The Meaning Behind A Bad Day

So I had another bad day yesterday. I think these days come up every once in a while to keep me focused on how blessed I am 99% of the time. But yesterday was really a fun one, let me tell you. First of all, Cambri had her 4 month check up at 1:30. She has been acting kind of fussy, so I was hoping the doctor could tell me if her throat was sore or if she had an ear infection. I pull out of Grand Teton Mall for what should be a routine trip to Iona and back. My low gas light comes on. Yes, I know what a low gas light is supposed to indicate. I do understand the concept. But in my Lancer, the low gas light means nothing. You can drive for 100 more miles and  be fine. I assume that all vehicles are this way. I was wrong. I got to Iona and picked up Cam Cam and then I started to feel it die. I puttered down 1st street and then it just shut off. Naturally it was already 1:30 when this happened. So I call the doctors office and ask if they can move my appointment back 1/2 hour. Of course not as they "don't do wellness checks after 1:45". Give me a break people! This is a side story but this was the last straw between the Pediatric Center and myself. I'm finding a new doctor for my kids on Monday. Anyway, after I established that they could see her at 3:30 but "only for her illness" (as they reminded me at least three seperate times) and I was going to have to go back another day for the checkup, my happy demeanor started to slide. But now I needed to work on the gas situation. I called my mom but she was busy and they said she couldn't come to the phone. I was too chicken to call my dad or brother-in-law #1 so I went to brother-in-law #2. I called him four times right in a row and the writing on the wall would be that he would yell at me for waking him up, so I knew that was a lost cause. At this point, I start to panic because it was really cold and the baby was starting to be fussy. I was thinking about walking but it was freezing and I only had one baby blanket with me. So I start to cry. Not a proud moment but I think that the self pity started to seep in as I just wished that Chase worked in town. I know that if my husband had been in town, he would have come rescued me immediately. Obviously he doesn't, so I went through my cell phone contacts a second time. I kept thinking with all these numbers, there would have to be someone willing to take pity on me. And then it came to me.

PAULA!

I thought to myself, Paula would never turn me down. And I was right. I called and asked for a favor and the first words out of her mouth were "What do you need?" She is such a thoughtful, caring person and I'm so LUCKY to have her as my very best friend. She not only came to my aide but she brought gas with her so we didn't have to move Cambri in and out of the cars on the busy street. What a sweet, kind person. I love her so much! Now that I'm typing this, it has occurred to me that maybe that's why I ran out of gas after 10 miles. I needed to be reminded of what a great person I have the good fortune of knowing. Not that I forgot but maybe this is what we all need from time to time. Anyway, Paula graciously helped me out but that didn't solve my doctor problem. Month end is a crazy time at work and I need to go back to the office sometime to wrap some things up. But if I drove Cambri back to Iona, then went back to the mall, and then back to Iona for her 3:30 appointment, well I'm sure you are catching my drift. So I came up with a solution.

I BROUGHT CAMBRI TO WORK WITH ME!

She is such a good little baby. She just quietly sat under my desk and no one even noticed. Heck, I just might bring her with me everyday. Everyone at work thinks she is so cute and nobody seemed to mind. At one point, I was feeding the baby and my boss called me into her office to ask a question. As I was standing there with the baby in one hand and pointing with the other hand, I thought to myself, well this isn't the way I thought things would ever be but how blessed am I have to have such a great kid (!) and a fantastic working environment. So my bad day turned out ok after all. Yay for me!

30 World Idiocies

Saw this on a friends Facebook account and thought it was so funny! Enjoy!


1. Nothing sucks more than that moment during an argument when you realize you're wrong.

2. I totally take back all those times I didn't want to nap when I was younger.

3. The letters T and G are very close to each other on a keyboard. This recently became all too apparent to me and consequently I will never be ending a work email with the phrase "Regards" again.

4. There is a great need for sarcasm font.

5. How the heck are you supposed to fold a fitted sheet?

6. I would rather try to carry 10 plastic grocery bags in each hand than take 2 trips to bring my groceries in.

7. I think part of a best friend's job should be to immediately clear your computer history if you die. In all seriousness Paula, this ones on you. Chase will try to invade my Facebook account!!! I will give you my password at a later date and you will have 24 hours! And to think, he changed his FB password because I was "invading his privacy." The nerve!

