and shopping tonight. It's been a while since I've gotten out on my own like that. It'll be nice.

So I went to a new stylist last night to get a haircut. My friends from my mom's group have gotten great haircuts from her so I decided to give it a go, too. I told her I needed a wash and go cut and that I was trying to level out my layers. She cut it rather short, but I like it! It's cute the way it is and it's definitely wash and go. I can see why my friends go to her. She is expensive though--she's in the top tier of this salon I believe and in the end I spent a LOT of money on this haircut. I definitely don't see me getting my hair cut all that often by her. But since I'm trying to let my layers grow out anyway, I don't need to get it cut that often anyway.

I did a bit of shopping before I went to my haircut. I stopped at World Market and picked up some stuff. I picked up a new tea--Zhena's Gypsy Tea in Coconut Chai. It is SOOOOO good! I loved it so much. It's the perfect blend of Coconut and Chai. Neither are too strong. I also bought Sticky Fingers Scone mixes. I bought three, lemon poppyseed, black current and tart cherry. I made the black current this morning and the guys seemed to really enjoy them. It helps that I also had lemon curd, pumpkin butter and whipped honey on hand, too. YUM.

I surprised Matt last night and bought Mario Cart for him for Wii. He's been looking for it ever since he played it once. But it's out of stock everywhere he's looked. I found one left at the Best Buy where I went shopping at World Market. It's a fun little game. I was laughing hysterically trying to play it since I'm down right horrible at it. But it's fun!

I was at the mall and thought to myself, "I don't know the last time I was at a mall to shop." It's the honest truth. I don't shop at malls. I never find myself there. I go for specific things but I never really just bum around the mall. I didn't last night either. I wanted to get home and give Matt his game.

I'm glad I had such a great time last night because we didn't go to bed until 11. Of course, Maddy was up about 5 minutes after that and man, we were glad we hadn't just fallen asleep. However, last night was bad, bad, bad.... I don't even want to get into it, but Maddy was awake a ton. Something has GOT to give. This is just NOT working. Time to pick up my Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child book again. Part of the issue is that my little lady is quite stubborn!

Ok, well, off to hang out with the stubborn one. :) We're all tired today.

Tea of the day: Coconut Chai tea

Gee thanks, Patty!

in no particular order ... here goes!

A. Places I visit frequently
1. The grocery store
2. The park
3. Backyard
4. Playgroup

B.People who call/Text/Email me regularly
1. Matt
2. Patty
3. Jen
4. Playgroup moms

C. favorite Food
1. Nachos from Glory Days
2. Chicken Ala King
3. Grapefruit
4. Pizza

D. places I would rather be:
1. The beach
2. In bed
3. In a bubble bath
4. Any vacation, anywhere!

E. Movies I'd watch over and over
1. Quiet Man
2. Father Goose
3. Bells of St. Marys
4. Mary Poppins

F. Bands/Groups I like to listen to...
1. Eric Hutchinson
2. Van Morrison
3. Quincy Jones
4. Ray Charles

The 4 People I am tagging are....
1. Joy
2. Holly
3. Mom
4. dunno, does anyone else really read my blog? ;)

So Maddy slept so much better last night, thank goodness. She went to sleep without any crying on her own at 8. Then at midnight she was up once for a few minutes and then she went back down to sleep. That was the last time she was up before 6! So we actually got six straight hours of sleep last night and it was sooooo nice. Add in that I have been napping with Maddy every day and I get an extra hour there, too.

Today while I was doing laundry I turned around to find Maddy standing on the toilet seat in her bathroom. I ran to her (so she wouldn't fall) and asked if she'd like help sitting down. I get, "No mommy, I'm just going to go poopoo." WOW! No prompting! She also tried green beans for lunch today which is something she wouldn't try before so that's pretty cool, too.

Anyway, she's still asleep in our bed and I'm just hanging out in the sitting room on my laptop. I should really be folding laundry but I'll get to that after she's up.

Have a great weekend, everyone!

Tea of the day: Coconut Chai

It's sunny and bright here this morning! It looks like a lovely day. Maddy was up only once last night at midnight (the same as the night before) but went back to sleep just fine. So we received a full six hours of sleep--straight! I even woke before her and laid in bed for a while so it was nice to wake up on my own. I had some toast with lemon curd this morning and now having a cup of cinnamon bun decaf. Joe and Ruthie have already been fed and Joe had his shot.

