Thursday, September 25, 2008

secret addiction.....

ok so i have to admit it.......it's just too much to keep a secret anymore.......since i've become a stay-at-home mom i've developed an addiction......

my name is courtney and i'm a wife-swap-aholic.......yes.......it's sad, but true......very very true......everyday in time for casey's 3 o'clock feeding i get us all comfy on our bed, flip on the lifetime channel for the daily wife-swap viewing......i watch it through the feeding, after which 99.9% of the time she falls asleep, so she sleeps in my arms while i watch the show till 4......

ah......there......it's out there.......

i'm not proud of this at all, but i'm not quite ready to stop......it's the silliest show out there and to be honest, they're very cookie cutter - lazy, rich, demanding, spoiled wife swaps houses with blue-collar cow-milking, log-cutting, bus-driving, hard-working wife - there's the inevitable horror on the part of the rich wife upon seeing this "dump" she'll be living in for 2 weeks, and the inevitable horror on the part of the blue collar wife upon seeing how clean and perfect the house she'll be living in for 2 weeks is.......then they're all friendly with their "new" families for about 10 minutes.......then they have to play by real wife's rules for a week - which always goes badly, wives break the rules all the time, fight with their "husbands", complain about how differently things will be next week.......then in week 2 the wives get to make new rules in the rule-change ceremony and everyone is supposed to live by them, which inevitably leads to disbelief on the new families' faces, but really it doesn't matter because most of the new rules get broken too......then when they're all at their breaking point, time to go home and they miraculously make up with their new families in time to leave them......then the dramatic reunion with their real spouse - complete with them tearily running across the parking lot to each other (because the only two limo spaces available are on opposite ends of the lot apparently).......it's pretty pitiful all around, but i can't seem to break from it.......there's some small nugget of appeal it has to me and i can't let it go.......

i do always wonder though why the wives are surprised when they go to the new home - i mean they're not gonna put you in the same situation you were in - of course they're gonna do the opposite.......they'd put me with an organized, structured family with no dust in the corners and no piles of laundry to be done.......i know this, and i'd expect it if i were to go on the show.......and if a family watches like 900 hours of tv a week, why are they surprised that one of the new rules is that they get rid of the tv??.....duh people.......

Monday, September 22, 2008

pass the peas please.......

sunday marked the first day casey had her first vegetable - peas.......she liked them a lot more than i thought she would......more than steve and i like them anyway......she was like the jolly green baby though afterwards, green crud everywhere - on multiple burp cloths, a bib, her shirt and pants, her chin, hands, neck, nose......everywhere......but it was worth it......don't mind doing more laundry and giving more baths if she likes it......

Sunday, September 21, 2008

hiking anyone?

i came across an article in the oct issue of parents magazine about how to handle emergencies - like what to do if hot coffee spills on your kid, what to do if you lose your kid in a store, and then one that caught my eye - what to do if you're confronted by a black bear while hiking.......yeah how often does that happen, right?.......well it's a serious answer, but hysterical nonetheless.......

here's what to do:

Wrong response: Play dead.

Smart move: Most black bears are not interested in people and can be scared away, says Tim Smith, a former wilderness EMT and owner of Jack Mountain Bushcraft and Guide Service, in Masardis, Maine. Stand up as tall as you can (hold your arms up to appear bigger), and speak in a deep, loud voice while backing up slowly. If the bear charges or starts to attack, believe it or not, you should fight back vigorously. If you can, hit him in the nose, since that's a bear's main sensory organ. Whatever you do, don't run. "If you run, the bear is going to chase you, and it can run faster than you can," says Smith. However you should play dead if a brown grizzly bear charges at you because they typically won't be scared away.

where do i even start here??......while i definitely wouldn't give a second thought to putting my life on the line for my kid, i somehow can't exactly picture me beating up a bear to get him to leave us alone......i really can't even fathom being calm enough to discern whether the bear's a black bear or a brown grizzly......i mean isn't color somewhat subjective?.......i'd be debating how brown they mean by brown while he's licking his lips getting ready to eat us......and it's not like you'd hit a brown grizzly in the nose and hit a black bear in the chin - it's a matter of beating him up or playing dead......pretty opposite ends of the spectrum there.......maybe we'll just stick to hiking in non-bear areas for a while........

Tuesday, September 16, 2008

agh!!!

ok so now that i've got the blogging thing down, i've been wanting to "branch out" and add pictures, videos, and fun things like baby-age tickers and that kind of stuff......

well i'll be damned if i can figure out how to do it!!!!.......i spent an hour yesterday trying to get the videos off our video camera so i could attempt to edit them and post them and i couldn't figure it out......couldn't even get them from the camera to the computer!!.....and i spent more time than really necessary creating a baby-age ticker - it was cute, this little skyscraper background with this big old john deere tracktor as the ticker thing......then i tried to cut & paste the link and it wouldn't work.......

all i can say is aaaaggghhhh!!.......i hate being technologically-challenged!!!