8. The only time I look forward to a red light is when I'm trying to finish a text.

9. Was learning cursive really necessary?

10. Lol has gone from meaning, "laugh out loud" to "I have nothing else to say".

11. I have a hard time deciphering the fine line between boredom and hunger.

12. Whenever someone says "I'm not book smart, but I'm street smart", all I hear is "I'm not real smart, but I'm imaginary smart".

13. While driving yesterday I saw a banana peel in the road and instinctively swerved to avoid it...thanks Mario Kart.

14. MapQuest really needs to start their directions on #5. Pretty sure I know how to get out of my neighborhood.

15. I find it hard to believe there are actually people who get in the shower first and THEN turn on the water.

16. I can't remember the last time I wasn't at least kind of tired.

17. Bad decisions make good stories

18. Whenever I'm Facebook stalking someone and I find out that their profile is public I feel like a kid on Christmas morning who just got the Red Ryder BB gun that I always wanted. 546 pictures? Don't mind if I do!

19. Why is it that during an ice-breaker, when the whole room has to go around and say their name and where they are from, I get so incredibly nervous? Like I know my name, I know where I'm from, this shouldn't be a problem....

20. You never know when it will strike, but there comes a moment at work when you've made up your mind that you just aren't doing anything productive for the rest of the day.

21. Can we all just agree to ignore whatever comes after DVDs? I don't want to have to restart my collection.

22. There's no worse feeling than that millisecond you're sure you are going to die after leaning your chair back a little too far.

23. I'm always slightly terrified when I exit out of Word and it asks me if I want to save any changes to my ten page research paper that I swear I did not make any changes to.

24. "Do not machine wash or tumble dry" means I will never wash this ever.

25. While watching the Olympics, I find myself cheering equally for China and USA . No, I am not of Chinese descent, but I am fairly certain that when Chinese athletes don't win, they are executed.

26. I hate when I just miss a call by the last ring (Hello? Hello? WTH!), but when I immediately call back, it rings nine times and goes to voicemail. What'd you do after I didn't answer? Drop the phone and run away?

27. I hate leaving my house confident and looking good and then not seeing anyone of importance the entire day. What a waste.

28. I keep some people's phone numbers in my phone just so I know not to answer when they call.

29. Even under ideal conditions people have trouble locating their car keys in a pocket, finding their cellphone, and Pinning theTail on the Donkey - but I'd bet everyone can find and push the Snooze button from 3 feet away, in about 1.7 seconds, eyes closed, first time every time...

30. I wish Google Maps had an "Avoid Ghetto" routing option.

Win A Martha Stewart Home Party!

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The Big Roll

It's so sad! My last baby rolled over for the first time on Saturday, October 24th. I will never again see my own little being roll for the first time. Gasp. Ok, now that I have that out of the way, I can go through the demonstration.

1. Wait for baby to roll over. Make it happen even quicker by gathering around her and staring. Don't be afraid to throw out encouraging words because your three month old can and will comprehend. Remember, newborns exhibit such a high level of focus that it is virtually impossible to distract them.

2. When you start to get bored, and you will, just relax and wait. Babies always do everything on your schedule and this is no exception.

3. When it finally happens, be very excited. This is a huge developmental stage (and I'm not even being sarcastic here).

4. Make sure you clap. If you don't, baby will never, ever roll over again.

5. After you have seen the main event, make sure you also encourage your three year old to practice. You can never be too good at rolling over.

Izzy had a moment when everyone got excited that Cambri rolled over. She insisted that I take baby sister off the blanket so she could show us how she rolled. When we failed to generate the necessary level of excitement, she pouted. Isabelle has been such a good big sister that I guess she is entitled to her moment of jealousy. Only if it happens just once in awhile.

Best Friends

I'm not the only one that thinks Izzy is a hoot.

Cambri does too!