I told Maddy before bed last night that we get to go to the toy store today to get a toy because she filled another line on her potty chart. Three days down with no accidents and very little prompting from me. I want to get a toy 'set' of some kind. Things that all go together. Maybe to go with something big. Because each line really isn't long enough but I'm not going to change it now! I mean, man, she's going to wind up with a lot of toys after this potty chart (at least 5 more) so if we do a set of some sort we can split it up some and wind up with the 'whole' in the end. So this morning Maddy woke up and the first words out of her mouth were, "Toy store?" :)

So besides the toy store today, we will most likely get to the grocery store and also get some things done around here. I've been wanting bagels lately so I may stop at Panera and pick up a few along with some cream cheese. But that's after I can get back into the bedroom to get ready. Today is Matt's day to sleep and tomorrow is my day. But I'm definitely in no shape to leave the house!

Tea of the day: Decaf cinnamon bun coffee

Yesterday morning we went out to go grocery shopping, to Home Depot and the bank. Doesn't sound too fun does it? Well, we were driving by the sheriff's department/fire department and there was obviously some kind of fair going on. Matt looked at me and I looked at him. Then Maddy said, "Maddy go!?" So we pulled on in! Maddy had a great time looking at the fire trucks and ambulances. She was able to use the fire hose to put out fires in a wooden house with a fireman. There was even a moon bounce and Applebee's donated some of the food so she had free chicken strips, too! Of course there were baggies of stickers, a plastic fireman's hat, a plastic sheriff's badge...

After that we went to the bank fast and then to Wendy's to pick up some lunch (by that time it was 12:30). We came back home, spread out the neat sheet and had a picnic in the front yard complete with frostys. Maddy loved it.

After lunch we went to toys r us and bought Maddy an easel/desk combo for her art supplies and I think after she fills a line on the potty chart she gets a new art supply. At least it's not a 'toy' cause that would be a lot of toys! I did buy her a guitar though, for this potty chart sheet and as you can see she loves it (with her juice smile).

This morning was my morning to sleep in. Matt and Maddy are going up to Panera to pick up bagels for me that I've literally been dreaming about! Crazy, I know. But I've been sitting here having my coconut chai tea and checking the web in a nice quiet house. Can't complain about that! I hope everyone has a great Sunday!

Tea of the day: Coconut Chai

So Maddy was up at 5:30 this morning. Now, she slept all night last night--8:00-5:30. That's a good chunk of sleep. Add in that her and I are taking naps in the afternoon together that sometimes last 2.5-3 hours, I definitely can't complain. But man, it sure it dark and sleepy at 5:30.

Thank goodness for Noggin. There's just no way I can do anything at 5:30. So Maddy watches 64 zoo lane and in one club chair with a blanket and I snuggle under another blanket with my cup of tea and my laptop on another chair.

What bugs me about Noggin now though are the commercials they have for their sister station Nick at Night or Nickolodian. They say they are 'commercial free'. Er....no. When I have to watch the stupid George Lopez commercial between TV shows they are not commercial free. And if I see an ad for Diago again I may just punch the TV screen.

The last couple nights I've been having some trouble sleeping soundly. I've been doing great for months, honestly. But the last couple of nights have been hard. Either I haven't been sleeping and tossing and turning or been sleeping really lightly. Now, I wouldn't be surprised if my afternoon nap is causing the issue as well.

About that nap....I have a love/hate relationship with it. It's really nice to 'have' to lay down every day to get Maddy to take a nap. I sleep like a rock for about an hour and a half and then I just kind of hang out in our room while Maddy continues to sleep. It's a nice mandatory downtime. But I do miss having that time to myself. I get a lot done during her nap! I pay bills, balance the checkbook, cook, clean, etc.... now I've really fallen behind on a lot of it. Not to mention there's something nice about sitting down by myself to a nice cup of tea.

So, anyway, I'm off to make scones. What a better way to wake up on a Monday morning than with scones?? Have a great week everyone!