Sunday, September 14, 2008

happy 1/2 birthday to you.....

so you're six months old today kid......you had a great day on your half birthday.....no cake, but you were loving your rice cereal in your new chair that attaches to the table......we got a great video of it, but i doubt i have the technology-savviness to get it off the video camera, edit it, and post it on here......but i'm motivated to try, so stay tuned......

we also put together your little walker seat thing......you were way more interested in biting the toy bar then you were about "walking"......although you did move around the kitchen a little......surprisingly of the three height settings on it, you're on the top one, so this should last you another week or so before you grow out of it.......hopefully you'll get more interested in walking in it than eating it before you're too big for it.......

oh and another first today, you got your foot in your mouth for the first time today......i'm sure it's the first of many days of that......apparently i was a big fan of sucking on my feet too.......as long as you give that up before your feet get all sweaty and stinky you'll be all set......
you absolutely do not want your 1/2 birthday to end either.......2 hours later and we're still trying to put you to bed......it's dad's turn now to try........ug.......at least you're not screaming - just fighting falling asleep.......

anyway, happy 1/2 birthday kiddo........wishing you many many many more.......

Tuesday, September 9, 2008

stay-at-home-mom.....again......

so i got laid off from my job last wednesday.......they're moving my department to florida and did away with my position......i can't say i didn't see it coming - i did......the corporate buzzards were hovering for the last month or two.......still it's a bit of a shock after 6 years working at a place to be let go.......and to be let go for something other than job performance........kind of hard to reconcile them telling you that you've done a fantastic job and have been fantastic to work with and have always been fantastic to advertisers, but yet, you can no longer work here.......almost like you kind of wish you did something wrong to deserve it or something......anyway, it really works out pretty fantastically for our little family.......i'll get full pay for 6 weeks then i can collect unemployment for 28 weeks + the 13 weeks extension the gov't just granted......so that's almost a year of paid time off.......plus without having to pay for daycare, it's almost like we're making money......and the best thing of all, i get to stay home with casey.......

it's been great so far......kinda like being back on maternity leave, but she's more fun than back then......well she was fun then too, but she's so much more interactive now that it's different.....i definitely feel like we've been blessed - it's almost like god said this is what you need to do now, take care of casey......and it's what i really want to do......so i'm looking forward to spending the next bunch of months with her and seeing her grow and develop into her own little person.......and being grateful for the extra time i have with her.......

steve's been great about all this.......he was supportive when i lost my job - i think i held it all together better than he thought i might.......really being able to stay home with casey was what got me through it all as well as i did......i'd be pretty bummed about staying home all day if it was just me......and now that i'm home he's truly happy i am.......since casey's been born, i feel like i continually see how much more of a selfless person he is than me.......i'd probably be a little bitter and jealous if roles were reversed......heck, i'd be really bitter and jealous.......it'd be good for casey to have him home all day with her too......i just would really need to focus on not being selfish and keep reminding myself that it'd be a good thing......i know steve has gotten jealous sometimes too, but it's never something that he gets angry or pissy at me about......sometimes i wish i was a better person.......

Tuesday, September 2, 2008

"solids"

so the sunday of labor day weekend marked casey's first day in the world of solid foods.......well if you can consider this lovely 1 to 5 ratio of rice cereal to breastmilk as solid......she loved eating with a spoon......leaned forward with her mouth wide open ready to eat whatever was on the spoon......then as soon as the food got in there, 90% of it squirted right back out......she had no idea what to do with it......we've probably given it to her about 7 or so times by now, and she's gotten better at keeping it in......although it never fails every time the spoon goes into her mouth, she gets this disgusted look on her face as if it's the worst tasting stuff on earth.......

it certainly doesn't look appetizing......i don't quite know what i was expecting the cereal to look like - i guess like rice crispies or something......well it's more like instant mashed potato flakes.....and funny story here......i was telling steve that it must be really bland tasting because it's what "the books" tell you to start with, so i'm thinking it can't have much flavor, and steve said, well taste it......so of course i do......and it's sweet......sweeter than i would've thought anyway......so steve tries it.......about a day later i realize we both just ate some of my breastmilk......something about that just seems very wrong......

i'm looking forward to giving her some vegetables or fruits, but know we need to wait until she's used to the rice cereal......it's weird, this attraction to wanting to do the next step, but at the same time not wanting her to grow up too fast.......