I finally got my chance to put the girls in their matching Addidas jumpsuits. I almost missed my window as you can tell by Cambri's pants. Cambri looks like she is preparing for a flood while Izzy can barely keep her jacket on because it’s so big. I was never a good guesser and I guess I underestimated how fast Cambri would grow. She just keeps growing and growing and growing. Until nothing that I have fits her and I have to box it all up. I thought I would be really organized this time around and keep all the clothing stored in diaper boxes from the corresponding size. But she doesn’t go through diapers quick enough! My sister and I have collected such a huge amount of 0-3 months clothing that I can only hope Heidi is blessed with sextuplets in order to use them all! Crazily enough though, we have hardly anything 6months-12 months. Oh well, Cambri will just have to develop a personality that can pull off being a nudist. Izzy’s pretty spunky, she will have to teach her!

Cam Cam The Cute

Ok everyone out there in blog world. How lucky am I? I have the cutest 3 month & 26 day old baby out there. I just know it. Because I literally have the three cutest nieces and two most adorable goddaughters out there, plus Izzy, I have become kind of a baby snob. It takes a really, super cute baby to catch my eye. I was almost wondering if Cam Cam could keep up with my high standards. But then I saw these pictures. And I realized that (ironically enough) I have one of the cutest babies in the entire world. I'm so lucky that Cambri turned out that way because I wasn't sure what I would do with her if she didn't. When I told Izzy that Cambri was so cute I decided that we were going to keep her, Izzy said, "Doesn't the hospital want her back? Or did we buy her forever?" I guess its kind of obvious that Izzy doesn't understand how this whole baby thing works. I'll save that project for another day.

7 Year Itch

I have to be honest. I'm kind of feeling at a loss of words right now. Anyone who knows me knows that it takes a lot to get me to that point. The main reason that I'm this way right is because I just have an immense feeling of gratitude. While Chase and I haven’t been married 7 years (it only feels that way) we did meet 7 years ago today. Who knew that that crazy road trip would change my entire life (right Megan?)? Who knew that those two crazy kids featured above would make it one year let alone 7? But I have to say that I love my husband as much today as I ever have. He's my best friend, my perfect buddy and my soul mate. It has been a long, crazy road but looking back I can't really think of anything that I would change. If Chase hadn't had issues, he probably would have never ended up living with his brother in Idaho. So I wouldn't change that. If I hadn't gone to Europe when Chase was dealing with above mentioned issues, I would have never realized what makes me happy as an individual which makes me a better partner. Things that you never think you could handle become a huge part of the person that you are. So I guess the 7 year itch hasn't really hit us. Good thing too because I think Chase would be sad to see me drive off in my 55% of his truck.

Love you with everything that I have lovey!

My Ordinary Life

Isabelle: (slowly approaching a tired, sleeping woman in bed) Are you my mommy?

Katie: (opens a single eye) The DNA test was inconclusive so I don't think we should jump to any conclusions. Feel free to call me Katie until we can work something out.

Isabelle: But I need something now.

Katie: AAAAHHHH. I guess I have some kind of legal obligation to you. What is it?

Isabelle: I need a drink.

Katie: You woke me up for this????!!???! You know where we keep Gordy's water bowl.

Isabelle: But Mommy, I don't want water.

Katie: I tell you to drink from a dog dish and your primary concern is that its only water? Whose child are you?

Isabelle: I thought you were my Mommy.

Katie: Is it just me or have we already had this conversation?

Isabelle: So can I get a drink?

Katie: Is this life or death? Is there anyone else you can ask?

Isabelle: No Mommy, I'm too shy.

Katie: Since when?

Isabelle: (and I may be slightly paraphrasing here) Since my mother caused me severe emotional damage by allowing me to become dehydrated because my little sister kept her up all night long in what became one of the most torturous events in her entire life.

Sleeping Angel

Today, I was hard at work. In fact you should all become fans of Grand Teton Mall on Facebook. Just to make me feel good about myself.

But I wish I wasn't.

I wish I was here instead.

P.S. It was Chase who let baby sleep in the middle of the floor like a lost puppy. But he was sweet enough to text me these pictues.

Predicawhat

Isabelle jumped into the shower with me this morning and when we went to get out, there was only one towel hanging in the bathroom. I said to Izzy, "It looks like we are in predicament. Can you say predicament?” She said, “No Mommy predicawhat is a bad word.”