Oh, speaking of, Matt was so good to me last night and he went with Maddy to Giant for groceries. I need to go back today since our list was so huge he went for the necessities (and still spent an arm and a leg). The garage is looking great, too. He's really worked hard at getting it organized and sorted. It's really getting there! Just a few more cardboard boxes to go through and we'll be able to park a car in there before long. Most likely we'll never get two in there, but that's ok.

We have quite a bit of wildlife living around our house. We are especially overrun with crickets, spiders and skinks! I don't mind the crickets that much considering they are really tiny and not the huge black ones that you can find. I don't particularly love the ton of spiders that make our bushes home. In fact, I'd like to spray them out with something since I've found a few in our boxes in the garage, too.

I kind of like the skinks, honestly. We have a family of blue tailed skinks living outside the front of our house somewhere. Most people I know aren't too fond of having skinks around since they are lizards. But they eat a lot of bugs, so I'm pretty thrilled (ahem, aforementioned spiders?). Plus, they are really pretty and they don't bite so it's not like they are a hazard to Maddy or I. I know we have three adults and two young skinks. Once I got about 3 inches from one while it was eating some sort of bug. Pretty cool, actually.

Ok, off to fold laundry.

At least that's what I keep telling myself. :) Maddy was up at 5:45 today. That's better than 5:30, but she was up at midnight for a few minutes--enough to wake me from a very deep, solid sleep to get up and go in there. Ah well, at least I have our afternoon nap to look forward to, (the love part of that relationship).

My cousin Matt came back from his extended weekend in NY. He brought back what I had requested--ginger chews! My friend Karri and I had been talking about how good they are so I started to get a craving for them. So I went to World Market (the only place I know that carries them around here) and they only had the teensy tiny boxes. So I put him on a mission in NY. He scored pay dirt! So now I'm stocked on Ginger Chews. YUM.

Yesterday morning before went to the grocery store we stopped at the park for a little while. I met my neighbor from across the street. I've always yelled hello to her and her kids, but we've always been going somewhere when we've seen them. So it was nice to talk a bit. I invited her to playgroup on Thursday.

Matt is taking my car to work today. His is in the shop since he couldn't get it started after work yesterday. He had to jump it and then drove it straight to the mechanic. He hopped their shuttle home and still wasn't home all that late. I was pretty impressed. Depending on what we choose to get done, this could cost us an arm and a leg. We need to get Matt's tires replaced and they are expensive. He's not going to pass inspection with the way they are now and inspection is due up next month. I may call around this morning to other tire places to see if we can find them a bit cheaper, but honestly, the car is in, I'd rather just have it all done in one sitting, personally.

Well, that's it for this morning. I may be on more later on today, but it's time to get the little one dressed, make some chili in the crockpot and then probably head outside before it gets too hot.

Have a great day, all!

So this morning Maddy and I were all set to take a walk and we made it to the park (we always have to stop at the park first) and then a few more blocks when she said, "Too hot mommy!" I agreed. So we came home and got into our suits and went to the pool instead. We stayed for about an hour and a half with a 10 minute pool break/snack break in between. By the time we left her lips were purple so it was time to go!

I didn't realize the baby pool was really a 'baby pool'. It's maybe a foot deep and there's nothing fun to play in. The regular pool only goes to 3.5 feet, but still way too deep for Maddy. It starts at beach level but quickly graduates up to 3.5 feet. So I was with her constantly, obviously. We did go into the 3.5 feet but I held her and held her up while she 'swam' in the water. She and I both had fun.

We got home and took a shower together. I have to say I do like our separate shower stall. I also have a hand held shower head so I put it on the floor for Maddy and it creates a little fountain. I let her play with it while I dry off and get dressed. Then I come back for her afterward. She really needed the shower. She was still cold even after being wrapped in a towel all the way home in the stroller on a hot day. By the time we finished the shower she was nice and warm again.

At 12:30 she was ready for a nap so we both laid down. She just crashed! I did too, though. The pool takes a lot out of ya.

Maddy filled another line on her potty chart today so we opened up her new art set. She was able to pick out one part of the set. She had a lot to choose from: crayons, markers, chalk, paper, stickers, paint, etc... she of course picks--FUZZY BALLS! HA! I should have seen that coming. She's been doing a great job on the potty training though. Hopefully it continues that way as she gets more and more used to it and the novelty wears off.

