Thankful Thursday

'TIS THE SEASON FOR AN ATTITUDE OF GRATITUDE!

1. Pesto

Oh I could sing your praises to everyone. There are cons, however. Greasy, oily and probably fattening. Heartburn-inducing. Wanting to eat it all the time. I stuff pork chops with this pesto and feta cheese and Jason loves it. All I need is a dollop on cooked pasta or pizza crust. Mmm..

2. Babies

Babies make the world go round. I love 'em.

(Photo from C Jane Enjoy It)

3. Halloween

Halloween was great this year. It's always a good reason to party but when you have kids and I mean kids who get it, then it's a bigger party.

4. Elections

Look, I hate the signs, the phone calls and the arguing/bashing as much as the next person BUT we have to appreciate our privilege that is the right to vote and stand up for our beliefs.

5. GOOD neighbors

My friend, Deborah, is also my good neighbor. She helps me a lot. She has taken care of Griffin for me while I have gone on job interviews. She has car-pooled with me to Chandler. She helped me this week enormously by taking Griffin and I to the grocery store since my car is STILL not working. And she has 2 kids. She is generous, nice and a good Mom too. My other neighbors are good and some have the potential I'm sure, but this week I am thankful for Deb.

Tais-Toi

SO yesterday or the day before I was hanging with Courtney, Jason, and Griffin.

I said to Griffin, "Hey did you tell Coco that you went to Disneyland?"

Griffin: "No."

Courtney: "Tell me about it Griff."

Griffin: "No."

Me: "Come one Griffin, tell Courtney about Disneyland."

He looks at me. Straight face.

Griffin: "Shut up."

Me: "WHAT?!"

Griffin: "Shut up Mommy."

Me and Jason: "Griffin! Don't tell Mommy that!"

Griffin: "Shut up."

Ummmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.................

We had a long talk. I think he gets it. It was weird, since I never tell him to shut up, so I guess I don't notice when Jason and I say it. NOT funny but sort of. Don't worry we did NOT laugh when he said it. but we did laugh later in private (:

Thankful Thursday

Disneyland

It really is The Happiest Place on Earth

October brings all things fall

Even cooler temps and a fun Holiday

Twitter

I know some people don't get it, but until you get it then you just don't get it. Make sense? Well anyway, I have been successful navigating twitter, making internet friends and helping my impatient butt be more entertained whenever possible (:

Lip gloss

Just bought this Philosophy lip gloss last month. I wanted something clear but not flavored mint since Jason said he doesn't like it (?!) so I got bubble gum and I must say I LOVE it.

PBS Kids

We only have basic cable so this is the only channel we have that shows kid's shows on a daily basis and I must say it's highly tolerable. With the exception of Sid the Science Kid, Griffin and I pretty much adore all the shows on this channel. They air kids shows from 6:30am-1pm. It's quite nice. We especially love Curious George, Peep, Caillou, and Clifford the Big Red Dog.

Need I say more?

Ok, I will. I love pizza and we all know it's pretty hard to screw up but it can be done. I've been making it at home lately using Boboli crusts. Jason LOVES the pizza I make for him. His toppings include cheese, sausage, green pepper, onion, mushroom and olives. Mine? Cheese. And sometimes I do a pesto sauce. Well he says I make great sausage and he loves it. So guess what? I make pizza a lot now yay! I want to learn to make a crust on my own and also a sauce on my own one day.

Wordless Wednesday

That's What He Said

I guess I need to actually write this stuff down instead of saying that I will and then eventually forget to and forget what I wanted to write. These are some funny things (funny to me) that Griffin has said to me recently:

"Oh, goodness." When I cautioned the skateboarders in the road to move or else I was going to run them over.

"Oh, god." When my mom couldn't find her car keys once. (gotta work on saying gosh!)

So..this one is kind of inappropriate but I must include it. Usually, everyone knows that I don't swear or cuss. BUT I have a tendency to do so when I'm driving. I said "Move, you dumb bitch!" Griffin says to me "Mommy, is that truck a dumb bitch?" My reply: "Yes." Woopsies!

Also when Griffin says the word bridge, which is actually a lot since he is kind of obsessed with them, it sounds an awfully lot like bitch. Too much so. Daddy told him not to say that word and Griffin was so confused. Jason didn't know he was saying bridge.

One day Griffin was climbing into bed to take a nap and my mom and I were about to read him a story. He looked at my mom and said: "Will you join me Grandma?"

Then one day Jason was making himself a drink or a snack or something and Griffin said to him, "Enjoy Daddy!"

Today when we were watching PBS, an ad came on that comes on every time before Curious George and Griffin turned to me and said, "Mommy, Monkey George is coming on next." then it came on and he said "I told you so, Mommy." All matter-of-factly.

I don't quite know how to word this one, but Griffin found a certain boy body part under his weenie and said "Look Mommy, my pee pee has his own little belly! Cute little belly!" Personal for him I know, but too cute not to share.