P.S. Chase noticed the couch (see below) 15 seconds after he walked in. 15 seconds after that, all the crayons, water colors and makers were in the trash because our “artistic freedom has been revoked”. Of course while he was ranting, I backed him up because it is kind of the parent code I guess. But in my head I was thinking, I have a car, I have a debit card. He can’t rob our lives of color forever ;). This time I’m thinking acrylic!

P.P.S In case you were wondering about the conclusion of the aforementioned story, Isabelle grabbed the towel and took off. Over her sholder, she told me I should get another one because she was too cold to share.

Flappers 09

Isabelle wanted to be a butterfly for Halloween. Unfortunately for her, kids in our house don't get to pick their own costumes. I really wanted Izzy to be a flapper girl and Chase wanted her to be Cousin It (???!?!?). But guess who won out? Yours truly. Cambri was going to be a pumpkin because I still have that costume left over from Izzy but then my grandma whipped up these matching costumes. They look so cute but Izzy refuses to stay in hers for very long. I feel another Abby Cadabby moment coming on. Izzy was throwing a fit about putting in on in the first place so I could take these pictures so I asked her if she was going to throw a fit and make Mommy cry and the little devil looked up at me and smiled. I guess this is payback for not letting her be a butterfly. Maybe next year, I'll let her decide what she wants to me. Maybe not.

Chase's Tattoos

This is old news to most of you but I still wanted to include it being that I love these tattoos. I have always really wanted one but I'm much too scared to go through with it. Oh well! To me, these tattoos represent the strong bond between Chase and the girls. It might be hard to tell from this photo, but the tattoos are exact relicas of Isabelle's and Cambri's footprints the day they were born. Chasey took the images from their birth certificates and had them tattooed on his legs so we can always remember exactly how they looked. From this angle, Isabelle's is on the right and Cam Cam's in on the left.

Little Buddy Turns 7!!

Little Buddy had a birthday yesterday!

He turned 7!

I got him this gift because he collects Star Wars toys.

He told me he didn't like it because they were all girls. And being 7, he doesn't like girls!

The moral of this story is that I am obviously not qualified to be the aunt of a 7 year old boy. He only puts up with me because I let him play my wii.

The Beyotch List

So just yesterday I vowed to stop using the word beyotch. Funny how things change. I am sticking to my resolve of not saying it in front of my kids. But the use of the term The Beyotch List has long been established and I’m not at liberty to rename it. When I say The Beyotch List (in my head) I’m referring to the first 15 minutes of my husband walking through the front door after being gone for two-three weeks. It never fails that I start hearing things like, “Do we really need two kiddie pools in the yard killing my grass?” If his thought process is too elementary to understand why we need a hot tub plus a cool pool, then there is nothing I can do to help him. “Why are there stickers stuck all over my mantle?” Can’t he see that the world is our canvas and confining Izzy to an 8 1/2 by 11 piece of paper would seriously hinder her creativity long term? Besides it only took him 20 minutes to scrape those stickers off, obviously creating no lasting damage on his part. “Who gave Izzy crayons and why did we allow her to use them on the coffee table?” Actually this happened while I was scrubbing human fecal matter out of the car seat and I told him that public health issues have always taken precedence, besides those crayons are washable. As you can tell, I have solid answers for everything on The Beyotch List. But this, this I’m going to hear about. Someone has taken blue crayon to the couch. I can only assume that it was Izzy as Cam Cam has not discovered the joy of opposable thumbs. I can’t tell you when it happened other than within the last 48 hours. I can’t tell you where I was. I can’t tell you anything other than someone has taken blue crayon to the couch. Hmmmm I wonder if I can get Chase to buy the world is our canvass b.s. again? Maybe…



P.S. In case you are wondering, it was I who took the liberty of bolding and italicizing the extra words that Chase usually throws it in to subtlety kick his passive aggressive behavior up a level. What can I say? I taught him well ;)

Is Beyotch a Bad Word?