Ok, well, I'm off to straighten up the main floor. I'm having a friend over tonight for smoothies and to hang out and talk. It will be nice to get together!

Tea of the day: I had OJ this morning instead of tea.

This morning we were all out the door by 8:15 to go pick up Matt's car from the shop. On the way over Maddy pulled one over on us. "Maddy's tummy is hungry, mommy." "Oh, Maddy, are you hungry?" I said. "Yes, Mommy, Arby's?" hahahaha.... Anyway, after picking up the car we all went to Burger King for breakfast. Then she played in the play area for a while. After BK we went to the Farm where we saw all the baby animals. Maddy especially loved the calves. They were running around, kicking and playing. They were so cute playing! After the farm we walked over to the playground and spent a bit of them there. Then we went to the farmers market where I bought tomatoes, cinnamon raisin bread and an apple turnover.

We came home after that, I premade dinner (crab salad) and now we're just hanging out before nap. But it's almost time! So I better get a move on.

Good Friday morning! It's going to prove to be a busy one here. This morning I am hoping to make dinner for tonight and then we're going over to the pool with our neighbor and their two girls. I found our extra swim diapers! Whoo whoo! I wasn't sure where they were and all I could find was the one I had in my swim bag. I would have gotten one from our neighbor since the pool season is almost over and I didn't want to buy all new swim diapers for just one swim. Now I don't have to!

I NEED to go to Target and Costco today--target for insulin needles for Joe and Costco for more cat food. They are almost out and I think they can feel it since they've been all over us.

Maddy slept well last night. She was only up once and didn't get up until 6:40. Yeah!

Playgroup went well yesterday. Maddy seems to have really hit it off with a neighbor girl, so much so, that when we were playing outside yesterday and they came home she wanted to come over and play. They had a blast. In fact, Maddy didn't want to come in so when we got her inside for dinner she started crying.

We received our new chair cushions, tie backs, matching pillows and drapes from Matt's mom in the mail yesterday. They look great! I can't wait to get them up this weekend.

Ok, off to shower. Have a great weekend everyone. I think we're going to the zoo.

So while organizing the garage I decided to go through my teacher supplies. They were all still packed away in the same old cardboard boxes I brought them home in.

First, let me give you some background. I worked in a school that was over 60 years old and had big issues with mildew and mold. I don't know how I didn't get sick more often than I did over the years, but somehow I managed through it.

Well, for two and a half years, my boxes were packed in our deep well storage in our old house. It was pressed up against some spare paneling that went with our family room. I thought it was a great idea to keep the paneling in case anything happened to our paneling in our family room. When everything got moved out July 12, I saw the places where my teacher boxes were pressed up against the paneling were completely molded over. It was molded THROUGH the paneling and attached to the wall on the other side.

So I moved the teacher boxes here but they've been sitting in the garage since. I was going to not even open them and just toss them out in their entirety. Except...well.... I couldn't. There were six large boxes of good teacher materials there--things I used 24/7 while teacher that I found invaluable.

So I started to sort through it. But I found myself not throwing away anything I was sorting and more or less just going down memory lane instead. Well, I was holding up the process of cleaning out the garage so instead I just threw it all into plastic sterlite containers instead of cardboard boxes. And I've kept it all. I don't know why. No amount of cleaning is going to get those books mildew free again. I guess I just couldn't part with them yet.

Oh, and while I was cleaning out the boxes I found my throat getting raw, my nose getting stuffed up and my eyes starting to run. Mildew!!! As I said, I don't know how I wasn't more allergic to the school I taught in. It's sad though that it ruined all my teaching supplies.

I guess I'm in a sentimental mood tonight. The countdown to starting work would have begun by now. This would have been my last real summer vacation weekend. I'm sure the teachers start back next week with inservices and then school starts the following week for students. As much as I dreaded having to go back, there was an excitement to setting up a new classroom, pulling out the new supplies, getting the lessons prepped for the first week... There was the boredom of the inservices that were just a waste of time, the frustration of just wanting to be in my own classroom and not stuck in some inservice and the head-spinning of reading all my new IEPs if I had new kids. But then I had a great time with the creativity process of developing behavior plans for my kids and ways to connect with them. Often times, kids who would have huge behavior issues in other schools would come to me and walk into a behavior plan waiting for them and I wouldn't have many issues. Of course, there were those that would put me through the gauntlet for the first month until they finally figured out I really wasn't backing down. Then there was the one who every year would test my limits just once to make sure I would actually follow through on what I knew had to be done--and I would and we'd both be happy everyone knew the limits, once again.