He talks A LOT ALL DAY LONG and some of the things he says to me are just so funny and polite and weird. I love how he says no thank you when I ask him a rhetorical question, or how he is always curious as to what I am doing and says "Oh." after I tell him. Just today I was vacuuming upstairs while he was "helping" Jason clean the guest bath and he yells up to me "Keep it down up there!" and when we're at the grocery store, I say something like "One last thing..." then he says "Let's get out of here Mommy."

He is still so busy and hardly sits down except for when he is really into a show or book. He LOVES going to the Cub House at Basha's-one of our local grocery stores that has a child watching area in the store where you can leave your children ages 2 1/2-11 for up to 90 minutes. He asks to go there every day. I wish there was one in the Fry's too-since they have a better selection there and he just adores one of the ladies that works there. He is very much all boy and I know I should get him in a preschool soon. Anyway... we went to Disneyland last week, so I will have to do a post dedicated to that. I'll try and remember some of the other things he said/says, it's really very important to me.

I forgot to add that he calls everyone honey. It's so cute! I call him honey all the time, so obviously that's where he gets it but it's so funny to hear him call the most random people honey. I love it!

All I got to say today.

1. Where is your cell phone? Right here next to me.

2. Your Vehicle? Silver 97 Nissan Altima that is currently covered in shattered glass.

3. Your hair? Dark brown, up in a pony right now.

4. Your father? At work I guess (in Utah)

5. Your favorite thing? Family

6. Your dream last night? Something about traveling in a RV-type bus with strangers and Jason and Grif

7. Your favorite drink? Pepsi, Perrier, Pinot Grigio, seriously.

8. The room you’re in? My old room at my mom's house which is now my nephews' room.

9. Your ex? I don't know.

10. You are? Trying NOT to nap.

11. What do you want to be in 10 years? A happy teacher.

12. Who did you hang out with today? Just Griffin as of yet, but it's 3:30. And if I hang out with anyone, it's gonna be family.

13. What you’re not? Hungry.

14. Muffin? Poppyseed.

15. One of your wish list items? Anything for the Cuttlebug.

16. Where is the ______ ? The person who killed JonBenet Ramsey? I must know this, I hope God tells me when I die.

17. The last thing you did? Ate an apple with cheddar cheese.

18. What are you wearing? A pink t-shirt and pink sweat shorts.

19. Your favorite TV show? Saturday Night Live

20. Your pet(s)? None.

21. Your computer? White, and on my lap.

22. Your life? As it should be.

23. Your mood? Fine.

24. Missing? Baby Jaxon.

25. What are you thinking about right now? Wondering what time Grif will wake up from nap.

26. Your Shoes? Are on the floor.

27. Your work? A 3 year old boy and a 27 year old man and a 5 year old house.

28. Your summer? Hot, fun and busy.

29. Your favorite color? Blue and Pink

I tag: Audrey, Lyssa, Tanika, Heather and April

Baby Talk

Sometimes, a girl wonders if she is pregnant. If you are having sex, then perhaps this thought runs through your mind at times. Before I got pregnant, I took many a pregnancy test, I was positive that all the heartburn and fatigue meant I was pregnant. I was not. I did not have a regular cycle, so that could not be depended upon. But I did not get pregnant until after I was married, thankgoodness. And after that, my whole life changed. Of course, right? But what I mean by this was that everything I did, everything I ate, how I slept, where I went...I handled with care. I didn't hang around bars anymore or hang very often with friends who smoked, I quit drinking alcohol and eating sprouts and feta cheese. I went to bed early, I drank more water than ever and I tried to sleep on my left side. I was cautious about what medicine I took, how much caffeine I drank and I drank more milk than I ever have.

When I had the baby, life resumed. I didn't breast feed for long, so I ate all the chocolate my stomach could devour, I drank alcohol, I ate exotic cheese and I slept whenever possible...but I drank coffee and Red Bull religiously. So what I'm getting at is that sometimes I feel pregnant again. I can't help but feel this way sometimes, after all excessive gagging is what drove me to take that positive pregnancy test, and sometimes when I gag a little too much that day I just wonder. I wonder when I am so tired I can barely keep up, I wonder when I feel a little nauseated after one glass of wine, I wonder when everything makes me cry, when I am craving food like a starving mouse and when I feel a weird sensation in my stomach, like some living thing is moving around inside of me. I swear sometimes, I feel like I am feeling flutters and I think to myself "Well surely would know if I were this pregnant to feel movement." What would I do differently? I would have to justify the 3 cups of coffee I drank today but I wouldn't have to justify the overwhelming laziness I still feel. I would not feel as bad about gaining weight, but I would still be careful about it. I could have better excuses as to why I am just not up to going out with friends or even leaving the dang house at all. I would take more naps and not feel guilty about it. I could pull out the old baby clothes without feeling like I am making a huge mess. People would ask me how I feel and really mean it. I could do a lot more research on cloth diapers without feeling like I am wasting time. But if I am not pregnant, then none of things matter and I will still feel guilty, lazy and probably still eat as much.