Yesterday, as we were leaving dance class, Izzy looked up at me and said, “Mommy, is beyotch a bad word?” Of course, I immediately turned my attention to her and said under my breath, “Yes, Izzy beyotch is a bad word.” She looked at me with one of her quizzical expressions and said (very loudly if you ask me), “You say beyotch all the time.” At this point I’m sure all the other mothers were staring at me in horror but I was way too embarrassed to look up. So I replied, “Izzy you are very right, I say that word all the time and I will quit saying it immediately.” This seemed to pacify her but I’m going to have to switch dance classes because I have now been classified as the heathen parent. I just wish that I wasn’t so addicted to the word. But this experience has probably shamed it out of me.

Inspiration

So I'm having one of those weeks. Yes, it's only Monday but I'm going into week three of being back to work and its not getting easier. In fact, its getting much harder. Last night I was trying to think of ways to simplify my life and I thought of giving up nursing my little baby. I believe in the mantra breast is best and while it has been very difficult, I think its really important. I was struggling with this thought when I ran across this photo on a blog of a girl I went to high school with (I love the blog so much because I'm oft inspired by things I read on there though I assume she would think I was a psycho if she knew I read it everyday). This is a picture of a lady who had twins and was wrongly told that she couldn't produce milk for both and opted to breastfeed her son and bottle fed her daughter. The little girl died shortly after this photo was taken. Formula in third world countries is often too expensive for the everyday family and so they supplement with too much water (which obviously I wouldn't do). But for now, this photo has given me the strength to keep feeding little Cam Cam and pumping at work to keep my supply up. Maybe (& this is a novel concept coming up here folks so brace yourselves) I'll start laying out clothes and finding matching socks the night before to save myself time instead.

Oh Poor Izzybelle

Unfortunately, my childs reputation is beginning to proceed her. Follow the link...

http://golicovafamily.blogspot.com/2009/10/izzybelle-did-it.html

Community Days

Last weekend, my mom and I went to Community Days at Tautphaus park. We had a really good time. Idaho Fun Jumps was there and they are the company I use to bring the bounce house to Izzy's birthday parties. Those of you who know Izzy can probably see where this story is going. She assumed that it was still her "club house" as she calls it and she wanted to park herself by the opening and decide which kids got to come in. Fortunately, she was "granting access" to everyone but unfortunately it really wasn't her place to do this in the first place. When I finally got that concept to click, she started jumping. Then she began asking the other children, "Are you having fun in my club house?" The above mentioned children had no idea what she was talking about. Then she looked at me and said, "Wow Mom, look how many friends I have!" It was pretty cute. The zoo was actually free to all that day so after the bounce house got old, we walked over there. After battling crowds of people, it finally occured to me that the zoo is free to me everyday because of our annual pass. Hello Katie! Oh well, Izzy didn't seem to notice that we cut the zoo excursion short in lieu of some quaility nap time. It was still a good day in my book.

Big Belly Memory

I ran across this picture today and it made me sad. Yes, I’m still sad that I will never have another baby again. I think I should be starting to get over it but accepting something so final has proven more difficult than I originally thought. Knowing that Cambri will be my last has made me appreciate her all the more. I love holding her and I’m so excited to watch her grow into a great person. But part of me wishes she would just stay little forever.

A Belated Birthday Post

I was going through my files and realized that I missed putting Izzy's 3rd birthday on here. I can't believe it. Chase was out of town but my sister drove all the way from Illinois to be here for Izzy's birthday that I decided to throw the party right on August 11th. Idaho Fun Jumps arrived to set up the bounce house when Izzy was down for a nap, so when she woke up and saw it she was beyond excited. I cooked dinner for everyone (from scratch!! It literally took me all day but that is a completely different story) and my house was so full of people that Izzy was coasting off pure adrenaline as she bounced from group to group. I asked (begged) people not to bring gifts because I wanted Izzy to understand that the true gift was people rescheduling their lives and using their time to support her. People still brought gifts. What can you do?

Cute Kids

Last night was lovely.

We had a great dinner at my parents house. Good food, good company and a nice break.

Then we went home and Izzy went to be early. This never happens.

And though she didn't go to bed early, Cambri was very sweet in her bassinet all night long.

But best of all...

Chase gave me a new diamond because he wanted me to know how loved and valued I am. Pretty cool huh?

I wish I was there!

Chase just texted me this photo and I just want to get in car and go home. I'm jealous of my husband becaue he gets her all to himself!