I'm finding my teacher skills really come in handy with Maddy now that she's a bit older. She impresses me with how she's able to communicate her frustration and anger when she's upset. I didn't realize I had been using my teacher skills on her all along except when today I had that 'ah-ha!' moment. She was fighting with a toy trying to get it to work. I heard her toss it down, take a deep breath and she came into the kitchen and said, "Mommy, I'm frustrated and angry."

She can read through emotions so easily. Something was stuck in the drawer today and I was in the middle of cooking. I couldn't get the darn thing open. Finally I just used brute force and ripped open the drawer. I growled a bit since I was kinda ticked off at it. Maddy says, "What's grrrr..mommy?" So I said I was frustrated that I couldn't get the drawer open. Maddy comes in, looks at me, and looks at the drawer. She gives me a hug and tries to pull open the drawer, too. Of course, she can't get it either. She says, "I sorry mommy. I can't do it. But we can do it together!" So cute.

Ok, I think I'm off to an early bedtime. The pool wore me out today!

So we went to the National Zoo today. We used (cousin) Matt's gps to get into DC and now I think Matt really wants one. I don't know what he'd really use it for though since he knows where he's going the majority of the time. :)

Parking was more difficult but after that was taken care of we wandered around and saw the animals. Most of the animals were asleep the majority of the time. But we did see two really cool Orangutans cross over the walk way on wires. That was pretty interesting. It was pretty crowded today because it was great weather, but Maddy really enjoyed her time. She was exhausted by the time we got into the car at 2 and was out like a light the whole way home.

Of course, that means she didn't nap when we got home. So she was pretty wired tonight, add in some tired parents and well, we were ready to have our little one go off to bed at 8. She gave a few fusses, but you can tell it was short lived--she was tired!

I am off to bed too, soon. Matt is asleep on the couch so it's time to drag him off to bed, too. Tomorrow we are going orchard picking early--9 am! So it's time to get some rest!

So Maddy, Matt, Josh, Karri and I all went blackberry and apple picking yesterday morning. It was a lot of fun. Maddy had such a blast picking berries. She did a great job and only picked the ripe ones. She picked a whole batch on her own! Then we went to pick apples and she helped daddy pick the tall ones. She had a blast being up in the trees (with daddy holding her, of course).

One small snaffu. We ran into a huge amount of bike riders on the way there! I mean, hundreds! They were all on this country one lane road without passing lanes. It was really annoying. But we made it there.

Maddy took a good nap yesterday, as did I, and then slept really well tonight. No matter, I'm still tired today. Sigh... annoying.

Well, I'm watching my friend's little girl this morning for a bit and then Maddy and I will get a good nap together. :)

No tea today!

So last night we made airfare for Seattle for mid September. We called Matt's parents and Matt's mom and dad willingly offered to stay with Maddy so we could get away and see Seattle. Matt has to be there anyway because of a conference and he wanted me to come along. Airfare has been really high so we just kind of blew it off. Last night Matt found $350 total airfare so that's DEFINITELY not bad considering it's coast to coast. It's the right time to go since Matt's work will pick up his airfare, our hotel costs and Matt's food. So basically he stays free for the most part (we're extending our stay by a day). So all we have to pay for is my airfare and food.

I'm excited to be able to sleep through the night. Maddy was up twice last night and she has this knack of waking me up from dreaming state so I'm totally in lala-land wandering around.

Tea of the day: Gypsy Coconut Chai black tea

Today we went in for my 8 week appointment! The sonogram shows a healthy baby who's about an inch long and has a heart beat of 171 beats per minute. I've been quite queasy with this one and my skin is breaking out atrociously. But all is well, so that's what matters. I'm due April 5, but will have a repeat C-section so we'll have to see when we pick to give birth. Interesting that I get to pick the baby's birthday. I told Maddy today that she's going to be a big sister. She says she's excited and I think she gets it because she says, "like Annabelle and Nate?" who now have baby siblings.