But I guess sometimes you just don't know. There is after all a TV show called "I didn't know I was pregnant." I look at that title in 2 ways though. 1, I think aww come on! How did you NOT know?!?!?! But then there are other times such as now. I have been pregnant before, but each pregnancy is different, and if you were not careful or not trying, you could possibly not know you are pregnant. Without divulging too many personal details, I use a certain birth control device that conceals my cycle and is pretty much 99% effective, and so I technically can still get pregnant. Sometimes I want to take a pregnancy test, when I feel the urge but I tell myself it's a dumb idea. When I was actually pregnant, I bought a test and my husband told me it was a waste of money. It was not. He was overjoyed and I was confused, upset, overwhelmed and a little excited. What would I be this time around? The same way but more excited. If I were pregnant-don't worry I'm sure I am not-I would be scared. Because we don't have health insurance, this would be one expensive baby. I'm sure babies are priceless to some people but we already have debt, too many bills and enough money-related stress to fill a million cribs. And, we already have a baby (3 year old). I want to be pregnant, but I don't. The life of an adult is a roller coaster.

I don't know what triggered me to write this, but I do know that today is our 4th anniversary, and I thought I would have two babies by now. I am thankful for my two babies-Griffin and Jason. I'm sure others have felt this way. Pregnant? Not pregnant? I hope I am NOT pregnant? I hope I am?! I hope I am not pregnant but I hope I will be again one day.

Mid-August

These next few images could only mean one thing.

Individual soy milks in the fridge...

Bottles with handles and reusable sippy cups...

Bottle rack with freshly washed bottles...

Cadbury Chocolate!...

Neocate formula, for babies with allergies...

Have you guessed yet?

Okay, Ill give you a hint ^

.........................

My best friend!! At my house!!

Yep. My best friend Lyssa, her husband Dave and their son Christian at my house for three full days. I was so excited. Sure, it had only been 2 months since I saw them (Qatar-remember?!) but I am so happy they decided to take a small detour to our house in Arizona after spending a week in California, before heading back to Utah and eventually back to Qatar (they are back now). Lyssa and Christian visited last year in September, but this was Dave's first time coming to our house. Unfortunately, it was quite hot outside and Jason had to work a lot, but we had fun. It's always fun having your best friend around, no?

Christian and Griffin got along good. Christian will be 2 in November, so there is a year and four months between them, but Griffin is in a playful stage right now where he is really learning to share and have a good time. I could not wait for Griffin to meet him. They were pretty cute, of course.

My mom has 2 toddler beds from when my nephews were little and we have this same one upstairs in Griffin's room and the other at my mom's house for when he sleeps there. I had Jason pick it up before Lyssa got here and put the bed in the guest room so (hopefully) Christian would sleep in it and give Dave and Lyssa a bed to themselves, since they had been on vacation. I think it worked well.

Griffin and Christian hugging before we went swimming at the community pool

While they were here, we tried to think of fun things to do indoor since it was so hot, but I swear I could only think of free/cheap/cool things to do outdoors. Dave suggested we go to the State Capital Museum one day since it was free and so we did. It was pretty cool, I learned many things about this state that I did not know before (sadly). Here is Griffin at the podium in one of the set up rooms.

Griffin and Christian

One night, we decided to go to a Diamondbacks game. I was really excited because we love going to baseball games, especially with other people, and my mom came over to our house to babysit the boys and it was raining outside. Well, it was REALLY raining. I mean, we don't see rain coming down like this that often, but it was monsoon season, so not totally random. The visibility was awful. I was glad Jason was driving his truck since it's very reliable, and he is a good rain driver. MmmHmm. Well, once we got onto the I-10, we noticed some cars in front of us swerving around an item in the middle of the road. It was a large, metal ladder and Jason got over as fast as he could, but his back tire hit the ladder and it blew out. The bad part was that he had just gotten a flat tire 2 days prior and had used the spare already, so were without a change. We were on the side of the road, near an exit, it was raining and VERY windy. It was a tense situation. We called my step-dad and he came to pick us up. While we waited, Jason took the tire off, which happened to be on the freeway side of the road. I was very anxious, and mad and sad. My step-dad took us home and Jason put air in the spare, drove back with Chris, and put the spare on and drove home. Our perfect night turned out kinda lame, but at least we did not get hurt. Here is the view from where we sat on the road:

The next day, the Sallays drove back to Utah and a week later left for their journey back to Qatar. It was sad to say goodbye, but again I am so glad they came. Look how cute they are, Lyssa, Dave and Christian.

'Till next time!