Fortunately, it's just one. With the way I've been feeling I was wondering if it was twins!

Wednesday night I hosted Mom's Night Out. It was a ton of fun and it was nice using our rec room for it's purpose. I had 9 moms here and it was a blast. I played my I Love the 80's favorites on my ipod. It's fun because our speaker system has a docking station so all I have to do is sit it on top and hit play! Very fun. We snacked and talked til about 12:30 and I still didn't fall asleep until well after 2. Maddy fortunately wasn't up for good until 7:30. That was a very pleasant surprise. She also went to sleep just fine for daddy even though I had friends in the house. She did come down to give a hug and kiss goodnight and she hugged everyone.

Matt made his orange creamcicles. I think next time we'll stick to Raspberry martinis. They seemed to go over better. I had some snacks, but I didn't go crazy. I still need to make apple crisp but I haven't been to the grocery store to pick up butter.

Yesterday morning Maddy and I ran over to Target to pick up three more bookcases for the basement. We were going to go to the grocery store but it started downpouring right as I got there. So we came home instead. It was nothing I really needed anyway. I enjoyed my nap yesterday afternoon and it was much needed. I had a hard time getting going from it and barely got redressed before Matt got home from work!

Last night Matt and I watched a couple of our favorite TV shows but as I was sitting around on the web a little bit, he came down with the down comforter and all our pillows! So we laid around on the floor to watch TV and I have to say, I really liked it. It almost made me consider putting a TV in the bedroom, but--eh, I've never liked that idea.

Ok, I should probably get moving. It's time to feed the cats and give Joe his shot. 6 am came awfully early this morning. I was just not ready to get up.

Friday Maddy and I finally went grocery shopping for some much needed necessities. Maddy did not want to wear a coat to the store but it was raining so it really needed to be done. Honestly, it was one of the worst grocery experiences I've had with her since she was two months old and even then it wasn't that bad. The rest of the day was pretty good, I got some stuff done.

Matt came home at 3:45 since he has off for Labor day they let them off early the work day before. We were still in bed napping when he got home. I was on my laptop in bed and Maddy was still asleep so he came upstairs to say hi to us. Maddy LOVED waking up at nap time and having daddy be there, in fact, right over her!! It was really cute.

We went out to Sears and Lowes after that to look at fridges. We found one we really liked at Sears with just a water dispenser in the door and an icemaker in the freezer part only. It's great since we don't use that much ice and we didn't want the internal door space taken up with an icemaker. The freezer is on the bottom and the fridge has french doors. It came today! Of course, nothing is ever simple. Turns out that our desk counter top extended into the needed space for the fridge even though the cabinets were the right width apart. Matt made quick work of it with a circular saw though!

Then on Friday we after Sears we went to the food court for dinner and a ride on the carousel.

Saturday was fun. We spent some time in the morning going to an airshow at Leesburg Airport. We saw a B-17 take off and land. Maddy loved it. Turns out you can ride the plane if you want to for the insignificant price of $416! WOWSERS. I even saw one of my mom's group mom friend there with her kids. It was nice seeing them! After that we stopped at Glory Days for dessert since it was on the way home and we all took naps.

Today was less eventful. Maddy had her second haircut today and this afternoon we went to our neighborhood block party. She really enjoyed that but she's having a hard time coming down from it to fall asleep. Matt is back in with her again. Then again, the three hour nap probably doesn't help bedtime. But how sweet a three hour nap is.... if not for her, me! It could have been the sugar from the popsicle, too, but we'll see!

Oh, good news/bad news. Turns out what I thought were stretch marks, aren't (That's the good news. I mean, I'm a bit too early for stretch marks, only two months)! But the bad news is that I have a rash on my stomach. I think I'm going to keep myself away from the grapefruit juice and canned grapefruit I just started in the last few days and see if that helps. If it's still there on Tuesday I'll call the doctor and get in if it has spread or otherwise become worse. It does itch, but isn't that bad. Dunno what it is though and that's the bad news about it.